Dog Hair In Tank?

[XRaquelX]

I have a dog with long fur & I didn't realize that dog hair was collecting on the lid of my tank because I have it high up while cycling... the lid slipped out of my hand and went into the tank.. now I can see the dog hair floating in there and it's really bugging me, I'm half tempted to empty at all out and restart...

My question is, will it be fine? I'm slightly OCD and I can't stop thinking if I possibly introduced new germs/ bacteria into my tank?

 

[Fish0n]

I also have a long furred dog (see profile picture ). A good lid and running a fish net through the top of the tank and cleaning the intake will take care of it. I have had the tank running for years and it has never been an issue.

 

[coralbandit]

I get dog hair on every box I ship ! It has to be in every tank I have !
It should cause not one problem ..You should see a 'string of wigglers ' ,which is fresh hatched baby fish not swimming but stuck to a dog/cat hair like a string !
Is there life without pet hair or dirt ? I am kind of CDO [maybe like OCD ? ] which is the proper order those letters should be in but think the little stuff like hair just happens !

 

[Feohw]

I had that issue at first too. I just picked them out and made sure to never have dog hair near the lid and take off my jumper if it had hair on it while the lid was opened. Every now and then I'll see a stray hair in the tank, but they've never harmed anything and aren't difficult to remove.

 

[DoubleDutch]

The hairs of my dog are found everywhere.
Bird use them for nesting (outside!)
Wouldn't know why some in a tank would be an issue.

 

[Feohw]

The hairs of my dog are found everywhere.
Bird use them for nesting (outside!)
Wouldn't know why some in a tank would be an issue.

Same! When I brush my dog I just throw it outside and the birds swoop in to take it for nesting!

 

[Ronniethewitch]

I have long hair and my dog just sheds alot...it gets everywhere! My fish have had to learn to live with stray hairs now and again from both of us, until they are noticed and removed. So far its not been a problem.

 

[XRaquelX]

Its my obsessive compulsive disorder that makes it an issue, something I sometimes can't help... it's not exactly the dog hairs that I'm worried about, I know I can just net them out... it's germs/bacteria that my brain seems to believe is on the dog hair.. and I was also worried about what if it gets caught in the gills of the fish.. (If that's even a thing haha) I'm new to this and still learning..

Thanks for all the feedback

 

[FiscCyning]

Nets work well for scooping it out. Unless you’re spraying doggy perfume or some other weird chemical on your dog’s coat, then the hair won’t cause any problems. My dogs’ hair gets in the tanks all the time and has never caused any problem.

 

[mattgirl]

Think about it....if not for all the microscopic germs and bacteria that lives on every thing in our world the aliens in "War of the Worlds" would have taken over the planet and turned all of us into red algae. The germs we have built up an immunity to saved us

Seriously though. You really don't have anything to be worried about. Just use your net to scoop it out. There have been very few times in my long life that I haven't had at least one dog living in my home and so far have never had problems caused by the copious amounts of hair they have shed through the years.

 

[CaptAnnDuchow]

I don't have dog hair but I have 3 cats..one I literally caught trying to fish with his paw with one of my old plastic lids. I now have glass he can't open. All fish are fine

 

[WinterSoldier.]

Its my obsessive compulsive disorder that makes it an issue, something I sometimes can't help... it's not exactly the dog hairs that I'm worried about, I know I can just net them out... it's germs/bacteria that my brain seems to believe is on the dog hair.. and I was also worried about what if it gets caught in the gills of the fish.. (If that's even a thing haha) I'm new to this and still learning..

Thanks for all the feedback

I totally understand where you are coming from...I have severe OCD. If really want to make yourself feel better..remove the dog hair with a net, and then do a large water change

 

[Fish0n]

Its my obsessive compulsive disorder that makes it an issue, something I sometimes can't help... it's not exactly the dog hairs that I'm worried about, I know I can just net them out... it's germs/bacteria that my brain seems to believe is on the dog hair.. and I was also worried about what if it gets caught in the gills of the fish.. (If that's even a thing haha) I'm new to this and still learning..

Thanks for all the feedback

If it would make you feel better to change the water it won't harm anything at all. The good news is if you keep your filter media wet it won't ruin your nitrogen cycle so you really won't be starting over.
The nets really do work the best for removal though so I would suggest netting what you can before changing the water. It is harder to get dog hair out of gravel/substrate than it is floating!

 

[SlickSolo]

I was wondering if anyone else had this issue. But yeah, if the hairs are big enough, a net should work just fine.

 

[NanaW]

I feel you I am also OCD and I am always netting little hairs out of my tank from me getting it on me and don't see it. lol I have 3 big hairy dogs no getting away from it I vacuum everyday sometimes 2 or 3 depending on how often the dogs go outside, right now not much, to much snow big babies lol. I'm dealing but I have to say it it a struggle

 

[kathy7878]

I have a dog with long fur & I didn't realize that dog hair was collecting on the lid of my tank because I have it high up while cycling... the lid slipped out of my hand and went into the tank.. now I can see the dog hair floating in there and it's really bugging me, I'm half tempted to empty at all out and restart...

My question is, will it be fine? I'm slightly OCD and I can't stop thinking if I possibly introduced new germs/ bacteria into my tank?

I just started a tank and was wiping it clean with a cloth before filling it with water. I have several dogs and of course several hairs got into it. I understand the OCD as I tried getting it out but gave up trying. I figured it would be okay otherwise I would be there forever picking hairs out.

 

[DuaneV]

I'm sorry you have such severe OCD issues. Nothing we say is going to change your view of the issue. That said, leave the hair or remove it, its up to you. Its hurting nothing.

 

[Bettafishies126]

We used a net when we had dog hair in our axolotl tank and it worked like magic water was crystal clear no hairs left after only a few sweeps through the water with the net. As for germs or getting caught in gills I can never manage to not have some sort of hair in my fish tank but it’s never bothered any of my fish, in the wild fish live in water that probably has all sorts of animal and human hair in it and they’re fine so id imagine aquarium fish are the same

 

[Bacalaotropic]

For those surface floating things,like hair, a vacuuming barely on the surface takes everything out. Just do it carefully .