Parasites?

[bmarine]

While staring at my 125 gallon, i noticed 3 strange things: my phenochilus looks like it lost a scale, my Usisya has a strange small clearish string hanging from the bottom of his head, and my Ericotaenia manda also has a small string but right by his dorsal fin. Any ideas what it is? Is it a parasite? I've tried taking some pictures, but most didn 't turn out well, but will try again tomorrow.

First is the usisya with it hanging down
Second is the manda with it by its fin. It looks like a white spot.