What's in my tank?

[madmonahan]

My betta Romeo has been losing color, I thought it was just from being stressed that the light was on to long. Today I was looking in the tank and I noticed some itty bitty white things on the glass. They are very hard to see but I could tell they were moving around, like little white worms. I set up this tank not to long ago and was going to do a water change today because I had missed it Wednesday. I have immediately put him in a cup with new water. I have no idea what they are! Any idea???

[LittleBettaFish]

Probably just harmless microfauna (don't really know the technical term) that occur naturally in most tanks.

Don't worry too much about them. If you look at my tanks the water is full of them but my fry like to eat them and never had any issues because of them.

[sandybottom]

infosoria, the white worms are probably planaria. free live fish food. my betta gobbles them up.

[aemaki09]

those worm things are naturally occuring, I think most of the time they come from over feeding, but I've got them in all my tanks and they dont cause issues for any of my fish.

[madmonahan]

Okay, thank you everyone. I was freaking out. :) so ill just return him to his tank after WC.

[Fishybitty]

I actually had those too, did the same thing you did. :p

[callistra]

It's probably just harmless planaria. Do you have live plants? They come with them sometimes.

But the pale coloring could be a lot of things.. If you could fill this out it would make sure we don't miss something: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[madmonahan]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallon hexagon.
What temperature is your tank? 78-80
Does your tank have a filter? yes.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no.
Is your tank heated? yes.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? aqueon betta pellets, occasional freeze dried bloodworms, occasional frozen bloodworms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets 2x a day, skipping a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 2x a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? N/A

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? nothing has really changed, he is still active and eating, just some color loss.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? nothing has changed.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? a few days ago he started losing some color.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? none.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 5-8 monthes???