My fish tank had little white "things" moving in it.?

Question

I did a full water change the're gone for now... but what were they and how did I get them?

I just have a male betta in a small tank

Answer 1

It's difficult to answer without more information. There are several possibilities, and it also depends on if you have a saltwater or freshwater tank.

In the freshwater tank, it could be a parasitic worm like creature, but you will only find them in the gravel or the filter media, usually not free floating throughout your aquarium. These guys are bad news, and I usually recommend restarting your aquarium (only because I don't like to use chemicals). You could also have water fleas, but they are pretty tough to see unless you have thousands, and the fish will usually eat these up by the hundreds. If so, just don't feed your fish, and they will pig out on fleas! Also, what is your definition of small? And what type of fish do you have? I have seen goldfish spawn, and they have puffy sticky eggs that stick all over everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! If you have ghost shrimp, the babies don't look like shrimp at all, just white floaties that move around. It takes a few days for them to grow large enough so you can see their recognizable shrimp shape.

Either way, most of the "bad" stuff that shows up in our aquariums usually come from the water that was with the fish or plants from the store. I always check out pet store conditions on different days of the week, and scrutinize the cleanliness of the tanks, and look for sick fish. This gives you a good indicator of how well maintained they are, and will minimize chances of disease and parasites getting into your ecosystem.

Answer 2

They may be harmless nematodes that live in the gravel. Every tank has a few, but yours may be overpopulating if there are a lot. If they're large enough that you can see them, it's doubtful that they are a parasitic form.

They may also be the larvae of a small fly (midge). These are a flying insect that lays it's eggs in the water and the larvae are aquatic (similar life cycle to a mosquito).

Another possibility is that these are small crustaceans (cyclops, daphnia) or even larger rotifers or paramecium (although you'd have to look very close to see these). These may be introduce when plants or fish are added to your tank, and other just seem to "show up".

In any case, these can't survive in large numbers without a food source, so you may be a buildup of organic waste in your gravel (which the critters are feeding on).

See if any of these are similar to what you're seeing: nematode photo: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/micropolitan/fresh/other/nematode2.jpg - smooth body pointed at both ends; swims in a "shivering" motion

midge larvae photo: http://www.benthos.org/Education/SlideLibrary/Shadows/035-Chironomidae.jpg - constrictions along the body and a definite head; swims by whipping body back and forth in an "S" shape

variety of microorganisms -
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ - choose "Pond life Identification kit", then "virtual pond dip" on the second page. You can click any organisms and get more info about that type.

To get rid of them, or at least lower their numbers, do a series of water changes and vacuum your gravel thoroughly with a gravel vac. Small fish will also use these as an "extra" food source. If they're midge larvae, they'll metamorphose into adults and leave on their own.

Answer 3

Um, if they were in the tank and not on the fish they could have been babies. And full water changes are never recommended even if you have sick fish.

Answer 4

Sounds like nematodes... I found mine on my glass a lot. It's when I first started out keeping fish, so maybe I wasn't changing water enough. Goodluck!

Answer 5

Depending on what type of fish you have it could very well have been babies.

Answer 6

they may have been baby fish..

Answer 7

are you sure they werent babies

Answer 8

go get them back!thery were babies!