Kevin

i saw a little whitish/green bug looking thing on my bettas head tonight...is this some sort of parasite?
theres no chance i could get a pic of it...its way to small...its about the size of a period .

Chief_waterchanger

Could just be an insect, but you could put something like paraguard in the tank just to be sure.

Good luck.

Kevin

are the insects bad for him, or do they just sit around reproduce and die?

phlox

Any parasite is bad and if that's what it is, you can use Jungle Parasite Clear to get rid of it. It's a cheap and very effective med.

Kevin

so i should treat it?

armadillo

What made it bug-looking? Did you distinguish movement, or something like that? Tough one without a picture, and like you say, no way can you take one.

But yeah, I don't know of any 'good' parasites, so better treat once you're quite certain it's a bug and not a speck of uneaten food or who knows what.

phlox

You can use the Jungle Parasite Clear. Make sure you remove the carbon from the filter first. Leave the treatment in for 2 days and see if it gets better. You can do up to 3 treatments of two days each, with a 25% water change between each treatment if it's needed. Usually for mild problems one treatment is enough.

Kevin

yeah...it was moving around on him...and i thought i saw legs...but its hard to tell

phlox

Use Parasite Clear right away then.

COBettaCouple

yea, i'd second that. i've found parasite clear to not be real hard on even our little balloon platies so erring on the side of caution and starting treatment now would be best. although it does sounds like some sort of parasite.. it stays in one place and always on your betta?

Kevin

no, i see it sometimes...but other times theres no sign of it at all
i put part of a tablet of parasite clear in today...Roscoe (my ct) decided he was hungry and tried to eat the stuff...but spit ti out as quickly as possible...and never went near it 'till it stopped fizzing
oh, i also picked up some novaqua...added a little bit about 30 mins b4 i put the meds in

COBettaCouple

any chance it might be planaria?

Kevin

i have no idea what planaria look like

COBettaCouple

very small thin white worms.. they can curl up in a ball and look like a little white dot.

Kevin

ahhh...that was the other reason i got the p.c. i saw some little white worms crawling on the front of the tank...so planaria are okay?
oh, the "bug" on him definently isnt a planaria

COBettaCouple

planaria can get out of control so we try to get rid of any that we find.