tiny white parasites in fish tank

Question
I have a small freshwater fish tank housing a betta, a cory cat, an
algae eating shrimp and a water plant. I've recently noticed a
number of tiny white specs moving erradically in the water -
mostly sliding in all directions along the surface of the glass.
They are too tiny to really identify but they are definately living
creatures. I have taken a very careful look at my fish to make
sure that these specs are not on their skin - and  as far as I can
tell their skins of free of any white specs, deformities etc... In
fact, the fish seem to be in great health. What are these specs?
Are they a problem?
Thank you so much for taking time to answer my query.


Answer
Dear Ralph,
Thanks for your letter. I'm not sure what the white specks could be, but I'll bet you can get rid of them if you reduce the amount you feed the fish. Like, starve them out. Give each fish a few flakes per day. No more.
They could have come in with plants, or when you introduced new fish.
I don't recommend using chemical remedies from the fish store because they just pollute the water.
At my site I have posted a short list of rules for aquuarium care that you might find useful, see:
http://steamboats.com/aquarium.html
I hope this helps,
Sincerely,
Nori