Perhaps you are thinking of Fungus gnats? Adults are tiny, annoying flies. They don't harm the plant but their larvae will. Rob is correct that you need to make sure the soil is not constantly wet; make sure there isn't much organic matter in it, and no standing water around - these are conditions they like. Your plant is loosing it's color since it doesn't get enough light. It is also etiolating = stretching, growing long and thin stem, and the leaves are far apart for the same reason.

Looks a bit too compact to be the aloes. They tend to be of a much larger scale than the photo plant. I'd guess some form of Haworthiopsis, possibly H. coarctata. Haworthia viscosa (or related species) is another possibility. Just an FYI but Haworthias tend to develop some pretty amazing colors.......much more so than any aloes I have seen. They are also more prone to the extended stemming, like the photo plant.

Hi Aegis - thanks! I have long suspected that it's something to do with soil PH or fertilization. Unfortunately, have not been able to find any supporting evidence of this online... I am using Jack's African Violet fertilizer (12-36-14), 1/4 tsp every other week - same as I have been using for years. No sign of salt build up. In terms of repotting: I repotted them about 11 months ago. I already have the materials to repot this year, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I am using repotme dot com's African violet mix, which is a mix of coir, vermiculite, and perlite. I'm currently trying to decide whether to dispose of the affected plants. Do you have a sense of whether the crowns are ruined forever on the deformed plants? If so, I may try propagating from a non-affected leaf before throwing them out.

Well....I think i identified it anyway, but input is still appreciated. I'm like 90% sure it's philodendron erubescens. I'm slightly bummed by the identification as i'm not particularly fond of aroids, especially the trailing ones. However, I'm still excited to have this little baby philo, and i think i may do a totem pole for it, i've never done that for a plant before (due to laziness, hence i don't do trailing aroids....), but lately i've been on a kick for plant projects, so we'll see.