So I finally have another 10 gallon tank i have begun setting up. Problem is i am having to piece it together over time, so in my 14 gallon there is still a common, a fantail, a black tetra, and 5 danios. apparently something is going on with the plecos i tried to put in the 14. the first one did well for a while, but then the common started eating at him. luckily i rescued him out of the tank and gave him to a fs who nursed him back. they told me it was probably because he was too small and the goldfish just got at him. the common had almost completely eaten his fins away so i thought maybe i'm not giving him enough food. with that in mind i began feeding more, because he is a little piggy, and got a larger pleco. the new one was fine for 6 days. then after changing out a heater, that turned out to be too much and apparently for a much larger tank, there was a temp spike up to 80 degrees. after lowering the water temp back down gradually everyone seemed fine. the next morning i woke up to find mr. pleco dead at the bottom of the tank and partially eaten fins. i'm thinking it was the temp spike that got to him, but i am not sure. after this i am very hesitant to even put a pleco back in. the first one was lucky but the second not so much. sooo, how about algeacide? will that work to clean the brown algea that is growing on my rocks? i can scrape it off the glass, but it just keeps coming, and that doesnt help the rocks any.


i have decided to try a sponge filter for the 10 gallon, i figure that with the danios and tetra i may have room for a little ghost shrimp or something, and thought i would give it a try. that and i was curious about breeding danios as they have been chasing and nudging each other it looks like a mating ritual.

i know that still leaves the 2 goldfish in the 14, not enough room, but i think it is a good start, and that i should be able to upgrade again before it becomes a hazard.

one more thing, my tap water seems to be cloudy... i dechlorinate it and everything, put it in the tank and it has this odd cloudy hue to it. i got some accuclear, 1st treatment seemed to help a little. today i'm going to do another. what causes that kind of thing? can it be prevented? also the water here makes that hard white mineral stuff on all the plastic and glass it can. it is such a hassle, and i can't seem to get it to come off the glass where my hood light sits. vinegar and water works pretty well for the plastic, but doesn't seem to budge the stuff on the glass. any recommendations?

Poor lighting (low-wattage bulbs) is typically the cause of brown algae. I get it in my goldy tank, but no others. The best thing to do is just wipe it off the glass. IMO I would not add any chemicals to the tank to help remove it. Most are a waste of money and inefficient anyway. I would not add any more plecos to that tank, mainly because you are already overstocked. IMO algae on the rocks adds to the beauty of the tank as a whole. It can be a pain, but over the years I have learned to deal with it.

Danios rarely, if ever breed in home aquariums. They are typically an active fish, and 'play' amongst themselves. This is probably what you are seeing.

I am not sure what to do about your cloudy water, but I can offer solutions for the buildup on the glass. Are you referring to the whitish deposits, much like hard-water or lime deposits? I simply use a razor blade and carefully scrape it off. Works like a charm!

thanks a lot for the suggestions. i will look into getting higher wattage bulbs. the brown just doesn't look right with blue and white stones. i didn't want those colors but my fiance and i compromised and that is what came out of it. as for the overstocking, after i finish piecing my 10 gallon together i'm going to move the tropical fish out into it. five danios and a black tetra aren't much for a 10 gallon, so i thought maybe a little ghost shrimp would be cool. after that the 2 goldies will have the 14 to themselves for a while at least. it's a process.
so about the sponge filters, how well do they work? like i said i have never used one and decided to try it out.

great tip about the water deposits, now i know how to tackle that problem.

thanks again!