Somewhat new 10g w minor problems?

EricAlverado

HEY GUYS IM NEW TO THE FORUM AND SOMEWHAT NEW TO FISH, I CAME BACK FROM A DAY AWAY OF MY FISH, GREEN ALGAE EVERYWHERE, SIMILAR TO GREEN HAIR, REALLY WEIRD. MY PLACO DIED ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO, SO I GOT ANOTHER 1 TODAY. I REALIZED I HAD THE LIGHTING ON FOREVER AND DIDNT SCHEDULE THE LIGHT AT ALL, I DIDNT KNOW. IM UPGRADING TO A 29 OR 35 I BELIEVE IN 1 WEEK, ANY ADVICE? IVE GOT A FAKE PLANT IN THERE AND A BUBBLER IN THERE, I HOPE THE PLACO EATS ITS A BIG 1, AND I TURNED THE LIGHTING OFF AND NOW HAVE IT ON A SCHEDULE.

onefish2fish

the algae is from an excess nutrient, overfeeding.. to much light, something of the sort. pick up a timer for your lights if you can. it prob. wouldnt hurt to do a water change either.

read about cycling a fish tank. i suggest fishless cycling.

common plecos get large and have large bioloads, just for the heads up. welcome to the forum.

EricAlverado

hm.... intersting yehh i just started the lighting cycling today, i did not know at all.... i figured it was from over feeding also, i turned off my light and for the past 4 hours, alot of the algae is gone, and im going to do a FULL water change tomorrow, im going to put up some pictures on here also.

onefish2fish

dont do a full water change, only change out 15% or so of the water and replace it with water that you conditioned first with a dechlorinator

aunt kymmie

Hi and welcome to the forum! I agree that it was most likely the excessive light that caused the algae problem. How long has this tank been set up? You've already added another pleco since your last one died so fishless cycling is not a question now. Do you have a test kit? I'd be interested to know what your water parameters are. If you don't already have a test kit I'd suggest getting an API master test kit. It's possible your last pleco died due to ammonia or nitrate poisoning.

onefish2fish

they are getting a 29 in a week

SinCrisis

hey, last i checked plecos don't eat hair algae... i thought only SAEs eat hair algae...

EricAlverado

the tank was set up for about hmmm a month and 3 weeks now, i did 3 water changes, when i got all this stuff i didnt know much about fish, the guys at this pet place told me do a water change every month! untill i found out that i should be doing 1 maybe 1nce a week once every 2 weeks, im doing a water change now, also its afull water change, i read it after i had been doing it alreaddy i also wanted to put new gravel.... anyways.... i needed a new filter mine was so dirty! i did not notice! im dissapointed in myself but i wanted to pick up a new hobbie and fish seemed right to me. right now i have a medium-large placo in there, glo fish, 2 guppies a beta fish and a cat fish, right now... the fish that have died are inredecent shark and a placo fish, i went to return the shark, they said my amonia levels were hiugh in my tank, so i did a 10 percent water change... also ive got a fake plant in there, and a somewhat large decoration w a barrel.

EricAlverado

before the algae about 3 weeks ago

also before the algae

SinCrisis

just so you know, plecos grow to over a foot long, a 10 gallon is way too small, it will outgrow it.