i think plecostamus [not sure if i spelled it right] eat algae and help keep the tank clean. also some kinds of loaches do too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plecostomus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobitidae

have some links ^^

No no, I have a huge pleco already. It eats alge but this is fungus.

ahhh my bad ^^;;

good luck kitty, hope you find a solution =3

*nods

First, what kind of fish do you have?
Second, how big of an aquarium?

Well, its a 10 gallon, with:

1 peacock eel
1 sunset gourami
4 neon tetra
3 diamond tetra
1 dojo
1 river darter
1 Pleco
and 5 unknown

Sounds sorta similar to what I have now, and have kept before. The biggest piece of advice I'm going to give you is this:
A good rule of thumb is one gallon of water per inch of fish per fish. In other words, if you measured all your fish, that's how big of a tank you need. Because right now your 10 gallon is way too small for all that you have. Don't forget, a 10 gallon tank holds 10 gallons of water empty. With fish, gravel, and orniments, it holds maybe 8 gallons.

Arcy asked a good question. It sounds like you are feeding them too much, too fast. It's usually advisable to feed them small amounts through-out the day. Or, if you can't do that, feed them medium amounts during a 60 minute period. I have a 40 gallon tank, it's sitting right behind me, and I spend an hour+ feeding them little bits at a time.

I don't know how you clean the tank, or how often you change the water, but it might be a good idea to by a siphon from your local fish store. I have a good one and it was less than $10. What makes them good, is that they come with a feature that allows you to 'vacuum' the gravel without sucking any up. You can remove all the uneaten food and nasty stuff that is caught in the deep layers of gravel.

From my own experience with nasty crap in aquarium water, I don't think you have fungi. Fish get fungi, everything else gets algea or rots... well fish can rot too, but that's something else. Salt is a good idea, but don't go over board. Change the water one a week, or twice if it's really that bad. After feeding, remove any uneaten food stuffs.

This site has hepled me alot over the past few years. They have fish profiles, plant profiles, and the forum has a ton of info n algea, fungi, rot, and other aquarium problems. http://www.aquahobby.com/e_freshwat.....arium_fish.php

Good luck with your fish. If you need any advice, or more help, send me a note and I'll give you screenname.

=3 oh wow, thats a huge help.

My total fish length is about 14 inches, of course thats not counting the dojo, eel or placo.... but they un move around much so they don't really take up space.

Also, I want to get a 2nd filter to help cultivate more bacteria and help out with the ammonia and nitrite.
I was also thinking of maybe a plant for nitrate, but plants make me iffy.

Plants, for me at least, are a huge pain the ass. Most I've had kept floating to the top of the water, algea grows on them like crazy, they die to easily, and, believe it or not, some of the plants sold in stores are not aquatic. They are either bog, marsh, or wetland plants that are able to live underwater for a while then die. The PetSmart by me sells Dwarf Mondo Grass for fish tanks, and the Lowes in the same shopping center sells Dwarf Mondo Grass as a low growing plant for lawns and gardens. Go figure.

As far as filters go, well, best to do your research first. If you want bacteria, the filters with the little wheels on the front that spin work pretty well. That's what I have. A second filter might be too much with such a small tank. Try looking for an up-grade to what you have now. For example, if your filter is for a 10 gallon tank, look for a filter for a 15 gallon tank. That way you don't have another plug and cord and more filter cartridges to worry about.

Think about getting a snail or two, also. If you can find Malaysian Trumpet snails, they are great little guys. The come out at night, eat leftover food and hide back in the gravel whe the lights come on. Just be careful, they breed like rabbits. Luckily they never get more than a few centimeters. Golden Apple Snail a.k.a Mystery snails are good too. They are a lot bigger than the trumpet snails, but I've never seen them breed.

Aha, so no plants, though the place I go to it specific for fish.

I have a standard filter that in my opinion isn't all that great. Also, I need one that can also increase oxygen levels in the water.

About snails, I have shrimp in there for my eel and they clean up a good amount of stuff. And i've heard snails end up doing more harm because they produce too much waste.

You can get plants if you want. It's just been my experience that they never live long enough to be of any help. When in doubt, ask an expert. I'm sure the employees at your local fish store can be of more help than me.

I never had a problem with oxygen, so I don't know how big of a help I can be. Despite what I said about plants, I do have a few and they help with the oxygen. I've read that increasing surface agitation helps difuse the CO2 given off by fish. So getting an air pump and using a bubble stone or one of those 'action' orniments (like the moving pirate skeleton) would help oxygenate the water in two ways: the bubble will agitate the water's surface and as they travel up through the water they will release oxygen.

It's trade-off with snails. They never stop looking for stuff to eat, which means they are practically always pooping. But on the other hand, poop is easier for bacteria to break down than leftover food. There is usually a good pinch of food leftover after I feed my fish, but when I check on them in the morning, it's all gone. I haven't seen rotting food in months. In addition to my two Apple snails and hords of Trumpet snails, I have 6 bottom feeders. Two clown loaches, three cory cats and a chinese algea eater.

I so need me a bigger tank. But i'm limited by both funds and physical space in my room.
I also have 2 turtles in a 20 gallon but unfortunately..... turtles eat fish.

Do what you can with what you got. If your fish survived this long, they should be fine. In fact, they should be better once you find a balance and settle into the best cleaning/feeding routine with them.

well, the main problem is that I added the 3 diamond tetra new, but they replace the rainbow that died.
its just the white fuz thats worrying me. but it seems to only grow on food, so maybe its not too big a problem.

Still want me a new better filter.

White fuzz on food. I know exactly what it is: it's rot. I get the same thing when uneaten food is left in my tank. As soon as said food is removed you won't get the white fuzz anymore.

aha...... so its fine?
I deed a good amount of vacuuming so I think I got rid of a good amount.

also, I saw some odd white things on my eel's face....
I thought it was ick, but it was there for like 4 days. It rubbed off so maybe it was just
some damage from attacking a shrimp?

I couldn't tell you, I've never had an eel before. But if it came off and there's no mark or sore where it was attached to, it may just have been some old food caught on his face. ~shrugs~ Wish I could help with that problem.

Oh, one last thing. Its something i've notices about my tetras.....

Are they supposed to change color?
I have 2 of 2 different types. And their line changes from shiny blue-green to to a very distinks neon-purple glow.
is that normal?

All fish change color in some way. If you keep goldfish in the dark, they turn white. My rasboras' colors dull at night, or when they are stressed, and get really vivid during the day and when they calm down. Usually, the happier and well fed they are, the better thier colors show. I can't tell you for you sure. I kept two types of tetras in my life: Neons that died in three days, and Rosey tetras that are rather bland when it comes to colors. Best I can tell you is look up the kind you have and read what people say about them.

I'm also heading to bed right now, but feel free to keep asking questions and I will respond sometime tomorrow night. Best of luck.

hmmm, one itty bitty last question. How do you control snail breeding?

You can't really control thier breeding per se. I mean, if you REALLY wanted to, you can control the factors that promote them to breed, but those would have a negative impact on your fish. So, I'll continue my trend of posting huge comments by telling you a snail story:

I've kept three different snail species in my 4 years of fish keeping: Golden Apple/Mystery Snail, Maylasian Trumpet Snail and Ramshorn Snail. (I will refer to these as AM snail, MT snail and R snail from now on, just because it's a pain in the ass to spell their names over and over.)
The AM snails you can buy in stores are about the size of a quarter, go for about $2, and last about a year (for me anyway). I can't say they are great cleaners. I have three in my 40 gallon tank and haven't noticed a difference in the algea growth. But they are fun to watch, they move around alot and if they are alive then they have to be eating something. I've never seen them breed and I've never seen baby AM snails. From what I read, they make egg nests above the water line, so if you get these guys you can just whipe off their eggs.
R snails are usually consider pests. I've never seen them for sale, and the ones I had snuck into my tank on plants I bought. Sometimes you can find their jelly-like egg nests on plant leaves from local fish stores. These guys, on average, are the size of your thumb nail but I've had ones as large as the nail on your big toe. The breed like mad! I've had the same family of R snail in my tank for a good 18 months and they all bred with each other. Either they are incestuous or there was enough genetic diversity for them to mulitply. Either way, if you have two, you'll have two hundred in a few months. Now you can trap these guys and dispose of them as you see fit. You can buy snail traps or you can make your own. You'll never trap them all once they are established, but you can dent their population. I must have trapped 300+ in a 4 month period. I was pulling 12-20 out of my tank everynight. I don't know how long these can live. My oldest was about a year+ before it was eaten.
Which brings me to the Clown Loach. These cute and friendly bottom dwelling fish LOVE to eat snails. I have two and they completely ate all of my R snails in a matter of weeks. I don't have R snails any more =P They eats AM snails as well, but because they are so much larger, the Clown Loaches have a difficult time eating them.
MT snails are much harder to find than the other two. I'm not sure where mine came from but I suspect they arrived the sameway the R snails did. These guys are ultra small but breed as fast and as much as the R snails. The MT snails are able to get into your filter and sometimes clog it, and I don't think Clown Loaches eat them. MT snails live in the gravel and only venture out at night. It's common to see hords of them over every surface. But unlike R snails, I love these guys. They churn up the gravel, helping to keep it from compacting, they eat all the food that gets into the gravel and they clean surfaces that otherwise would be difficult. I've actually spent hours sifting through gravel looking for them so I could move them to another tank.

This is all probably way too much than your little question was asking for, but I was in the mood to type. All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with AM snails. They are the easest to find, they come in different colors and you can pick which one you like the most. Just remember, remove it right away if it dies. Dead snails can really pollute a tank.

Hmmm, the lil ones sound really good, but..... they worry me. I dun think I like the idea of hoards of evil snails destroying my tank. Hmm, also, I tend to put salt in the water, not tons, but enough that maybe the snails might not feel comfortable.

The apple snails sound the best, i'm not too worried about algae, I just want the fish food gone.

but I think I would be best avoiding snails all together. I might be able to get me a nicer filter. Darn it of only my shrimp didn't have the issue of getting devoured.

I put salt in my tank too and it's good for everything. Salt contains elements and other stuff that tank life needs. The snails aren't going to die if you add alittle salt.

I think you have the wrong idea about snails. They aren't evil and they won't destory anything in your tank. As far as Apple snails go, you can just buy one to see how it fits in. If after a while you don't like, try to take it back or just give it to the store. Most local fish stores are happy to accept free animals.

I c.....

Hmm, well, the store gets snails tomorrow so lets see how that works out.
Also.... they won't escape right?

Most common aquarium snails like water and I'm pretty sure they'll die if outside it for a while. But as long as you have some sort of lid on your tank, the shouldn't escape.

kk, cuz i'll freak out man!

How much are you feeding them?

A good amount
Trying to reduce

Ahuh.
I'll tell you right now, #1 cause of problems is overfeeding.
I have a fishtank sitting on my dresser, haven't fed them in two weeks and they're fine.
Just a sprinkle of flakes every other day. Any more than that and you get fungus, amonia, algea, everything bad.

Aha!
Yea, i've been reading about that stuff.
I think I can limit my feeding to a block of blood worms for 2 days.

thats always a hard battle, need the same help here, the pills some stores sell don't do a thing o.o

*huggles

u feel my pain.

*hugs back* thanks, even bought a fish that looks kinda ugly to me X3, a friend said those fishes ate the waste from other fishies and help keep the aquarium clean, well if thats truth that fish is on a diet O.O

u prolly got a pleco.
is it dark and likes hanging on glass or under rocks?

I'll tell you they are the toughest fish I know. Mine has out lived everyone.
Actually, he was in my first batch when I put them in with the turtles, and
survived the chlorination incident. he has gotten so big.

yep is one of those, I been thinking in maybe adding a few frogs I found in the petshop, but not sure since first gotta fix the cleaning problem lol

I tried frogs, but they just didn't last long...... like, only a few days.
I think my water is too cold, so I don't suggest you get any unless u have a heater.

mmm I do, but some of my fishes are of semi cold water to room temperature

might as well just have snails or hermit crabs X3

mine are good between 70-76 degrees Fahrenheit

thats pretty good :3, got a surprise today, found 3 more fishies O.O X3, seems like a fish I got was pregnant :3

oh my, be careful.

if they are really small, an easy solution to keep them from ending up in the filter is to put pantyhose over the intake.

thanks for the advice, count them again there are 4 goldfishies :3

Goldfish scare me.....

really? o.o, why?

they just do. They look deformed and kinda retarded.
I'm ok with Koi though

same here, but my fish bowl is too small for any kois that petstore people sale

oh..... u have a bowl.

>=3 be a man and get a tank!

well is a big bowl now, since the tank was hi by lil bro while he was playing with a ball, so had to use this that I got in my garage while I save up for a new fish tank, want a good large one but they are quite expensive for me right now

No kidding.

My 10 gallon was like 50, and my turtle's 20 gallon was over 100.

yikes o.o

hehe, well, I had the monies at the time, and I desperately needed to increase the size of the turtle's tank.

They were in the 10 b4, and the fish had a 5 gallon.

oh, well lucky you taht you had the money ^^, sadly I gotta wait a lil more weeks to get the money for that

Well..... there are ways you could make large amounts of money in a matter of short time...

Do you have a thong, a donkey and 5 quarters?

lol X3, only the first thing X3

well, you can't exactly compete in a mexican donkey race without a donkey now can you?

I guess so ^^

Your fish needs the ocean. I say, feed them to the fishes!

o3o ocean? They are freshwater fish!!!

*spanks a Raidy*

Neon tetra's look awesome in large numbers.

But that's the extent of my fish knowledge, got a camera? Maybe a photo or two would help the clever fish people diagnose the problem.

>=| camera pic would be good.

also, I wanna cataloge my fishes here.

I bet it's not easy to get great pictures through a fishtank, but i'll hope to see them Get good ones of the tetras, i likes them

I'll see what I can do

Goooood kitty *scritches behind you ears*

I wants a fishie one day :3

don't unless ur willing to spend money!

I has no money right now.
That's why I has no fishie :/

well then.
Get said money!

I can't.
I r n00b with no drawing skillz. :/
Oh. By the way my friend. I should have your pic up tomorrow. :S

o3o wait what?

Oh! ya, kitty has memory of a goldfish

Memory of goldfish. Goldfish scare me. For realz.
But yeh. I just finished the sketch today. Fiddle around with it tomorrow and if I like it, it'll get on :D

thank you very much

I un like goldfish, I like koi

I tend to go for the salt-water critters, myself.
You're welcome. :3

oh.... so you want even more expensive things

if ur low on cash, I suggest you keep to the freshwater. Hell of a lot cheaper.