I Have Brown Algae And I Never See My Common Pleco

[Mahtahild]

Ok, please refrain from verbally attacking me, but I have something to admit. Yes I am a begginner, but I've been around the block enough to know that I messed up. I let my boyfriend convince me to put a common pleco in a ten gallon. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was deadset, and here we are. So, with that out of the way, and assurances from me that yes, we have a solid plan for when he gets bigger that does not involve a backwoods creek or a toilet, I have a few questions

I've got him in a ten gallon with four zebra danios and a betta. Everyone gets along really well, but I never ever see my pleco. I used to every once in a while when we first got him, but now he rarely (if at all, I'm assuming) comes out of his hollowed log. He's still the same little guy he was when we got him, (from what I can tell) so I don't think size is the problem.
Also, when we first got him we were putting the algae wafers in two at a time because the zebra danios were picking away a good portion of just the one recommended, and we were afraid of him going hungry. But since we've cut back to just one and even still I've noticed that our bigger rocks we have in the bottom now have mostly brown, a little green algae on them. It's been like this for a couple weeks and I've seen no difference. Does he not like brown algae, and will I need to clean it out myself?
There's an amazon sword plant in there, but I haven't seen it grow an inch since we got it, (same day as pleco) and I don't keep the aquarium light on very often because I wanted to encourage him to come out. Obviously that's not helping, so I just started turning the light back on and opening the blinds behind the tank yesterday; and today I dropped two small pieces of zuchini in to try and start a substitute food. Oh and the tank itself has been running for at least a year, but the pleco, betta and plant have been in there for about two months

Alright, please be nice because I'm sure it's just a rookie mistake, but why do I have a pleco that never comes out and isn't eating the algae in the tank?

 

[Tripp80]

From what i know about plecos(i have like at least 15 of them(at least13 new babies)), plecos are shy and usually only come out at night or if they fell safe. Don't worry if you don't see it toomuch but make sure he's still alive and not dead. Leaving a dead fish in your tank will infect you tank with it's decomposing body parts. One more thing common plecos grow to be at least 12inches long trust me i know i had one in my 37 gallon tank and that hippie grew so fast and started knocking over things with it's tail. get some white tip, clown or bushynose plecos they stay small, i'm sure there are others that stay small but those are the ones i know about.

 

[dbanner]

Before I get to the stock, how long has the tank been set up? Did u cycle it? Have you got a water test kit to take readings of the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? Api liquid master kits are very good. You should have zero ammonia and zero nitrites. Anything above this is poisonous to fish. Basically cycling the tank means the filter can cope with the waste of your fish and will break down the ammonia and nitrites. cycling without fish takes around 8 weeks, with fish is not as easy there are plenty of threads on here in the beginners section explaining cycling in far more detail. Have a little read

You are right in saying the tank is too small for the plec. This plec can get around 50cm in length but it's growth will be stunted in such a small tank there is a thread on here were a member mentioned his common plec grew around an inch per month. Not sure how accurate this is as iv never owned one.

Plecs don't really clean as much as people think. They actually make more mess than they clean. They produce ALOT of waste.I have a smaller type plec called an orange spotted plec that will grow to around 6 inches, I have him in a 120 gallon tank and hardly ever see him lol

Also the danios need to be in a tank around 4 feet long. Not due to their size but because they are so active.

Hope this helps