Ego sum Alucinatio
Moth Feathers
What is your "sucker fish"? A pleco?
Is your glow fish a zebra danio?
Your tank's bioload is a bit on the heavy side, and unless that pleco is a clown pleco, it shouldn't be in there at all because they grow much too large. Do 30 percent changes each week, not 10 percent. (with your bioload, you may even need to do more than that).
Also, zebra danios do best in schools of 6+ or more and since they're so active, they're best in 20 gallons. I'd return him to the pet store and get another cory.
Anyway! With such a heavy bioload you will be getting lots of fish poop and waste. There's nothing you can do about it except reduce the bioload. Also try feeding a good brand of fish food like Hikari or New Life Spectrum- brands like Tetra and such have a lot of grains and less desirable ingredients that the fish don't digest, which makes their feces larger. Remember to rinse your filter pad too.
No one at any pet store told me this stuff.
I do plan on making the tank bigger.
I don't know what kind of sucker fish it is. The most common one at my local pet store. The tag was just "Sucker fish"
gonk
No, he's orange. You know, as opposed to purple, or blue, or green.
I can't return any fish, by the way.
But, this is normal? I'm not doing something awfully wrong?
Rinse my filter pad? :< I've just been throwing it out every month. So, I rinse it once a week when I change out
30% of the water?
Pet stores are not a reliable place for information. You need to always do independent research before getting any pet, especially fish, because their entire environment pretty much depends on you.
How much bigger is 'bigger'? Assuming you have a common pleco (the most common kind, and most likely that you have), they need at least a 75+ gallon tank, preferably 100 and more gallons though because they grow over a foot long.
"Glow fish" are genetically modified zebra danio. It doesn't matter what color they are, they are zebra danios. Zebra danios need to be schools of 6+ and are very active, needing more like a 20 gallon long than a 10 gallon.
I won't say you're doing nothing wrong..your bioload is really high for just a 10 gallon and the water changes aren't big enough, so the parameters are probably pretty out of whack
(which although it's common, isn't exactly normal/preferable to have). Once you fix those things you should notice the tank not to be as dirty.
A filter normally comes with a couple parts. One is the carbon cartridge, which is usually something with a piece of plastic with tiny slots (kind of like mesh) in it on one side and blue fluffy material on the other side. If you rattle it, you can hear the carbon inside. Carbon isn't needed for aquariums but if you choose to use it, then it should be replaced monthly (or more often, if the tank has a high bioload) because once it becomes saturated it will start leaking out all the gunk it's collected.
The other is the filter pad, which is usually a square of plastic fibers, like a sponge. It holds your bacteria. You never need to change it, but it will collect coarse particles from your aquarium (dirt and stuff, called mechanical filtration) so it needs to be rinsed occasionally (however often is up to you, just whenever it gets dirty) in tank water (never tap water, the chlorine kills off your bacteria). I try not to rinse it -in- the tank because all the stuff you rinse out of it will just get sucked up by the filter again...rather, when doing your water change, when you have the bucket of water you're throwing away, rinse it in there.
Some people also like to use filter floss, and it's cleaned the same way as the filter pad.