a list item long past due

[rianngarrick]

Hi everyone. My family often had a 10 gallon tank while I was growing up. I never tended one. My kids are grown and on their own and I finally took up the learning process of starting up my own 10 gallon tank in the fall of 2011. I've always loved the serenity of a tank. I had no problems starting up. It was several months before I needed any helpful information and I found this site came up in my inquiries often. I've been able to employ the info and I enjoy the courtesy I've seen on this forum. I live in an apartment that is bright with sunlight kept warm (I have no control) and my tank after the first winter rose in temperature. From the beginning I have never had a light on or a heater on. I removed them from the tank. It doesn't sit in direct light. I started with 10 fish. I joined this forum yesterday with problems I was having and received an immediate response. That was wonderful. I hope to be back up to 10 fish in the near future. Looking forward to browsing this site and learning from the experts. Thanks so much.

[patrickriley2010]

1 inch of fish per gallon and always follow tank minimum for fish

[Goldfish loach boy]

Welcome to AA, glad to have you here! 10 fish sounds like a lot of fish, but if you have something like white cloud mountain minnows and shrimp, I guess that's fine, what fish do you have in there?

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

[rianngarrick]

thanks for the welcome. I have only 7 fish at the moment - 3 cardinals and 4 raspboras. I'd like a couple platys. I was also thinking an autocat but I've noticed my algae is brown, not green. I'm not sure what that means or if it is ok for the autocat.

[Goldfish loach boy]

What type of rasboras?

[Alyxx]

Welcome to the forum!

[Perryuk]

Brown algea I have heard can be caused by not enough light .

[rianngarrick]

I can't remember the type of raspboras. They are silver with a black triangular end and an orange/red stripe along the top, around the eyes and the fins & tail.
I don't think light is an issue, although they only get the natural light of the day. The tank light increased the temperature significantly too high.