I would not use chemicals to control algae. I do not know if your algae control has copper in the ingredients like some do, but if it does, you must be very careful, because copper can be very toxic to fish. Just use a rake to pull out string algae. String algae itself is not harmful to fish, it is a good springtime food for them in fact. I have heard of algae being toxic to the pond is when your kh (buffering) is low and when plants give off carbon dioxide at night it can turn into carbonic acid, if there is not enough buffering in the pond, this causes large PH swings when the sun comes out and the plants start giving off oxygen which raises the PH. Swings in PH are bad, stable PH is good. Algae products, make me nervous, so if you see sickness occur in the fish, it could be from the algae treatment, it so a large water change would be needed. Hope this helps.

are there any more fish in there besides them? if not...I would probably try to get a few more...IMO fish do better in a school...expecially the smaller ones...mine are soo much more active if I have at least 6 to a pond....and the smaller the fish the more skeered they are...you have to remember these guys are on the bottom of the food chain...they are very aware they are small and food...so they stay hid untill they now they are safe... Lawanna

I really like them. Hopefully in the future I will be able to put in a bigger pond and I can try again with the Golden Orfes and do it right by getting about 5 or 6. For now I am going to pass on them as I see the advice the guy in the pond store told me that one was good, was wrong. Meantime I rewarded myself by going back to the pond store and buying two new fish. I got a stunner of a butterfly koi in a strange metalic almost mustard old gold color. I know that might not sound attractive but the fish is lovely. Also a most beautiful deep almost red "goldfish" with the most long, long, long tail and fins.

As vegetarians, pleco's have exceptionally short guts and like grazing mammals, feed near continually. So if water changes are not an issue, plan on visiting the school to feed the fish only as much as it will consume in a few hours, at least every other day, with a water change weekly. The fish will survive on a near starvation diet far longer than it will fouled water and why I don't recommend those so-called "vacation" feeders, because they tend to foul the tanks. Another and better option would be an automatic feeder in which you could load bottom feeder pellets. Then, you could set it to release small amounts of food several times daily, but only as much as the fish can eat in an hour or so, which is far safer than loading up the tank with several day's worth, because it would also foul the tank. That might be you best solution. Then, a twice weekly visit to check on the tank, with one for a water change. Plecos seem as if they would be tough fish and when it comes to holding their own when kept in tanks with aggressive species they are, but they are also quite sensitive to water conditions.