New Fish Care Giver- Multiple concerns

Question
Hello,
I have a 10 gallon tank, we have only had it about 5-6 weeks. I followed all intructions to set it up and let it run for 10 days before adding any fish to it. I change 10-20% of the water every sunday.
Currently I have 4 Zebra Danio and 2 Molly's (One white, one black). We also have a very small plecto and a snail.
One of the Danios and the black Molly both have large bulges on their stomachs. I thought maybe I was overfeeding and cut out one feeing (I was feeding 2-3x a day as according to the direction on the food package). Now I only feed them 1-2x a day. I also put in half an algea wafer for the plecto every night (I did not want to over feed him or dirty up the water with the whole wafer, he is VERY small), though a few times I have seen the other fish picking at it.
I can't seem to keep the water completely clear and I'm hesitant to buy the chemical with which to make it clear.

I made sure to read up on fish, buy the right food, filters, and basically do some research before spending all this money but I'm obviously doing something wrong... My concerns are:

1. Is the bulge on the Danio and Molly a problem?
2. Should I worry about the other fish eating the algea wafers and the plecto starving?
3. Should I spend the money on the water clarifier? And will it adversly affect the fish?
4. Am I over/under feeding in general?


Thank you very much for your help.  

Answer
Maria,I would first like to point out that you don't have to make awater changes weekly unless the water parameters are at a dangerous level for fish, such as high nitrite or nitrate levels. Once the water has cycled, you really once need to do partial water changes 1 or 2 times a month. The "bulges" that you speak of could be a couple of different things. To start on the negative side, those 2 fish could have an internal infection which can be treated by using a broad spectrum antibiotic, I prefer MARACYN brand and suggest you use it if needed. Also, it could be that you are overfeeding the fish in the tank. 2 to 3 times a day is a lot. Even though the directions say that. I myself feed my fish once a day, 2 at the most with obviously smaller portions if twice daily. This could also be a cause of the cloudy water, overfeeding that is. I would say go a day or 2 and observe your fish. If they seem to be wasting, and loosing th bulge, than there ya go. If not, than I would immediately get maracyn. Mollys tend to eat allot!! And zebra danios do too. The algae wafers I am certain are contributing to the cloudiness. The wafers should be given maybe 1 or 2 times a week if that. The fish will surely eat at it too consuming what they can. Water clarifiers just make the cloudiness molecules so to speak, clump together and therefore get caught in the filter easier. Masking the problem if the contribution to the cloudiness persists. It doesn't seem to me that your tank is overcrowded so I wouldn't worry about that if you were at all. Try these things and let me know what you come up with. Good luck. Jon.