Ntruder1400

I have a fully-cycled, 1.5 year old 10 gallon tank that is growing long flowing algae. The only resident is a male betta. I have tried ottos in the past, but can't seem to keep them alive for more than a month or so. What other fish would be good at eating the algae (especially off the glass) that may be a bit more tolerant than ottos? All water chemistries are WNL.

Butters

Either snails or a handful of amano shrimp... But the best solution is to clean it yourself with an algae scraper or razor blade.

Lucy

If it's beard algae, I don't think snails will eat it. I don't know anything about amano shrimp.
Here's a pretty good algae guide:
Algae - An Overview

agabr123

i think adding flourish excel made by seachem helps to get rid of that kind of algae. i have some of it going on my 10 gallon with my betta and i'm probably going to try it soon. i'll let you know if it works

sirdarksol

Amano shrimp will eat hair algae. Not sure if they'll eat beard algae. However, with Amano shrimp, you've got the problem that the betta will try to eat them, and could very well succeed if they've recently molted.

Snails will munch on it, but not in quantities to make a difference. I have a small colony of MTSs that lives in a cluster of beard algae. They seem to love the stuff, but it just grows to fast for them to actually thin it out.

One of the best ways to deal with algae growth is to lessen feeding. When I started feeding my betta less, the algae problem in his tank dropped back. It's still there (right under one of the lights. It likes growing on the wysteria), but it's cut back quite a bit.

Ntruder1400

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been scraping it off every month or so with a razor. I would like to keep the water chemical-free, so I'd rather scrape than add algae-fix or other chemicals. I'll have to check my LFS for the snails or shrimp. Cory cats won't eat algae off the glass, will they?

agabr123

i think some might, but mine never have. normally cories are just scavengers

sirdarksol

They'll eat bits of algae, but like with shrimp and snails, they usually won't eat enough to make a real big difference.
They will help control the algae population a little bit by cleaning up uneaten food, though.

Ntruder1400

Thanks again, all. I'll probably just give ottos another try - they seemed to do a good job before they died.

mr. Clown Loach

buy like 3-6 ottos that will help them last and help them stay heppy

Ntruder1400

Thanks - I think that is what I'll try.

agabr123

good luck