A few on nerites.

First, please excuse any odd words, my iPod's autocorrect is a bit silly sometimes.

Right. The snail questions. I have a 14 gal with two bettas, and one of the sides has a cfl for my plants, and it is COVERED in algae (and what I'm hoping is not cyanobacteria.

Will my betta bother mister nerite?
Will the nerite go over the divider (above the water)?
Will it swim into the filter (whisper 10)?
Will it eat Cyanobacteria?
I get a bit aggressive on water changes, to the point where once a month I pull both fish and scrub the divider (because of the algae), should I put mister snail in a cup when I do that?
Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow for weekly water changes (hence my extremely low stock), so nitrate can get a bit high. I'll admit to not wanting to do water changes because of the algae and having to remove the fish every time, so a snail would help. A lot.
How many should I have in a 7 gal environment? (it's a 14, but it's around 6.5 on each side, between the lowered water level and the gravel)

Wow. That was a lot of questions.

 

1 per 7gal would be more than enough, actually one for the tank would be enough.

will it get into the filter, probably not but never know where they crawl lol
It has a chance to go over the divider, if it can climb it it can do it but again its all up to the snail
well the betta bother it? probably not as most don't have a problem with them but gotta try it to find out.

 

if it is cyano, nothing eats that goop! can you post a pic?

the snail could climb over the divider...and they do like to hang above the water. in a 7g...probably 1 nerite would be ok. maybe 2.

add some floating plants, like frogbit, to help suck up the nitrates, and hopefully out compete some of the algae.

oh and yes, my nerites have gotten into my HOBs before.

 

I'm now fairly certain it isn't Cyanobacteria. The colour is different, there aren't sheets of it, and it doesn't smell funny. It just looks like darker green algae. I'm cleaning tomorrow, so we'll see what happens then. I've been reading about nerites, and I know I'm going to get one, but I'm a little paranoid that it will climb out. I think that's the same paranoia that keeps my water an inch below the black rim, so that the bettas don't jump into each other. Because that jump barrier was annoying. Besides they have giant fins anyway... It would be hard for them to escape. [/tangent].

Anyone ever had escape artist snails?

 

I have a nerite in a 10 without anykind of hood and it hasnt been able to escape nor has it tried.

 

Never had a nerite, but most snails aren't too dumb; they're not going to crawl out and dry out and die. Will it climb above the water level? Maybe. Will it crawl off the stand and wander off into the wild blue yonder? probably not. If you don't want snails in your filter, nylon stockings are the answer. They keep out pond snails, and nerites are bigger than pond snails, so I imagine it would work out just fine.

 

I keep a nerite or two in each of my 4 ten gallon tanks. I've only seen one climb out once. If it has food, isn't harassed, and the water isn't toxic, the snail probably won't climb to its death, but I do find them on the top regularly. In my experience, adding an algae eating critter doesn't reverse a serious problem. You are better off addressing the water quality issue. The floating plants sound like a good idea.

 

Will my betta bother mister nerite? Mine never did, but I'd keep a close eye on the betta anyways.
Will the nerite go over the divider (above the water)? Only if the water quality is really bad but you'll see them occasionally surfacing. Don't worry unless it stays out of the water.
Will it swim into the filter (whisper 10)? Unlikely.
Will it eat Cyanobacteria? Nope, I doubt any algae eater would eat that.
I get a bit aggressive on water changes, to the point where once a month I pull both fish and scrub the divider (because of the algae), should I put mister snail in a cup when I do that? Depends on what kind of algae you're scrubbing. If its the cyano, then I guess you can remove the snail, if it's diatoms or something, leave it so the nerites have something to eat. In my experience, my nerites refused to eat anything whatsoever except actual algae.
Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow for weekly water changes (hence my extremely low stock), so nitrate can get a bit high. I'll admit to not wanting to do water changes because of the algae and having to remove the fish every time, so a snail would help. A lot. If you post a picture of the algae we might be able to help identify it.
How many should I have in a 7 gal environment? (it's a 14, but it's around 6.5 on each side, between the lowered water level and the gravel I guess two can be ok, one on each side.

My answers are in red.