Algae eater ideas for my 20 gallon aquarium?

[amil]

i have a 20 gallon long planted aquarium with 3 african dwarf frogs and 1 betta (they get along dw) i had 3 mystery snails but 2 passed from old age and the other was killed by my frogs. don’t want to get snails again because of the issue my frogs pose but i do want a new algae eater based on how my aquarium has done since. i worry that my frogs or betta will also eat shrimp. anyone have ideas or experience keeping shrimp with adf/betta? the betta is very peaceful and docile but the frogs are menaces.

 

[Mudminnow]

I have African dwarf frogs and a betta with Amano shrimp. They've all been together for over a year now, and all is well. There are some pond snails in the tank too. Therefore, I'd recommend Amano shrimp and "pest" snails as your algae eating crew.

 

[Redshark1]

A 20 gallon should take minutes (if that) to clean of algae by hand.

I kept a Red Lizard Whiptail successfully with my Frogs and Betta but I never saw it eat any algae. Snails are pretty dirty animals so it is no loss if you replace it with a benign catfish or something else that will not outcompete your frogs.

I had 100 Bristlenose Catfish in my 6 foot aquarium and still had lots of algae which I now have developed an easy routine to clean myself. I think expecting an animal to do your work is lazy and ineffective.

I think buying an algae eater is a legacy of the days when aquarium shops maximised the number of items they could persuade you to buy. You would also need a Clown Loach to eat snails, lead weights to hold down plants, bottles to change the pH, carbon for your filter, a no fishing sign for the front of the tank, a deep sea diver, oxygen tablets etc. etc.

 

[amil]

A 20 gallon should take minutes (if that) to clean of algae by hand.

I kept a Red Lizard Whiptail successfully with my Frogs and Betta but I never saw it eat any algae. Snails are pretty dirty animals so it is no loss if you replace it with a benign catfish or something else that will not outcompete your frogs.

I had 100 Bristlenose Catfish in my 6 foot aquarium and still had lots of algae which I now have developed an easy routine to clean myself. I think expecting an animal to do your work is lazy and ineffective.

I think buying an algae eater is a legacy of the days when aquarium shops maximised the number of items they could persuade you to buy. You would also need a Clown Loach to eat snails, lead weights to hold down plants, bottles to change the pH, carbon for your filter, a no fishing sign for the front of the tank, a deep sea diver, oxygen tablets etc. etc.

i don’t disagree but the algae that’s growing on some of my plants is impossible to scrape off and was a delicacy to my snails.

 

[KimberlyG]

I would get a lot of what people call pest snails. They are fun to watch. I’m not a big fan of bladder snails but I really like ram’s horns and Malaysian trumpet snails. The frogs may get a few but they’re prolific. You should have enough to keep your plants clean.

 

[ArticulateLoach]

I would get a lot of what people call pest snails. They are fun to watch. I’m not a big fan of bladder snails but I really like ram’s horns and Malaysian trumpet snails. The frogs may get a few but they’re prolific. You should have enough to keep your plants clean.

I totally agree that ramshorns would be a good idea. I had a 75 gallon loaded with Malaysian Trumpet Snails at one point and they did a great job with algae. I don't have any experience with African Dwarf Frogs but I would caution using Malaysian Trumpet Snails as their ends can be kind of pointy and the African Dwarf Frogs might swallow them whole. I think they'd be smart enough not to eat the big ones whole as it would probably hurt right away, but they might quickly swallow a little one and it could caught their insides. Just my two cents tho, take it as you'd like.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

I get "algae eaters" because I love those fish. I got Hillstream loches and A butterfly bushynose pleco and I let my algae grow in so they never go hungry. But honestly, even though the 5 of those fish are constantly eating, there is barely a dent in the algae.
If you don't want algae, change your lighting. I used to use aqua glow bulbs. And I had no algae at all for 10 years. Keep the lights on much less, feed less. Get live plants. Good luck

 

[ArticulateLoach]

i don’t disagree but the algae that’s growing on some of my plants is impossible to scrape off and was a delicacy to my snails.

I would invest in a magnetic algae scraper, I think there's one at my local Walmart for like 8 bucks or something. As for algae on surfaces in the tank it honestly isn't a bad thing, if you're noticing a significant amount of algae all over things most of the time it's something you're doing. Which isn't a terrible thing, we've all been there and make mistakes, it could be water quality, over feeding, etc. Either way algae is natural and can be helpful in an aquarium, again as long as it isn't flowing in strands off of things and covering your whole tank. But if you just need a little more help I'd suggest maybe a few ramshorns and they'll breed on their own, also Amano shrimp would work great too (might not work with your betta tho, but it's worth a try).

 

[Fishfur]

I must admit that I’m quite curious about how toothless ADF frogs could have killed a snail.

Though they can reproduce in large numbers when food is abundant, if you are careful about feeding, Ramshorn snails are good algae eaters and so are Bladder and MTS.

Red ramshorns are also rather decorative. I quite like them. Frogs might try taking small ones whole but they have very poor vision so I think that’s unlikely to happen.

 

[Redshark1]

i don’t disagree but the algae that’s growing on some of my plants is impossible to scrape off and was a delicacy to my snails.

I never solved this issue with snails. I solved it by getting the plants to grow well. Then, the algae no longer appeared on my plant leaves. The limiting factor for me was carbon. I now add liquid carbon.