What will eat algae?

Hi, I'm starting to get algae growing in my tank and I don't have room for any more fish, so I can't get an algae eater. For some reason mystery snails won't stay alive in my tank. I've gone through 2 in the last 3 days. Is there anything else that will eat algae and has a small bio load? Thanks

 

I presume you're talking about your 5 gallon tank. Yes, it is too small for any algae eater. I guess a snail would be the only option in such a small tank. Maybe try getting some different kind of a snail?

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on what other kinds of snails to get? or why the snail might not be staying alive?

 

minimum tank size for mystery snails is 10 gallon, I think they won't survive in a 5 gallon tank. u can keep them in your new 29 gallon tank.

 

Since algae feeds on excess nutrients cutting down on feedings and doing an extra water change until it's gone will help get rid of the algae.Adding more critters will just raise the excess nutrients that algae loves. Fast growing plants will also suck up those nutrients and their perfect for small tanks. Hope that helps.
Carol

 

What about those silly snails you get from live plants you can buy at petsmart? I bought a bunch of live plants, and got these annoying snails as tag alongs. They seem to live through anything. And the only good they are doing is keeping down the algae. It wouldn't be bad to have a few, but they multiply so fast that you can't keep up with them. So maybe it wouldn't be a good thing for you.

 

just don't overfeed, and you'll be fine

however, they are pretty hard to completely get rid of, so think it through before putting them in

 

I have used a chemical called algae destroyer in my 10 gallon tank in the past, because the algae went absolutely crazy before I got a pleco. I don't know if the other "experts" on here would agree with using it, but I took care of the problem quickly.