# Algae eater in 10gal tank



## Apocalypse (Nov 3, 2010)

I'm starting to get some algae growth in my ten gallon betta tank. Anyone have suggestions of a good tankmate that could take care of the issue? I don't want to put a pleco in because it will eventually outgrow the tank.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Algae is typically a sign of either poor water quality or too much light. test your water, and make sure ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all good. If that's not the issue try lessening the ammount of time your tank light is on.

Most algae eaters eat a wide variety of algae and a lot of it. Your tank might not have what they need. Once it's gone, they probably wouldn't accept prepared food, which would mean a sick fish.


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## Apocalypse (Nov 3, 2010)

Water quality is fine. Lights are on 10 hours daily as it's a planted tank.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

hmm, that sounds odd then.

well personally I would not go for an algae eater, but if you want there are otto catfish, but they need to be in groups of three to four, and a 10 gallon tank wouldn't have enough room for them to find the correct ammount of algae. And plus because they're wild caught, your chances of getting them to accept prepared foods can be slim.

Old Fish Lady might be able to help you a bit more with ideas on how to control algae...


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Algae is normal and expected in a tank of water and can be a sign that you have a healthy environment...with that said-it still needs to be controlled-with anything in a closed system too much can be a bad thing even when it is a good sign

First you need to ID the algae-once you know what kind it is you will know what causes it and how to control it

Green algae on the back wall is good, algae on the plant leaves can hinder plant growth and can be bad

Most common causes are too much nutrients, too much or not enough light, the wrong lights, old lights, poor plant growth....you have to balance everything......the plants have to be able to out compete the algae for nutrients...old light bulb, wrong kelvin rating, wrong photo period and the plants can't grow well enough to out compete the algae.
Too much nutrients-are you adding plant food or just leaving left over fish food or both
The number and species of plants make a difference too

The best algae eater/controller in a closed system is the hobbyist

As posted algae eating livestock only eat some species of algae and the type of algae may not be the species they eat-regardless when you add algae eating livestock they have to be supplemented with food

In a 10g open and not divided with one Betta with live plants-good algae eating livestock (beside you) are snails, shrimp and otos-if you get otos you want at least 4-they are social fish and do best in groups and you will see more natural behavior and less stress....remember a stressed fish is a sick fish and a sick fish can make every fish sick in the tank.......


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## danifacetastic (Nov 11, 2010)

You could try ghost shrimp.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Ghost shrimps do not eat algae unless they are starving. They are natural scavengers and they are more carnivorous than other shrimp species


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## danifacetastic (Nov 11, 2010)

Ah. Hm. Is a ten gallon too small for a couple of catfish?


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Technically yes it's large enough, depending on what type. Cory cats for example are carnivorous catfish, they can do well in groups in a ten gallon and a betta because there is room and food, but algae eating ones like ottos would need a lot more room if they were eating only algae (once again, probably the only thing they'd accept seeing as they are typically caught from the wild) seeing as they eat a lot of algae, only eat certain types of algae, and a 10 gallon wouldn't have enough of it to last long. If they accepted prepared food after the algae was gone, technically yes you could have a group of ottos in a ten gallon, but I've heard some people having trouble getting their ottos to accept blanched veggies and algae tablets. Getting rid of algae is the job of the tank keeper.


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## danifacetastic (Nov 11, 2010)

You wouldn't reccomend putting a catfish in each section of a 10 gallon divided three ways though would you?


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## celine18 (Sep 25, 2010)

i wouldn't split up corys, they like being together and wouldn't do well divided.

would red cherry shrimp eat algae?


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## Apocalypse (Nov 3, 2010)

Oldfishlady said:


> Too much nutrients-are you adding plant food or just leaving left over fish food or both


I put 10mL of Aqueon plant food in once weekly. I remove all uneaten fish food. I cleaned the tank today including all the algae. I'm going to cut the photo period down a smidge and see if it comes back.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

How many and what kind of plants do you have and what kind of substrate are you using, what is the kelvin rating on the bulbs and how old are the bulbs?

Decreasing the photo period may only give the algae a boost and cause the plants to slow their growth....you may need to reduce the amount of plant food depending on the type and number of plants you have.

Also, by making a 50% water only change weekly before you add plant food is a good idea to get any plant food out that the plants didn't use so that the algae can't use it....this also depends on number and type of plants......

With some plants the left over fish food is all the plant food they need along with the livestock waste......


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## danifacetastic (Nov 11, 2010)

celine18 said:


> i wouldn't split up corys, they like being together and wouldn't do well divided.
> 
> would red cherry shrimp eat algae?



So two in each divider would be too much?


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## celine18 (Sep 25, 2010)

yes, that would be heavily overstocking your tank! idk what kind of filter you have, but if you use this website (http://aqadvisor.com/) it'll tell you what kind of stress you'll be putting the filter under...i've been playing around with hypothetical cory stocking, and with just my one betta in a filtered 10g, i couldn't hardly put 4 cories in there. it'd be really hard with 3 bettas.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

danifacetastic: yes, in a ten gallon, 1 betta and 3-4 cories would be well stocked. 3 bettas and 6 cories would be waaaay overstocked, besides, they like to be in groups of 3 or more and they need room to swim, so two in each divider wouldn't be good for the cories or bettas.


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## danifacetastic (Nov 11, 2010)

celine18 said:


> yes, that would be heavily overstocking your tank! idk what kind of filter you have, but if you use this website (AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor) it'll tell you what kind of stress you'll be putting the filter under...i've been playing around with hypothetical cory stocking, and with just my one betta in a filtered 10g, i couldn't hardly put 4 cories in there. it'd be really hard with 3 bettas.



Thanks for the info. I didn't think I'd be able to do that but the guy at the fish store was telling me I could put one catfish in each section or put a mollie or a platy in there but I thought it'd be too much. I'll be sticking to ADFs and inverts. Although after the death of my two ADFS I'm not going back down that road.


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## Apocalypse (Nov 3, 2010)

Oldfishlady said:


> How many and what kind of plants do you have and what kind of substrate are you using, what is the kelvin rating on the bulbs and how old are the bulbs?
> 
> Decreasing the photo period may only give the algae a boost and cause the plants to slow their growth....you may need to reduce the amount of plant food depending on the type and number of plants you have.
> 
> ...


Sorry I've been busy and haven't been able to get back. I have two small anubias plants, and a java fern. Small gravel substrate. Two 40W bulbs 6500k. I'll get a picture up soon.


EDIT: Photo. The peacock ferns are no longer in there. I took them out once I found out they aren't aquatic.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

You have way too much watts over a 10gal tank unless you have CO2 and your plants really don't need CO2 or that high of watts....you may end up with an algae farm and green water....10gal with the species of plants you have-I would recommend 1-20w 6500k ...80w is too much.....


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## Apocalypse (Nov 3, 2010)

Ok, I'm officially an idiot. Here's how the story goes:

I buy a hood and light fixture for my tank, the light fixture is incandescent with two 25w sockets. Naturally, incandescent bulbs put out way too much heat and raise my tank temps too much. So I go searching for fluorescent bulbs to put in. No one carries anything that will fit. Not a single pet store in the entire city. So I get some at the hardware store. Each uses 10w of power but produce 40w of light. Me being an idiot, I think 10w of power each is just right. Derp.

Just went out and found some 10w bulbs (20w total) at Walmart and put them in, so we'll see if that helps. Would you recommend still laying off the plant food for a while?

I also just did a 100% change yesterday and cleaned the glass thoroughly. I went the lazy route and scooped my pleco out of my 55gal and put him in the 10gal for a day to clean off all the decor. He did a fantastic job.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

If you have a filter and/or live active growing plants you don't need to do 100% water changes and with the plants you have you may not need ferts-the fish waste and any left over food will work as the plant food-you have slow growers and feeders.....

I have done that too...added a pleco for a day or so....laffs......just make sure your nitrate and pH are pretty close or acclimate well

I don't buy or use aquarium bulb...cost too much especially when regular daylight bulbs will work and are basically the same thing for less-just change them out every 6mo-1yr (your plants will tell you when it is time)....for plants you want the 6500-6700k 10w is good 20w you are still pushing it with the plant species you have, however, just add some stem plants and/or floating plants to use some of the light energy before the algae can use it......it is all about balance with planted tanks and algae control.....


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