Algae Cleaner For A 10G Fry Tank

[livelifelow]

My fry tank has a distinct green appearance to it...green on the rocks, brownish on the glass, long strings of green hanging off of a plant, and some strange branched green thing just free-lancing in a corner.  I also have some Japanese trapdoor snails in there which seem to be getting the walls a little bit, but not to much of an extent.  Is there some sort of critter that I could stick in there to take advantage of my algae?  The tank holds guppy and molly fry, I think the most I've had in there at a time is 11 of varying sizes and they go into their parents' tank when the body and tail get color.
 
Personally, I love plecos (have a BN and a clown in my main tank), so a new kind of pleco would be awesome to have in the tank.  I'm not sure if I can have shrimp since I've treated for ich in that tank using Jungle Ich treatment (contains victoria green and nitromersol I believe).

 

[Ninjouzata]

Hrm, no plecos really suitable for that size tank.
 
Hows about some shrimp? Maybe red cherry?
 
Some scrubbing would help too, though I'm sure you already know that

 

[PrincessKiara]

The mollies and guppies should snack on the algae Plants will compete with it for nutrients, especially fast growers like hornwort...I'm not sure if Briggs and/or ramshorn snails will help. RCS certainly should help, a bit. I'm also not certain if dwarf cories might take a nibble every now and again...

 

[Lillefishy]

Corys are not algae eaters, nerite snails would help with the algae but before adding any livestock you should find out what's causing it first.
Reduce the time lights are on, add more plants to out compete the algae for nutrients, & tbh nothing will keep the tank algae free it's down to us to clean it

 

[PrincessKiara]

Right there! Scavengers won't do the job completely, only your water parameters will do so. I have a heavily planted 63g and no algae has grown there in a while. I <3 my plants!
Wasn't certain about the cories. The only creature I ever had that totally cleaned an algae ridden tank was a rescued pleco, it scrubbed my green 28g entirely clean within an hour! But I only kept it for a few days while I was finding it another home, and your tank is too small for a pleco...
My livebearers will occasionally nibble at algae, but it won't really make a noticeable difference. I don't know if mollies will do better than swords or guppies...

 

[livelifelow]

Would the shrimp eat the fry?  And would the tank be ok for shrimp since I've treated for ich?  Would otos be an option?

 

[PrincessKiara]

Shrimp shouldn't hurt the fry, neither should otos AFAIK...I don't know what you used for ich, if it doesn't have any copper in it you should be fine

 I've heard otos are really fragile though.

 

[livelifelow]

Would otos be ok in a 10g, and if so how many should I get?  Would having both otos and rcs be an option?

 

[guppyguy1234]

i have a male veiltail betta in a 10g with three otos and im planning on three more even one oto will have it half cleaned in a day trust me

 

[Lillefishy]

Oto's will need supplementary feeding there won't be enough algae to sustain them for long.

 

[guppyguy1234]

a algae wafer a day keeps the hungry oto at bay

 

[livelifelow]

Good, I was hoping they would accept algae wafers.  I guess what I was asking is can they be kept singly or are they a fish that is better kept in groups of some number?

 

[guppyguy1234]

they are best kept in groups as are all fish but a single will do fine i had a small 10g set up basic clear seal uno till my 3 yr old brother got in my room killed my panda cory and an oto leaving me with terrified betta 2 scared cories and an lonly oto i put them all in my 967 ltr asap and the betta in a breeding for 3 days till igot the tank ready i left the cories in there and the oto then put him in the 10 g again when the agae got bad but i put him in the big tank in the first place because my brother trashed the tank pouring in all the food and  dvds and batteries the hole lot in there
 

Good, I was hoping they would accept algae wafers.  I guess what I was asking is can they be kept singly or are they a fish that is better kept in groups of some number?

 

[Lillefishy]

A single Oto is an unhappy Oto they are a shoaling fish & shouldn't be kept on their own, in the wild they live in large shoals.
In a 10 gallon long with only the Betta you could have 4/5
As well as wafers offer them veg such as courgette, cucumber, broccoli stalks etc

 

[Lunar Jetman]

How long are your lights on for? You might find that reduced lighting and regular water changes improve things for you. In reality you'll be hard pressed to find a fish that will keep your tank spotless if you have an algae problem to the extent you describe.