how many ottos to put in my tank

[dwarf-puffers]

http/photobucket.com/albums/y98/cockatoo...urrent=tank.jpg

i know these arent the best of pictures but i was wondering how many ottos would make really clean tanks. The one on the bottom as you can see is alot more planted then the one on the top and i am breeding dwarf cichlids in the bottom one so that is why i cant get a pleco. If there are any other ways to get a clean tank without dumping it please tell me i was thinking of small shrimp but i didnt think they would do well with the eggs, fry, and i think even my dwarfs would eat them but if not let me know thank you so much

 

[sylvia]

Algae scraper.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

Algae scraper.

what in the world is that is that a brush or somthing if so i need something to get it off my plants

 

[sylvia]

Well you should try to find the root cause of the algae first of all. I suggested the algae scraper (it's a little sponge thing or you can get magnetic ones) because I assumed your problem was just aesthetic and to do with dirty glass. If you realy have a problem and are worried about your plants, you need to reduce feeding, lower stocking levels, do mroe water changes, if you use CO2/fertilizers make sure you aren't ove-doing it, make the hours of light less - 8 is enough for plants, make sure there's no direct sunlight, make sure your phosphates are not too high etc... Planting some more fast-growing species (like elodea or even floating duckweed) would also help by competing with the algae and starving it of nutrients.