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I have a planted 10 gallon tank with a betta and three kuhli loaches. The tank is in a sunny spot and green and brown algae is growing rapidly on all surfaces (even the leaves of my plants!) I want to get something to eat the algae, but I'm worried it would overcrowd the tank. I was thinking of getting amano shrimp, but have read that my betta fish will kill them, but also that they make excellent tank mates. I've read that my loaches will eat them, but also read that they're both calm enough to get along. Which is it? Please help.
 
I have a planted 10 gallon tank with a betta and three kuhli loaches. The tank is in a sunny spot and green and brown algae is growing rapidly on all surfaces (even the leaves of my plants!) I want to get something to eat the algae, but I'm worried it would overcrowd the tank. I was thinking of getting amano shrimp, but have read that my betta fish will kill them, but also that they make excellent tank mates. I've read that my loaches will eat them, but also read that they're both calm enough to get along. Which is it? Please help.
I donā€™t know about the shrimp, but you could get nerite snails. They are active snails and you donā€™t have to feed them anything besides what is already in your tank. Also, they wonā€™t overpopulate because they donā€™t breed in freshwater. They might not be enough to keep up with the algae though.
 
You'd be better off moving the tank to a less sunny spot TBH. If the algae is growing quickly then any algae eaters you put in will barely make a dent on the algae. Also the kuhlis won't have any issue with the shrimp but the betta might.
 
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Adult amano shrimp are too big to be of interest to bettas, most of the time. Females can grow to almost the same length as an adult betta. So unless your betta is huge or particularly aggressive, I wouldn't worry too much, especially if your tank has lots of hiding spots for the shrimp. My betta is very placid and the amano shrimp actually harass him sometimes, lol. He seems to be scared of them, the poor bugger ? That said, though, algae eaters are not miracle workers. They may not be able to keep up with new algae growth. If possible, I'd move the tank - or get some heavy curtains/blinds.
 
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They might not be enough to keep up with the algae though.
You need 2 to 3 nerite snails (depending on how much algae you have) to keep the walls of the clear. Start with 2 and add more if needed. In my experience they seldom climb onto the the leave of plants.
 
Thank you all for your advice! I can't get it out of the light (it's one room and one wall is mostly windows), but I have put some large pots between it and the window to cut down on the light it gets. I'll get some nerite snails and hopefully that'll help.
 
Maybe rotate it so that the back/side faces the window, and then put an adhesive background (black, white, blue, etc.) on the glass to prevent the sunlight from getting in? Just a thought. It would also reduce light loss from inside the tank.
 

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