10 gallon algae eaters?

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CaptnIgnit

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
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Location
Pullman, WA
I'm still cycling my 10 gallon (taking forever!) and have noticed some beard algae growing and taking up residence. Do Oto's eat it? or are there any other algae eater's out there that can make a snack out of it?

I also plan to put MTS and either cherry shrimp or amano shrimp in the tank once it is cycled.
 
well, i would wait til' it is cycled. My otos don't eat my algea, lol, but i just like the look of them. My amano shrimp are the most amazing little creatures i have ever laid eyes upon. They love all types of agea pretty much. Good luck!
 
Ottos are probably the best algae eaters for a 10g you're going to find. They eat algae off the glass, gravel, driftwood, plants, even the bubble wand in my tank. I would certainly assume they would eat beard algae ... but algae eaters usually can't by themselves solve a legitimate algae "problem," they're just going to take some of the work out of minimal algae growth. Since beard algae is listed as a fast grower and potential major nuissance, you may need to take more drastic measures.

Since your tank is currently cycling, I really wouldn't worry about it for now. Who knows, that algae could totally go away, or get worse, or you could have a different kind of algae. Once it's cycled, everything's stable and you have a little bio-load in there, then you can reassess your algae.
 
apple snails will eat algae as they squirm over it, but they wont go out of their way to eat it. i know i can see the bite marks on the algae in the 20 gal. surprisingly, the 55 gallon, directly infront of two big windows, doesnt get any, i guess i take care of it more.
 
I don't think otos eat beard algae. They mainly eat soft green algae and some diatom algae. The only fish I can think of that eats beard algae is a Siamese algae eater and they get too large for a 10g.

I'd try to find the source of the problem and fix it instead of adding a fish to take care of it for you. Manually remove what you can and then search for the causes of beard algae so you will know what you are doing wrong.

I'm pretty sure beard algae is rare in cycling tanks too. Do you have any plants? If so, how many and what type? How much light is over the tank? Any direct sunlight? Do you add any fertilizers? What are you cycling with? Usually beard algae is caused by some imbalance, whether it be too many nutrients, too much light and no CO2, or something of the like.

Can you take a picture?
 
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