Algae growing fast in my betta tank

[Kitsmama]

So I noticed about two days ago some algae in my tank and now it seems to be growing a bit rapidly as now the white gravel is turning green and the ornaments in the tank are as well. Is it possible there is too much in the tank as far as decor? I also have two mystery snails in the tank, I feed them algae wafers every other day. Could that be causing this? Should I not feed them as much and let them eat the algae in the gravel? I don’t want them to go hungry but I don’t want to be over feeding either. I also have a regular filter and sponge filter running if that helps any.

[Aiken Drum]

How long are the lights on for? Is any direct sunlight getting onto the tank?

My (limited) experience of mystery snails is they dont eat green algae very much. Nerite snails are better at eating green algae.

If there is light in the tank you will get algae. It will show up more on white surfaces.

[ADsnail]

Right, as Aiken Drum says, it's a light thing. Mysteries eat like pigs, including algae tabs, if you let them, but cleaning the tank is not one of their finer points. It's the nerites that'll clean that up as much as possible. Even one will make a difference, but having three, even a in a small 10g, will do it. They'll still need to be fed but your mysteries will beat them to the food often enough that they'll still keep your tank clean. Less light, more nerite

[ADsnail]

Pretty tank, by the way. I don't think you have too much in there. It's very attractive.

[ColdKoi]

Yea I wouldn’t say the mystery snails are major green algae eaters either. I’ve got a handful of them and although they do cruise around and snack on the green algae patches, they don’t leave any notable difference in the algae where they’ve eaten

How new is this tank? If it’s relatively new (less than 6 months) it’s not uncommon to see algae blooms while the tank is still finding it’s happy place. During the early months it is best to limit lighting as much as possible as that’s one of the biggest factors in algae growth and definitely keep the tank out of any direct sunlight!

Also if this tank is fairly new, I’d suggest not fighting fire with fire and trying to throw in a bunch of snails or any other critters to try and clean the tank. You’re basically fighting a losing battle doing that, and once the tank finally matures and the algae issue subsides on its own, you have a bunch of extra critters that have to be fed supplementary food.

[Gilltyascharged]

Originally Posted by ColdKoi

Yea I wouldn’t say the mystery snails are major green algae eaters either. I’ve got a handful of them and although they do cruise around and snack on the green algae patches, they don’t leave any notable difference in the algae where they’ve eaten

How new is this tank? If it’s relatively new (less than 6 months) it’s not uncommon to see algae blooms while the tank is still finding it’s happy place. During the early months it is best to limit lighting as much as possible as that’s one of the biggest factors in algae growth and definitely keep the tank out of any direct sunlight!

Also if this tank is fairly new, I’d suggest not fighting fire with fire and trying to throw in a bunch of snails or any other critters to try and clean the tank. You’re basically fighting a losing battle doing that, and once the tank finally matures and the algae issue subsides on its own, you have a bunch of extra critters that have to be fed supplementary food.

We did that in our 29-gallon...now I have a mystery snail infestation and four times the algae :'(