Algae Eater Tank Mate?

[Inkweaver313]

Hi Everybody!

I have a male betta in a 10g tank that I'm having a horrendous time controlling the algae in. I've done everything I can think of to control the algae in this tank. It's all over the glass and the sand and there's string algea all over the decorations. Short of taking the betta out and completely scrubbing this tank, I don't know what to do.

Are there any algae eating fish that would be compatible with a betta in a 10 gallon? I know it's asking a lot, considering the limited space and how territorial bettas are, but i figure I'd throw the question out there anyway!

If there are no tank mates that would work, does any one have any suggestions on how to deal with this algae problem? I appreciate it!

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I personally wouldn't add any more fish.
Maybe try some shrimp or some snails, I have shrimp in with one of my betta, and snails in with the other, and that keeps things clean.

You might want to think about the maintenance you are doing on this tank if you are having a problem with algae. Maybe up your water change volume or do it more often, or look at your lighting ect? If you are getting that much algae you might be overfeeding, not doing enough water changes (volume or frequency) or have a too long photoperiod/ too strong lighting.
And if it really is that bad, it might be worth taking out the fish and biomedia (into a container of tank water) and cleaning literally everything and putting everything back afterwards. But you will still have to reconsider changing how the tank is run/maintained.

 

[Byron]

Agree. "Problem" algae is caused by an imbalance of light/nutrients, and unless you deal with the root cause nothing is going to keep it away as it will just return even if you do scrub it out now.

And betta are not community fish, and a male in a 10g is it for fish. Even if there were fish that would eat this algae, and there are not given the tank size. So-called algae-eating fish tend to be very specific when it comes to which algae species they will (or might) eat.

 

[Inkweaver313]

My betta is in an (open) closet out of direct sunlight, with a regular LED strip light. I do weekly 25%-30% water changes as a part of my maintenance routine for all of my tanks. The substrate is sand. There are no live plants, but I did add an Algae Ball in an attempt to control the algae growth. It didn't do much.

It's all sorts of algae, from brown algae on the sand, green algae on the glass, and string algae that takes over the plants and other decor. I'm at a loss of what to do with this tank.

Above his tank is my 20g tropical community tank (with no algae eaters either). They also just have an LED strip and fake plants. The algae, while it does form occasionally, is easily taken care of by scraping the glass and then it's gone and I don't have to deal with it for a while. I also put an algae ball in that tank, and it pretty much stopped any algae growth all together. I don't know what is causing it.

My 125g goldfish tank is in a different part of the house and hardly ever gets any algae, though I suspect that's because my 3 goldfish would eagerly suck it off the glass or decor before it had a chance to really do anything.

Should I increase my water changes? Jump into unknown territory and get live plants? I'm desperate. It's taking over!

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

My betta is in an (open) closet out of direct sunlight, with a regular LED strip light. I do weekly 25%-30% water changes as a part of my maintenance routine for all of my tanks.

I do 100% water changes on my betta tanks a week, split into two 50% (Wednesday and Sunday), Probably start increasing yours ( not necessarily to that level but it will help)

Should I increase my water changes? Jump into unknown territory and get live plants? I'm desperate. It's taking over!

Do a complete clean, take out the fish, and the biomedia, (keep them) clean out everything else and replace. Then increased maintenance is the way to reduce the algal growth

 

[Byron]

Algae in a fish aquarium is normal and natural, and cannot be avoided; no algae, if it were possible, would mean very unhealthy conditions. However, we do want to keep it in check, and there are some algae species we try to keep out.

Light and fish nutrients are the cause, so keeping these in check is the goal. I would increase water changes to 50-60% of the tank volume every week, at one time (larger WC are better than multiple smaller over the week); I do 60-70% in my tanks and they are planted.

Vacuum into the substrate during the WC's to remove as much of the organics. Without plants, there is nothing to feed off these organics except algae.

Same goes for the filter. Keep it cleaned so organics do not accumulate.

I clean off the front glass during every water change even though I usually see nothing on it. But surfaces under water develop biofilms that are sticky, and algae will attach and spread, so cleaning the front glass (and other if you like) every week will nip this before it starts so to speak.

Fish load obviously impacts organics, along with the amount the fish are fed.

Light. LED light is prone to algae because it is often high in the blue rather than red, and this can increase algae. Mind you, this is more relevant in planted tanks as plants need primarily red and blue to photosynthesize, and less red means algae has the advantage. But worth mentioning.

Live plants, as simple as floating plants, would probably help a lot, by cutting down light and using nutrients. And the fish might look much nicer too, they tend to prefer less overhead light.

Assuming "algae ball" is the Marimo ball, this is a type of algae, cladophore. I do not know if they work to prevent other types of algae, but I would doubt it.

 

[Colin_T]

Can you post a picture of the tank so we can see what type of algae it is?

There is algae that are plants and there is Blue Green algae, which is Cyanobacter bacteria. They are dealt with slightly differently.

However, with most algae issues, reducing light will help, as will doing bigger more frequent water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate.

Reduce the food going into the tank, especially dry foods that sink to the bottom. remove any uneaten food after 2 minutes.

Try adding a floating plant like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides). It will reduce the light getting to the bottom and use nutrients and should help. Most pet shops carry this plant but if they don't you can usually get them to order you some in. You normally only need 1 plant and let it float on the surface. It grows quickly and you can plant the baby plants in the gravel and let them grow there so you have plants on the surface and in the substrate.