what type of algae eater would be good for me?

[annalyn]

i am a beginner fish keeper, what algae eater would be recommended for my capability and with my tank having guppies

Edited March 9 by annalyn

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/9/2024 at 5:26 PM, annalyn said:

i am a beginner fish keeper, what algae eater would be recommended for my capability and with my tank having guppies

Hello, i have a Q before suggesting algae eaters, what tank size is this exactly @annalyn?

[annalyn]

the tank is 10 gallons 

 

 

[Whitecloud09]

Here is some options @annalyn, nerite snails, 1-2 is fine, a group of Amano shrimp or cherry shrimp.

[annalyn]

can i get any of these at my local petco?

[Whitecloud09]

Yes you can get all these I mentioned here at petco + even more kinds of shrimp + snails @annalyn

Edited March 9 by Whitecloud09

[annalyn]

thank you

[Whitecloud09]

No problem 🙂

[Guupy42]

Nerite snails are good for beginners, and they can live happily in Nano tanks. You won't have to worry about eggs, as the eggs can only hatch in Brackish water, and they cannot reproduce asexually. They are very active, and are very effective in algae control.

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/9/2024 at 5:46 PM, Guupy42 said:

Nerite snails are good for beginners, and they can live happily in Nano tanks. You won't have to worry about eggs, as the eggs can only hatch in Brackish water, and they cannot reproduce asexually. They are very active, and are very effective in algae control.

Yes I forgot to mention that both are great beginner fish and water paremeters are uselly not an issue here.

[annalyn]

thank you

[Tony s]

The disadvantages of nerite snails, they still lay eggs. The eggs look like white dots and can be laid all over the place. They won’t hatch but some people don’t like the look. I don’t mind it personally. I like mystery snails. They do lay egg clusters, but those are easily controlled. If they get wet they don’t hatch. So if you keep the tank filled, there’s no problems.  

[TOtrees]

@annalyn Do you actually have algae in this tank? I’m a firm believer that the solution should be based on the problem. Tell us more about the problem…

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/9/2024 at 8:40 PM, TOtrees said:

@annalyn Do you actually have algae in this tank? I’m a firm believer that the solution should be based on the problem. Tell us more about the problem…

Same question here, you don’t need one if you don’t have any algae. 

On 3/9/2024 at 7:56 PM, Tony s said:

The disadvantages of nerite snails, they still lay eggs. The eggs look like white dots and can be laid all over the place. They won’t hatch but some people don’t like the look. I don’t mind it personally. I like mystery snails. They do lay egg clusters, but those are easily controlled. If they get wet they don’t hatch. So if you keep the tank filled, there’s no problems.  

I probably would not like the look but if they are the best algae eating fish then I would probably get them if I had algae.

Edited March 10 by Whitecloud09

[Tony s]

If you do have algae, it’s important to know what kind. Snails work best on surface algae. They won’t do anything to hair algae. Shrimp are great on hair algae but not so good for algae on the glass. 
 

and of course if you just want either snails or shrimp you could do that too. Both are great pets for a 10g. You could even do a small group of otocinclus catfish. Those will need some fresh veggies as well. They clean surface algae too well, and you’ll probably run out.

another thing I like about snails, they eat anything organic. So food that gets past your fish doesn’t stay around. Or, sometimes you lose a tiny fish, they’ll clean that up to some extent as well.

[Jeff]

IMO, the best algae eater is live plants. That's what I would recommend. 

Tell us a little about your tank - how long has it been set up, pics, anything else besides guppies?