how to control algae in tiny tanks?

[Ms.Bubbles]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the helpful members of this website, I recently diagnosed my planted tank problem as "normal" fuzz algae (small white hairs on plants), which is easily controlled by algae-eating fish. Unfortunately, my tank is too small to house any more fish (I have a 3 gallon tank for 1 betta).

Does anyone have any algae solutions for small tanks besides plants, water changes, & reducing/eliminating fertilizers? I have considered snails, but I was warned that they can scratch up plastic tanks when they move along tank walls...

Thanks :)

[tomm10]

Well, first things first, keep the tanks out of sunlight and make sure you are not overfeeding.

I've never heard of snails scratching plastic but I guess it could be true. Snails are a decent cleaning crew but in the end I prefer shrimp. Amano shrimp are a good choice as they are pretty readily available and will last a while unlike ghost shrimp. They are interesting to watch, contribute little to the bioload, and are good cleaners.

[knashash]

Get a phosphate remover and add it to your filter media.