5 gallon.. algae

[flyte00]

Hi all. I have a 5 gallon with just 1 female betta, about 5 'betta bulbs' and one moss ball. The plants take up quite a bit of room. It is cycled and everything is reading fine.. nitrates are about 10. I am suddenly getting a bit of green and brown algae on the sides and on her cave. I won't put any kind of chemicals into my water to kill it.. or medications or anything. What else can I do aside from cleaning it off.
I'm worried a snail will eat my plants. I will be getting a small cory to be in with her soon but I don't think they eat algae. I feed her daphnia quite often and sometimes some microworms. I was probably overfeeding her when I give her the betta min flakes... could that be the source? Thanks!

Sarah

 

[dorkfish]

How long has the tank been up?

I'm worried a snail will eat my plants.

No need to worry, unless there apple snails, they will only eat the dead and dying plant pieces. There's probably a few other snails wich eat plants, but I haven't heard of them and they probably aren't sold in the hobby often if at all.

 

[TheZoo]

Algae comes from too many nutrients in the water and/or excessive light. Try keeping the tank light off a little more, and do a good gravel vacing of the tank to get some food/poop out. Other than that, regular maintenance with the gravel vac and manual wiping of the tank walls is all you should need to do. I never mind too much when there is a bit of algae on decor, it adds to the flavor of the tank, IMO. I just worry about wiping the glass down.

 

[flyte00]

Thanks for the replies! The tank has been set up for maybe.. 2 months now?

 

[Mr SnailZ]

Apple snails refer to dozens of different types of snails, many of which eat live plants. Brigs (commonly refered to as mystery snails) or Spixis will not eat live plants and would be your best choice. Canas and Haustrums which are two more common types of apple snails will eat plants. Get a brig or two and you will be set. They come in all types of colors and look great in a tank!