What type of algae eater would you recommend for my tank? lake malawi cichlids

[bwd]

I have a 50 gal with 10 red zebra’s, 1 electric yellow lab,2 yellow ones that look the lab but no black 1 yellow tailed pseudotropheus acei, 1 Powder Blue Cichlid (Pseudotropheus socolofi). I know I am pushing past the stocking level of the tank but they are what they are.. Water quality is what it needs to be.
My question is they are not eating enough algae to keep it in check. I was thinking of getting a ruberlip pleco to help but would its waste offset the benefits? If it means adding another or two gallons to my weekly water change no big deal.
Any other suggestions for an algae eating fish?
Also could it be a lighting problem it's not the glass that’s normal cleaning but the (what do you call them) decorations look like crap.

 

[hslee]

It could be a combination of overfeeding and too much light. Try to limit your feeding and decrease lighting for a few days and see if it makes a different. If it does, then you could hold off on adding another fish.

But I think a bristlenose pleco would fit in pretty nicely, they get to about 5 inches and supposedly their bristles help acting as a deterrant to attacks. This might be good since Africans like going for the eyes

 

[tarheels910]

I have the same problem. My lights create too much algae and my fish cant eat it all. I have a rubberlip in all of my african tanks and they do a wonderful job at cleaning up.

 

[GirlieGirl8521]

I'd try to fix the problem and not add another fish. Sometimes Africans play nice with plecos, sometimes they don't. I personally wouldn't want to find my pleco with no eyes....but thats just me. Lessen the amount and frequency you feed.

How long has the tank been setup?

You could always take the decorations out every so often and clean them. The algae eater for my Malawi tank is an algae brush. Does a great job once a week...but mine is on the glass.