# Question about Algae Control and Snails



## LakotaWolf (Mar 20, 2010)

Hi there,

I have a 10-gallon freshwater tank that's moderately planted (some elodea, an Amazon Sword, etc). I used to have 3 guppies in the tank, but they died a couple of months ago and I did not restock the tank. So, the tank's current inhabitants are an Otocinclus and three nerite snails (I also had an apple snail which died very recently. I don't know why it died.)

I used to have a duckweed problem that I eventually cleared out, and as soon as I cleared out the duckweed, I started having a string algae problem. It isn't bad, but it's annoying, and I find myself cleaning the tank out every other day to remove the overgrowth. I want to stock some tetras in the tank, but I don't want to freak them out on a daily basis by sticking my hands in the tank to remove the string algae. 

I bought some AlgaeQuel by Kordon, but upon closely reading the label, it says it's not safe for snails. I assume most of the other algaecides out there will be similarly unsafe for snails, so I'm hesitant to use it. I also have a Japanese marimo ball in the tank which I believe is a species of algae - I don't want to kill it with an algae treatment, either! (Although the string algae grows into/from the marimo quite annoyingly... it's woven its way in.)

Is there a better way to control string algae? Should I just move my snails and marimo to a holding tank for a few days and use the AlgaeQuel? I've read about using barley extract to control future algae reproduction, but is it useful/feasible in such a small tank?

Thank you for any advice on this matter :}


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

not really, marinedepot.com has a tong set that is designed for string algae removal. SAE's are the ONLY species I can think of that eats that kind of algae as well. I think when you removed the duckweed you left an excess of nutrients that the duckweed used before the algae could develop, removing that floater created a vacuum where algae took its place.


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

I used to watch pond snails and ameno shrimp eat hair algea all the time but once i started feeding my corys algea wafers, the shrimp and snail decided to only eat the wafers insted of doing their job and cleaning the algea.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

You definately don't want to use any algae controlling chemicals when there are inverts involved. Duckweed does absorb most of the nutrients in the water column. By removing that, it has skewed the balance of the tank.

What is your current maintenance scheme and photo period like?


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