What algae eater should i get for my 10 gallon aquarium?

Question

I currently have

*2 zebra fish

*6 neon tetras

I dont really want to add any more fish (i know that oto's would be a good choice for fish but ...) but i was thinking i should get a snail or shrimp to act as an algae eater. thing is i dont know how many ghost shrimp i can put in my 10 gallon tank or how many nerite snails. Which should i get, ghost shrimp or nerite snails or a combo of both? And how many of each. Any other suggestions or info on either of them would be very helpful!!

thanks :D

Answer 1

dont get the reguler type because they can grow 2 feet big you should get the small type that could only grow 5 inches big

Answer 2

yes good choices! i would get 2 ghost shrimp ad maybe 1 or 2 of the snails! so your tank is extra pretty and has more life and interesting things in it other than fish!

Answer 3

Snails are great algae eaters, but just be warned that many of them are asexual, and will most likely reproduce like crazy -- they don't need a partner to reproduce either. Nerite snails as far as I know are more suitable for brakish or saltwater aquariums though.

Shrimp are good algae eaters, but since they're so small you would need a lot of them to take care of the algae, which isn't a problem since they don't produce a lot of bio-load. :) Just be careful not to add any fish that might consider the shrimp as snacks.

EDIT: NO plecos! Not even Bristlenoses, they get too large for your aquarium.

EDIT 2: Okay, answer to your main question: a single apple snail, since I believe those don't reproduce asexually (correct me if I'm wrong), or a small colony of 6-10 shrimp, as long as there's no fish large enough to eat them.

Answer 4

I'd get a mix of both as they have a minimal affect on the bioload.

Not sure how many though as I've not kept them, maybe 4 shrimp and 2 snails?

Answer 5

5 glass shrimp and a apple snail! no plecos they get way to big.

Answer 6

Pleco's are great they are placid, low maintenance and best of all suck the algea off everything!  

Answer 7

I would personally stay away from snails, mostly because they reproduce asexually and just getting a few of them would make dozens of little snail babies, crowding the tank.  For a little ten gallon tank, ghost shrimp would be great.  They are fun to watch, and they do a great job of cleaning.  I'd recommend about 3 ghost shrimp, just because there might not be enough food remains from your tiny fish to feed a large number of them.

I would not get a Pleco, because it would outgrow the tank very fast (some species can reach 2 feet), and they will swallow smaller fish once they get bigger.  Even the smaller variations that only reach 5 inches or so would crowd the tank, since ideally you want to have 1 gallon of water per 1 inch of fish.