My first shrimp tank :D

[R_sustaita]

otocinclus are the best for algae on the glass and they are small so twice as good for shrimp tanks. i am using a filter media bag over my intake now and it seems to be doing well although i am just now getting berried females so i have yet to see if it keeps the shrimplets off of the suction. if you are mixing RCS with snowballs then be aware that they are the same genus so they will cross breed. that may be not be a big deal to you but important to note if you ever give them away or share stock with someone else.

Oto cat is not doing anything on my main tank. it will not clean them. i only have RCS so no interbreeds

[eklikewhoa]

Ocats with nerites seem to be the best combo

[Totenkampf]

ah i thought that you mentioned that you were getting some snowballs from ek. odd that they otos dont clean your glass, maybe the angels scare em lol.

[R_sustaita]

i have 2 assassin snails with the shrimp but i have an oto and assassin on the main and the glass is with algae. i havent removed it manually.

[R_sustaita]

no im getting some rcs males from ek. and the angels are too busy fighting with each other to bug the oto. he is cleaning the plants and gravel but will not touch the glass.

[eklikewhoa]

More ocats.

[R_sustaita]

what about a pleco? dont they eat more algae?

[Totenkampf]

the only type of 'pleco' that is worth having just for the sake of algae eating is, IMO, is ancistrus sp 'bristle nose' catfish. they are small for a pleco but you may not want to add one to a 10g since they still get pretty big (~5-6in).

[R_sustaita]

any algae eating snails?

[eklikewhoa]

Nerites.

Get like 10 ocats along with a hand full of nerites

[TexSun]

Nerites.

Get like 10 ocats along with a hand full of nerites

I think o-cats are on sale @ petsmart right now. $1.15ea.

[Totenkampf]

but dont get nerites if you have assassins of course, lol. i forget which tank you had those in. ocats are small so 1 per gallon would be plent in that 10.

[R_sustaita]

I have assassins on both but onoy one on the 10g and 2 with the shrimp.

10 cats plus my other fish will be to much for a 10g wouldnt it?

[mnemenoi]

O-cats can be tricky with tanks that have a limited amount of algae, they can be given supplemental food though. Nerits are large and assasins will leave them alone as with all snails larger then themselves. They just kill off the younger snails and eventually the older ones die off. I have seen them take on similar sized snails occasionally, but even that is rare. Nerites don't breed in fresh (brackish and Marine I believe) so they will just leave them alone and they are great algae eaters.

[R_sustaita]

Ok good info from everyone. I will see what i can do.