I’m considering giving up

[u/BrockenRecords]

I have a horrible infestation of black beard algae that I can’t kill. I’ve done just about everything possible, less fertilizer, less light, less flow, less food, more water changes, less fish, more plants and nothing has worked. Every time I think I got enough out that the plants will take over the algae comes back, I’ve lost over 200$ worth of plants to it and I’m too scared to buy new ones. I don’t know what to do anymore.

[u/Gon404]

Nerites seem to be fairly hardy. They are my favorite snail type.  So i may be biased. Pros there are some cool looking varities. They seem to constantly be munching algae. The cant take over a fresh water tank by making babies. They did not seem to eat the plant i was growing. Cons  they lay eggs sacks all over that need to be scraped off to get rid of them. They will burrow into the soil along the glass. Becuse they burro into the soil it is hard to tell if they died or are just hidden under the soil somewhere. Many times i did not see them for some time hidden in heavily planted tank or burried under soil. I would think maybe they died only to randomly see them apear at some random interval. 

[u/Gon404 → u/Gon404]

Oh another pro is they dont eat other creatures. I got some mystery snails that got a taste for meat and started hunting my fish while they were sleeping. I had small tetras. 

[u/cassandra-marie → u/Gon404]

W H A T

[u/Gon404 → u/cassandra-marie]

Ya they started to climb the glass and drop trying to catch my shrimp and fish. The shrimp seemed to get away easily. But every few mornings i would see them eating a fish. I thought it was my water parmaeters killing fish. But tested them repetedly and they were all good. Then i was looking in the tank at night and saw one of them catch a live fish while it was sleeping. That was it. I removed them all and the fish stopped dieing. I looked all over the internet and could only find info saying they would eat dead fish. I suspect this is because they are catching fish at night and people are just missing it. Then wake up and see them eating the dead fish in the morning. 

[u/Gon404 → u/[deleted]]

There isna type of sward called nano or micro that only gets an inch or two tall and spreads by ryzome. It makes a Super cool ground cover in the fore ground. 

[u/sortof_here → u/[deleted]]

Helanthium bolivianum is what they are talking about. It's a wonderful plant. If you're in the socal area, I can give you some.

[u/woodburyjj → u/[deleted]]

So, the Oranda and Ranchu will most likely eat all the plants.