Two Questions

Hey everyone, i have two questions for yall,

#1. I have a snail problem in my five gallon tanks and was wondering how to get them fairly easily.

#2. In that same tank there is some green "stuff" growing everywhere, i thought it was just algae at first but now im not sure, it looks like algae but it is growing more like a plant, but on everything. Also my plecos arent cleaning it off hardly at all, which also leads me to believe it isnt algae.

Anyways if anybody has any ideas or knows something, let me know,
Thanks, Brad

If you have uncontrollable algae, regardless of the size tank, then it means things are out of balance.

You may be overfeeding. Whatever food the fish miss, goes towards being food for algae. One clue that you are overfeeding is that you have too many snails.

If you don't have live plants to compete successfully with algae, the algae will win out.

Too much artificial light encourages algae growth. Do you run a light on the tank? What is the wattage? How many hours a day is the light on?

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it sounds like you have more than one pleco in a five gallon tank. Unless you are an expert with catfish, that sounds like too many plecos for such a small tank.

A common misconception about plecos is that they can live on algae alone, or that they prefer it above all other foods. Plecos do not eat algae exclusively, and they do not eat all kinds of algae. Most plecos need a mixed diet. What kind of plecos do you have and how many live in that five gallon tank? And for how long?

From your description it sounds like you have black brush algae (BBA) growing. BBA is short, dark green, or grayish-green, and tufty. It grows on surfaces such as your filter intake, any decorations including artificial plants, wood, live plants, you name it.

Only a very few fish are known to graze on it and "mow" it down somewhat, but the best way to get rid of it it to remove it manually from most surfaces and let it grow on surfaces where it looks natural, such as on wood. (It's not clear whether Nerite snails eat this algae, but you wouldn't want to add more snails at this point.)

To prevent BBA from prospering you need to get your tank in balance.

If you want to tell us more about your tank, maybe we can help.

In the meantime, a good way to collect snails for removal is to put a slice of zucchini in the tank. They will cover it and you can remove it and the snails at the same time. Plecos love zucchini, usually, so there may be a competition for the slice.

HTH,
Deborah