Best option for an algae eater

[Deadeye]

36 gallon bow front
Medium-Heavily Planted
3 Y. Eos
1 Y. Morleti
1 EBA
6 Serpae Tetras
And I will soon be adding 3 C. Asselus

So already a heavy bioload.

I’m not too concerned about glass algae. I can remove manually on the front and stopped caring about the back.
Problem is the plants are covered in algae, and I doubt that’s good for them. I got 100 scuds, but if any survived, it is going to be a while before I start seeing them work.
What will be an effective algae eater?
I’ve thought of otos, plecos, and mollies. None seem like a good idea though, as mollies may eat plants, plecos are high bioload and may eat plants, and otos are just hard to keep alive and may be harassed by loaches. Inverts are out because puffers and cichlid.
Any good options I’m missing?

 

[fishguy1978]

Ramshorn, trumpet or bladder snails. With the loaches and the future addition of puffs it will be hard to maintain the snail population. Depending on how heavy the algae growth is on the leaves it may not be a problem. I have green algae spots on my crypts in a tank with 3 BNP, an SAE and cherry shrimp.
SAE do well with hair algae but not so much on other types.

 

[Deadeye]

On some plants it’s just spots, on others (mostly an anubias) it is a thick film covering the whole leaf.
I’ll try to pick up more snails. I’m growing them as feeders, but they don’t last long lol.

 

[Punjabiking1500]

The most effective
Non aggressive
Peaceful
The real one who eats algae
And constantly looks for algae
Is
The Siamese algae eater

 

[fishguy1978]

The most effective
Non aggressive
Peaceful
The real one who eats algae
And constantly looks for algae
Is
The Siamese algae eater

The most effective
Non aggressive -ish
Peaceful - ish
The real one who eats algae
And constantly looks for algae
Is
The Siamese algae eater

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Dont SAE's have a reputation for sucking slime coats? Wouldn't Amano Shrimp work?

 

[Cich Mind]

Hello Deadeye ,
I have seen several reports about Bristlenose Plecos being good algae eaters. They are relatively small and get into all kinds of nooks and crannies too. They are not as bad of poop machines as the common Pleco which is nice. SAE, Coryodoras and Nerite snails may help as well. Not sure how they would handle the live plants though. Just my 2 cents. GL

 

[Deadeye]

So I guess the two best options are sae and pleco.
Would the loaches mess with the sae?

 

[duanes]

With that heavy bioload, controlling algae might be best done with more water changes, as opposed to adding even more bioload.
Algae need nutrients and light to survive, and so if the the tank is already heavily planted, my "guess" is there are more than enough excess nutrients than the plants can uptake, so plenty available for algae.
Before adding more bioload, I'd suggest doubling or tripling water changes for a couple weeks to see if that makes a dent.
On such a small tank, a daily water change of 5 or more gallons, would be a simple 5 minute task, and do wonders for algae control.
If that option doesn'twork, , a shoal otocinclus would be my choice, along with a heavier water change schedule.

 

[Deadeye]

Haven’t gotten anything yet.
I did just think about gobies though. I read neon stiphodon gobies are algae eaters, and from what I know about gobies, they produce no more waste than a shrimp. Thoughts?