My Ditto came from a Magicarp <| sep |> hey , ill go with 21 but why would you wait so long for a small beta invite ? you have 150 , its filled up <| sep |> Yes , I hate that just as much . the world has gone mad <| sep |> I would definitely get a lid . With 2 clearance you might be okay but I wouldn ' t do it . You can make one , temporary or permanent with plastic craft mesh . Get a piece bigger than the tank and you can just lay it on the top edge . Clear so your light isn ' t reduced . The drawback is it ' s lightweight . If you want to finish the edges and add a little weight slide plastic binder holders on all four edges . This adds rigidity , too . I don ' t quarantine snails or shrimp . Everything else , I do . Nerites are great at cleaning some algae and diatoms . There are some algae types they don ' tcan ' t eat . Sounds like you already know that algae points to an imbalance , usually between lighting and nutrients . Have you had nitrates ? You should have if you ' re truly cycled , even with plants . I dose ammonia until I get at least three or four days of 3 ppm ammonia dropping to 0 in 24 hours . My nitrates are usually off the charts after cycling so I do a giant water change to get them to 20 or less before adding animals . 40 is supposedly the max that ' s not dangerous . I ' m just cautious . Snails don ' t change shells . No extras needed . I quarantine plants and fish for three weeks . I have a 1 and a 1 . 6 gallon tank I use as quarantine or hospital tanks , as needed . Don ' t try to change your PH . You ' ll drive yourself crazy . Stability is much more important than a specific number . Mine is 8 . 0 and bettas , snails and rcs do just fine in it .