first of all, you need to find out what type of algae you have.

I have cladophora algae. I grow this naturally in the tank. It's on the rocks, on the wood, slightly on the live plants and on the gravel. Every Sunday I prune the algae, that is, I grab up as much of the stuff that appears to be growing too much, like on the leafs of the plants so the pores of the petals can "breathe", but on all other objects, I usually let it grow unless it turns into a huge ball (once it grew huge like 4" by 4", then I clumped it all up in one shot and put it in a mason jar, put aquarium water in it and I have it sitting on an inside window sill growing).

Algae is a plant. Few understand this. Not a thing wrong with algae as long as it is kept under control.

So first, find out what type of algae it is. Let it grow yet keep it under control. You can control it by either yourself, fish, shrimp or snails, but first you must identify the exact type of algae.

http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm this is a great site with real color pictures so you may identify the type of algae

So to all fishkeepers, novices or experts, algae is one of the few misunderstood plants out there. Never fear algae, enjoy all the living things in our tanks, just learn how to manage them.

Ahhhhh life (((smiles)))

I have a colony of probably many thousand Malaysian trumpit snails in my planted tank. They hang out in the gravel by day and come out and clean the glass and plants at night. They also stir up the gravel which is benneficial to it's health.

I preffer ramshorn snails for cleaning algae off plant leaves, though they can eat delicate plants. The Malaysian's eat the eggs of the ramshorn I think, so I have to put new ones into this tank occasionally so there's some to clean the leaves.

Since you have dwarf puffers Mro2you2 I guess you'll have to just keep nitrates low and scrape once in a while.

I really like the commentary Yasher wrote. I have this black looking furry algae growing on some of the exposed wood and filter equipment. It stays under coltrol if I do water changes enough and it's kind of a way to make the equipment look more natural.

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/ if you go to the "tankmates" section of that link, you will find otocinclus catfish will live fine with the dwarf puffers.

Just a thought

I had 6 dwarf puffers for a while back. Those cute little things roll their eye balls like a chameleon and chase down any thing you put into the tank and nip them; even a bulldog/rubber pleco that stays under a rock all the time. Finally, they break each others mouth fighting for a blood warm and die of starvation later. Say but nothing I can do about it.

Sorry for being not very helpful but just to share a little experience with this fish.
Happy holidays.

well even though otocinclus catfish do get along with dwarf puffers, but in your case they do not

so let us understand this type of algae:

Causes: excess silicates & nitrates; Inadequate light; Low oxygen levels
Cure: wipe off surfaces & vacuum gravel well; use silicate adsorbing resin in the filter; increase the lighting; stock plecostomus
Prevention: regular water changes; regular aquarium cleaning; good lighting

Now I must point out, increase in lighting may cause green algae, so you may need counter this.

So I think the best you have is purchase some plecos; now of course these babies can grow to 18" (depends on the type you get) so you will need to either have enough room or transfer these fish to their own tank in the future.

If you need further assistance, do not hesitate to inquire