I'm trying to breed my albino and tiger as I've told you! just curious if over growth of algae on the slate could cause a problem? they kill everything i put in the tank so i went for a couple bigger snails to help clean a little. they killed 2 smaller mystery snails i put in there aloready but they were small about 1" in diameter now i have 2 apple snails that are about 2-2 1/2" in diameter they dont like the snails but they also won't be able to get them in they're mouth...lol. any response is appreciated!!!

Algae is part of keeping fish I'm afraid, you will never avoid having some grow in your tank. Algae thrives on nutrients that can be created from fish food etc. What you need to do is make sure you don't overfeed, don't leave your tank lights on for too long, make sure you carry out regular water changes to keep the nitrate as low as possible. This is the best way of minimising algae growth.

I personally don't think it's worth buying fish/creatures to eat the algae and keep the tank clean, after all, you've got to clean up after those fish so it really does defeat the object at the end of the day.

Regarding the slate that you hope your Oscars will lay eggs on, don't worry, they will keep it clean. You'll be amazed how clean they get their slate.

The slate pieces in my breeding tank get coated in algae between sets of eggs, and my Oscars always do a good job of cleaning it off before they lay them, so I wouldn't worry about it.