need advice on a CUC for a 1 gallon

Ok, before anyone says it, I know I am insane for starting with a 1 gallon tank, but whatever, its all I have space for.

Ok, I have a sand bed with some plants that seem to be doing really well, two male guppies, and three small ghost shrimp.

My problem is that I was told the shrimp would help clean up the algae, and they seem to be purely non-vegetarian. I have tried two snails now, both of which lasted about two weeks then died. They did a pretty good job of cleaning up, but I don't want to invest that kind of money in disposable snails every two weeks. I do a 25% water change once a week, and I just can't keep up.

Can anyone recommend a cleaner that can help me out? I assume the tank is too small for most of the traditional algae eater fish, so I am thinking that some kind of invert is my best bet, but I'm open to anything at this point.

 

First your way overstocked, get rid of the guppies. If you want algae eaters then get Amano Shrimp, they wont reproduce and you could have 3 in that tank. If you want a colorful shrimp then get cherry shrimp, they will also eat algae but will reproduce in FW

 

Otocinclus

They are amazing algae eaters.
First, they are relatively small and stay under 2:

Second, they aren't aggressive and are actually quite fun to watch. they eat lots of algae and won't touch your plants. They love brown algae (diatoms) that is common in newly started tanks and also eat all kinds of soft green algae including green dust algae.

You could also try Cherry Shrimp as opposed to ghost shrimp. They are algae beasts.

 

A 1g is too small for any fish