growth in tank

Question
I have a 10 gallon tank with a divider; a betta on each side. After several months of purchasing and disposing of dead snails I decided not to care for them anymore. The tank has been about a month free of no snails.  There is a filtration system on each side of the tank.  Two weeeks ago I noticed this white fluffy crap all over the gravel.  I vacuumed out the tank and thought what I was giving it a thorough cleaning.  Now, its back again with a vengence.  Its white, fluffy but nasty and taking all over the gravel.  First of all is it unhealthy for my bettas and secondly how do I get rid of it???  I have searched my brains out and can't find a suitable answer.  Should I empty the tank, completely scrub things down, get new gravel and start this whole cycling process all over again?  I bought two algae eater fish and they are not interested and after reading have read when they get bigger can become very aggressive.  Please help.  Please.  I really do care about my bettas and if they are living in a harmful environment I want get it fixed asap.

Answer
Hello Laura this white stuff on all over the gravel, is some kind of fungus/algae. If you wish not to get any snails, there is brands out there that do treat fungus/algae. Some brands don't allow real plants, so if you don't have any real plants, getting one of these to treat fungus/algae would be great for you. This can be unhealthy for you betta's, so just get try to get rid of it fast. Algae eater fish, sometimes don't eat this kind of stuff. You can scrub the tank completely, but the best thing to do is get treatment. Some algae eater's will not become aggressive. Don't worry so much about the algae eater's, they should be fine with the betta's.

Alejandra