Great thread
I was about to add a caution on the red minor tetras, but everyone else did already. If you get an Angel they will rip its fins apart. I got a group on impulse one time and within an hour after putting them in my tank all my fish had ripped up fins! Even my big 4.5" Bolivian Rams! I took them back the same day. They are as fin nippy as Tiger Barbs and one of the most aggressive Tetras.
I had 2 Angels and a small group of Neon's at the same time. One Angel was as big as my palm and just ignored them. The Neon's were timid tho. I didn't realize that until after I sold my Angels and they now swim all over the tank. I suggest getting maybe 3 Guppies, 1 male and 2 females. The females will give birth every 30 days and the Angel will LOVE you for the live food! So will your other fish. Mine had so much fun stalking those little fry down and catching them! It was the best thing to watch hahaha.
Plus Guppies like to nibble at algae all day. Not enough to really help tho.
Another good Tetra for a tank with Angels is the Rummy Nose. Its a very pretty one, with a red face, silver body and a checkerboard tail. They get about 2" so really too big for an Angel snack. Another one is the Cardinal Tetra. They are almost the same as the Neon's, but they have more red and get bigger at 2". Personally I think they are a prettier tetra than the neons because they have more red. Both of these are very peaceful and will not bother other fish.
A good algae eater for a live planted tank is the Otto Ctas. They stay small at 2" and eat algae off the plants without causing any damage at all. I have 2 and they do a great job for me (as best an algae eater can do).
If your mom loves Angels that much, ask her why she would want it to blend in with no background?
You add a plain dark background and the fish will just pop in there! To me, a tank without a background looks so washed out.
Here is a little trick I do to keep the build-up of air pockets to a minimum in my planted tank. I use a chop stick and rake the sand every water change. Its enough to release any trapped air (getting rid of the problem) but not so much that is disturbs the plant roots. Using my hand just disturbed the roots too much, so I got a wooden chopstick and now use that.
The tank looks really nice and I am green over your Amazon baby plant! Mine is as tall as my tank and no baby coming out ever!
One final suggestion, these are all just my humble opinions by the way. If you get an Angel, get yourself some plant that you can hang at the top. I have Hornwort. It can either be planted or floated. I tied a piece of fishing line around mine to make a clump and to keep it in one corner instead of floating everywhere. It will grow down so the Angel will have a hide out at the top to hang around in. Plus, if you get Guppies and they have fry, that is where they will go. I have African Dwarf Frogs and they will lay down up top in it when feeling lazy and my big Apple snail will sit in it too. Also, that kind of plant (the leafy kind) is a favorite for tetras to spawn in.
Good luck!
I almost forgot about this! Be very careful in doing this! Excel is carbon in a bottle and may do more harm than good. I used it once before I started CO2 and had 3 plants melt on me! That was only after I used 3 small doses, not even the amount the bottle said to use! I now give my plants a small bleach bath if they get too much algae on them. You use 1/2 part bleach to 10 parts water. Just enough to smell it. Soak the bigger plants (heavy leaves like the swords) for about 2-3 minutes, your smaller for about 1-2 minutes. Rinse them off real good then soak them another 10-20 minutes in water with 4 times the amount of Prime dechlorinator. This will make most of the algae just rinse off. As long as you rinse and soak real well it will be fine. I have never had any damage to my plants from doing this. For plastic decorations, I use 1 part bleach instead of 1/2 part. Same soaking process. The Prime strips away any bleach that may be still on them after a good rinsing under the tap.
