"I'd like some expert advice first." I am far from expert but I'll take a stab at it. "Hello All!
I'm looking at getting an algae eater for my little tank, and I think an otto might be right," Oto's are very efficient algae eaters, exception BBA. IMO they are only 2nd best to a TRUE siamese algae eater or "true" SAE. They will eat BBA along with other algaes. The hard part is knowing that you are getting a true SAE. Some stores have mislabeled them and they closely resemble chinese algae eaters and others that are agressive, and not good algae eaters." The setup: 1.6g plastic hex tank." Hold the Phone! to small, even for an Oto. Otos are sturdy fish, but very sensitive to "poor" water conditions. The tank is too small for the bio-load you have. " NANO filter with just the open sponge, a few carbon lumps, and tiny bit of biozyme added every couple weeks" I'm not sure what you mean by the carbon lumps?but the biozyme wont hurt, but it doesn't help either. IMO a waste of money."two 6" pieces of elodea"" I like the elodea I have, but it just floats around and doesn't really give the tank any structure." You can plant it in the gravel. Just shove one end in and it will root. Sometimes if the gravel is too light or not deep enough it will float free, just use a rock or one of your clay pots."I want to make sure anything I get would be chemically and aesthetically compatible with all of my critters" I'm not sure about frogs but guppy's wont hurt the plants. Make sure any plants you get are "true aquatic plants". Java Fern is a good beginer plant, not very demanding of light or nutrients and seems to do good even in less then ideal conditions for plants."
Any suggestions?? " Get a larger aquarium, at least a 10 gallon, 20L is better. This will allow you more room for fish and plants. For "smaller" aquariums I like 29G or even 30G. The 30G is long, about 3'. The 29G is the same length as a 20L (30"), but higher. You still can have a pretty attractive "beginer" planted tank with a 10G. As far as the algae, frequent water changes and reduce lighting (both tank light and any nearby windows) you can increase your lighting time when your plants are growing at a good pace. Elodea is a fast grower once it gets over the initial shock of water change. When the plants are growing faster, they use up the nutrients quicker and will out compete the algae for the "food". Then you can increase lighting time back up. Planted tanks 10-14 hrs a day, no live plants

Woeisme- thanks for your input. I wish I could get a larger tank, but the landlord won't allow anything bigger. Technically I'm not supposed to have this one, but she said it's no different than a milk jug full of water which they can't ban so my tank was ok. As far as lighting goes, I don't normally keep a light on it at all - today was an exception because it was incredibly dark outside so no ambient light was coming in to speak of. The tank is a good 8+ feet from the only (north facing) window so it doesn't get much light, really. I have tried planting the elodea before, but the captured end just seems to rot off so I let it float. The carbon lumps are pieces of activated carbon from a carton - they don't make carbon stuffed filters small enough for mine so I drop a few pieces in and they eventually sink to the bottom of the filter.

Hope that helps clear some things up. I am certainly a beginner, so even the most basic advice is probably new to me!

Is it just a weight restriction for the aquarium? A 10G could will weigh somewere around 100 - 130lbs. Reason that this is about the weight of a petite person. A 20G would be the weight of a large person (I'm 220 and haven't fell through the floor yet).

My understanding is that the rules are more of a liquid restriction. They don't want even ten gallons of water crashing onto the carpet and seeping through the floor onto someone else's head. Plus moisture and mold are a huge problem here (we had to sign paperwork saying we will treat any and all mold, and prevent it as much as possible), so the excess moisture released in the air by a tank, even covered, would contribute to a mold problem.

Plus there is the hassle of determining the line, is 10 gallons ok, or 20? If so, why not 50 or 250 for that matter.

So the verdict says my tank is too small to add an otto... is that what I'm hearing?

Just a little question while I may or may not have someone's attention: Is it normal for a guppy to have a crooked spine? My guy seems to have it somedays then it goes away on others, I can see it both from the top down and looking at his sides so I guess it would be a three dimensional sort of deformity. He has always seemed the weakling to me, never recouping as fast as my old guppy when his fins were damaged by my inexperienced netting and such. Any ideas?

Thanks!!!
Lexie

Sounds like it is sick. How is his "belly"? Is it bloated or sunken in? Is the color faded at all? You probably could get away with an oto, they dont add much to the bio-load because they are so small. Guppy's are usually small , Frogs I am not sure of. Maybe start a new thread for the guppy, another member here breeds them, not by choice it seems LOL. Could also possibly be a water condition. I know you have a small aquarium, but do you test the water for pH,GH,KH and other parameters? Does this happen after a water change or before one. You probably should do very frequent water changes, twice a week about 1/2 to 3/4 gallons, especially with the oto. Maybe just by doing that it will resolve your algae issues. Also what kind of algae is it? green water, hair or fuzzy algae, black brush algae, green spot or brown sludge?

The guppy seems to get most twisted after I add new water, even if I'm just replacing evaporation. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not letting it sit out long enough or putting enough aquasafe in it. The directions on the aquasafe say 1 teaspoon for 10 gallons... I never have that much sitting out for my tank, so measuring is hard.
His belly is a little big now and then but it coincides pretty well with how big his dinner was the night before, and the belly changes don't really coincide with the spine changes. His color faded a little bit when the other guppy died, but I think it's because he's lonely and doesn't have anyone to keep him on his "toes."

I don't have the testing kits because there's only one store in town that sells them and they adjust the price accordingly! I try to change out at least a quarter of the water every week.

The algae is only on the walls of the tank. The side closest to the window (most light) has little green spots here and there, and the side farthest from the window has a light brown dusting all over. The store didn't get any ottos in this week so I'm going to try to scrape as much of the algae off as possible to keep it under control until I can get an otto.

Thank you so much for your help!!
Lexie

I agree the tank is too small. The underwater filters (the kind you described) are useless. I've seen far too many filters of this sort sold and it just doesn't do any good job at all. I'd suggest you look for another type of filter, the type that hangs outside of the tank. I used to own one of those water wheel types and it did perform a good job. (However, I moved on to Eheim cannister filters given that I have a 55 gal. tank). I think its a shame taht most petstore owners do not explain the difficulties of small tank maintenance (which is far more frequent) in comparison to large tanks. I did start out my aquarium hobby with a 10 gal tank and almost immediately changed to a 29 gal. and then to a 55 gal. The larger the tank, the less frequency of water changes.

For a small tank like yours once a week 1/4 change is not enough given the size of the tank and the number of occupants. Nitrate buildup is what you'd need to watch out for. You also need to vacuum the gravel as well to remove fish & frog waste which are the sources of nitrate buidups.

Guppies (including mollies) require soft water. So I think simply adding aquasafe which removes clorine is not enough. Check your petstore to get a product that helps to soften the water (it's a form of salt).

Looks like sunlight is the source of your algae build-up. So can you move the tank to another area?

Watch out for another form of blue green algae which forms slimy sheets and covers large surfaces. This type you can get rid of by using fish antibiotics. Believe it or not, this specific type of algae is so ancient that it's part bacteria and part plant. Antiobiotics normally used to kill germs, can kill these stuff. And it does so very quickly. Do not use any of those algae killing chemicals. It's just not good to the other inhabitants in the tank.

Add more plants that produce oxygen. More oxygen, less algae,

Plants are good additions but you didn't describe which type of plants you have. I own a nature aquarium which generally means the emphasis is on plants rather than on fish (although I own several New Guinea and Australian rainbow). I use ghost shrimps to eat uneaten food debris that fall to the bottom. I have a pleco (now 7 years old) that helps scrapes the algae off the walls and floor of the aquarium. However plecos grow very large and mine is getting there. I also recently added siamese flying fox to address hair algae. I do 50% water changes every week. I try to gently vacuum off the fish poo that remains in the bottom of the tank. My lighting set up is simple flourescent lighting. I also use a CO2 generator (which is a DIY) to boost plant growth. Plants love CO2 during the day and at night provide oxygen to the tank.

Hope that helps