Do you need to change water that often?

[JustOneMore20]

Originally Posted by dm800

Someday I'll get that 20+ gal! And you will be the first I come to to ask what i should put in it! Hehe. Maybe next weekend I will pick up 3 or 4 rasboras to start with and then check the levels in the tank and once everything is ok maybe I will get a couple more. Is 6 a minium for these, would they not like to be in a group smaller than that? Does odd or even numbers matter?

5-6 is the minimum for schooling fish........you could have as many as 8 IMO in your tank with the Betta. Odd or even numbers do not matter....I'd just have atleast 5 or 6 to keep them happy.

Originally Posted by dm800

I am getting a little brown stuff on the gravel which from other posts I have read on here seems to be diatomic algae. Its also on some of the plant leave and I have just been wiping it off. My gravel is a tan color anyways so it is not that noticeable but when I vacuum it up it seems to go away (either that or it is stirring up the gravel enough to hide it). Anyways, is it a good idea to get some sort of algae eater to put in the tank to help keep this stuff under control?

Brown diatom algae is very common in new setups. If you give it a couple months, it should disappear on its own. It wipes off easily, so if you have to wipe the plants clean every so often, that would work.

Otocinclus (Otos) love diatom algae and they'd be small enough to put in your tank. They are social though, so you'd want atleast 2. You could stick with 5-6 rasboras and get a couple Otos if you want. The algae will soon go away though, once the tank matures more.

You'll want to feed Otos some algae wafers every so often (even with algae in the tank).