Tank Stocking

[daizeUK]

My 6yo chooses names for some of my platies too!  Not all of his names get approved though, I draw the line at Flippy and Splashy!
 
I have heard that oto's do better in mature tanks as they are quite sensitive - I don't have oto's myself though but you might want to check that.

 

[SamB]

Does the algae eater look like this guy?

 

[Sarabrisc]

a little a line down the side x

 

[SamB]

Definitely ottos

 

[snazy]

we are such novices i feel awful over stocking but lfs were advising us knowing what we had what size tank etc and here i was worried id put to many ornaments in!  
 

       
We all go that route unfortunately, at least most of us. My first fish had no heater or filter at all, many years ago

 I couldn't overstock because they kept dying on me

 for what I thought was no apparent reason..
 
As for the tank, if you want to keep an angel fish, get at least min 50cm height, possibly more if you can and it won't be bad if its 4 f long too. This type of tank will give you enough options for the future and for the kids to have the chance to name many fish. Larger tanks are also way more stable as enviroment. You still need to be careful not to overstock though
If you'd like an easier and cheaper way to keep a successful planted tank and want a mini water garden in your home, research the "Diana Walstad" method to setup a low tech planted tank. 

 

[Noahsfish]

Wow, this thread has grown super fast haha. Anyways, a few thoughts...your "algae eater" is probably a oto like said, but from the blurry picture it almost looked like a Siamese algae eater, in which case you need to rehome it. If you could get up a better picture than that would help. I would definetly rehome the guppies, the fry and the platys if you don't have another tank set up for them. Oh, and I'm not saying that the people at your lfs aren't nice, it's just they're really just sales people, most genuinely don't know much about fish keeping.