1. When starting out a new aquarium, it is best to add hardier species at first. Once your aquarium ages a bit and gets settled, you can start to add more sensitive fish to the aquarium.
2. It is generally recommended to use natural gravel for the aquarium. Colored gravel can be used, as long as it is professionally made, certain cheaply made color gravels can be toxic to fish in your aquarium.
3. Purchasing fish that feed off of algae is a good plan to take care of an algae problem in your aquarium. You could also try cutting back the amount of lighting in the aquarium or get an algae treatment chemical to take care of any algae problems.