You probably don't have enough light to grow Amazon swords or anacharis. The
java fern and anubias will be fine, and probably the African fern will be okay,
too.

As for the algae...after your tank cycles, get three otocinclus. They'll take
care of it. It's common for new tanks to go through a stage where the brown
algae takes over, and it will probably go away on its own. But it's good to
have a few algae-eaters in a planted tank, and otos are small - perfect for a
26 gallon tank.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/