Am I doing ok so far?

[phoenix]

My first venture into the planted aquarium is going to be with a 20gal tank that I'm currently setting up. I have put in the substrate (flourite), and I've got it sloping down from back to front, about 3 inches in the back and around 1 in the front. I have a glass canopy and a 65watt aqualight overhead. The only other thing in the tank is the inlet and outlet of the canister filter (eheim 2232). I'd like to ask a few questions before I go any further, if any of you more wizened aquarists can help me out. :bowing:

Currently I have the inlet in the bottom left corner, close to an inch above the gravel, the outlet is in the upper right corner. If I fill the tank, just a little higher than the bottom of the trim, I can manage to get 1-2" of water above the outlet. I found that if the outlet is pointed straight towards the front of the tank it creates quite a bit of disturbance on the waters surface. But if I turn the outlet approximately 45 degrees towards the inlet, this seems to create much less disturbance, this is because the stream from the outlet doesn't hit into the glass until it reaches the middle of the tank. Does it sound like I've positioned things correctly?

My other concern is the placement of plants. I think I would like an overall look similar to Jiri Panacek's tank that can be seen here(http://www.aquabotanic.com/gallery.htm)
If I have a heap of plants in the corner of the tank, is it ok put them in front of and around the inlet, so that I can conceal that big old bright green tubing? Or would the inlet be better off in a corner of the tank with less plants? Is there any wrong way to do it when it comes to aquascaping and positioning the different pieces of the filter?

I also need to put the heater in and the node for the thermometer, as well as the diffuser on my nutrafin c02 system. Is there any ideal place to locate these items or should I simply try to keep them out of sight?

I would really appreciate any advice. :)

[qtaquaman]

Sounds pretty good but unless your committed to using co2 consistently and on a long term bases don't bother esp. for a 20gal. hide whatever behind posioning is unimporant except that it is good to have the water flow over the heater for better heat distrubition. Also some plants don't like water flow but this is primarily near the roots so your on track. but maybe check how delicate the species is for those who are getting blasted by current. If it's a production tank (strictly for plant growth most like sightly lower temps (low70s) and more direct sunlight the faster the growth. good luck.
The reason I say commited to using co2 is that the plants get used to it and will fall apart if it is ceased.

[djlen]

Derrick -
Before you go any further, I would suggest that you read the stickies at the top of the Plant page. There is a lot of information in them and at the least it will give you reason to ask a lot more questions.
You will need that CO2 with 3.5 watts/gal., and test kits for N and P. You will need to learn your water's quality, especially it's kH if you are going to inject CO2 and keep fish.
I disagree with the above post that plants will 'fall apart' if CO2 is discontinued. They may slow down quite a bit, but it is entirely possible to decrease or discontinue carbon injection. Not a good idea for your wattage however.
I have two other suggestions. If all you've got in the tank is water and substrate, drain the tank and pull the substrate to the front as much as possible, baring the bottom glass. Then sprinkle a handful of ground peat moss over the bottom glass, add some mulm if you have access to some, from the filter of a healthy tank and then replace the Flourite over it. It will decrease the maturation time considerably of your tank.
And load the tank with plants right from the start to help with the inevitable algae issues that most of us deal with in newly set up tanks.
Good luck with your new tank.

Len

[phoenix]

I'd like to thank you both for taking the time to reply.

I'm pretty sure I can remain committed to the c02, I think the nutrafin system is easy enough to use so I won't have too much work to do in that department.

I have read the stickies and everything else I can get my hands on. I appreciate all of the help. I was not sure whether having the heater next to the intake was ok, and whether or not having plants all around these two would result in poor circulation or poor heat distribution. I'm also wondering where the best place is to probe for tank temperature.

I do know most of my water parameters. Kh of 120ppm and gH of 220ppm, my pH seems to be in the 7.5-7.6 range, no phosphates. I had read that suggestion about the peat moss somewhere else, and I did cover the bottom of the tank with a fine layer before I added the flourite (sorry i forgot to mention that).

Would any other information be of help? I know my water is pretty hard, I hope the plants and the new fish will be able to do alright in it.

[djlen]

Your water will be fine for both fish and plants.
I wouldn't worry to much about placement of diffuser or heater as long as you have relatively good water circulation. In fact you may find that your heater won't go on that much if your lighting is PC.
Load it up with plants and it will 'cycle' itself in a short time. Get a good variety of them so you can find out what will grow for you and what won't.

Len