Help with a new setup new to me...

Hey Beeker,

Looks like I'm fielding most of your questions today.

For one thing, the bio-wheel filter and the bubbler will drive off any CO2 in your tank and suffocate the plants. You would do much better with a small, internal power filter. There are several kinds but I would recommend a Duetto 100 or maybe even a small Duetto 50 for the tank. Ditch the air pump.

You will still want to do light vacumming of your substrate from time to time. But the Cory's do a very, very good job of cleaning up for you. I added just 3 to a 29 gallon tank I had set up once and was amazed with how much less debris I was finding in the tank. The plants will help by lowering the NitrAtes in your tank.

For plants I would suggest doing a search on google for places that sell aquatic plants if you don't have a good source nearby.

That way you will know what plants you are using and will most likely be able to get information from the site about how to take care of each kind a what they need.

Have you thought about what kind of substrate to use?

Would you reccomend Fluval plus internal pumps?

Majorfish,

I do have a fluval cannister filter and like it. I have not used on of their internal power filters so I cannot personally endorse it. But I don't discourage anyone from trying one out either.

Beeker,

For a good all around substrate, flourite would be fine. Many aquatic plant enthusiasts say this is all you need for a planted aquarium substrate. Opinions will vary however.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=28673;category_id=3145

Any live plants would be fine for the Betta's fins. I personally prefer the natural look, so I would suggest driftwood or maybe a few rocks to go in it.

There are a lot of plants that would do ok with 3 wpg like you have on this tank. I can only suggest that you look around the net at other tanks and plants for what you like.

Have you thought about DIY CO2 injection? With that you could make a very nice, heavily planted little tank.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Do a search for it online and you will find plenty of info about this for aquaria.

Adding Carbon Dioxide to help promote good growth of plants. No, you don't "have to have it". It's a personal choice. The difference between a lightly planted tank with fairly decent growth or a heavily planted tank with phenominal growth.

It really depends on what you want out of the tank and how much time you wish to devote to it.

Read up on the options and decide if it would be something you would be interested in.

Hi Beeker
DIY (do-it-yourself) CO2 is easy and inexpensive, and all plants will benefit from it. With hardier plants and lower light, it's not completely necessary - there's always some CO2 in the water. There's a link in my tank specs page to a page all about CO2, including a DIY setup. If you look up DIY CO2 online you'll find all sorts of variations on a theme - it's basically a pop bottle, some airline, and a yeast/sugar/water mixture; when the yeast consumes the sugar, it releases CO2 as a by-product. The CO2 is channeled through the airline and into the tank.
You can try things out with your filter and see how it goes - I use a Penguin 170 with a bio-wheel on my 10g, and the plants are thriving. It's true that a bio-wheel will reduce the CO2 in the tank, but with 2 2L bottles of DIY CO2, my tank tends to stay around 10-12ppm.
I agree with removing the airstone - it's possible to have a successful planted tank with an air pump, but if you're going to try adding CO2 it really does defeat the purpose. FWIW, oxygen and CO2 are independent of one another - more CO2 doesn't necessarily mean there's less oxygen in the tank, and vice versa.
If injecting CO2 sounds like too much, try things without it. There's also a Flourish product that supplies carbon to plants, I've seen people with low-maintenance tanks who use it successfully. Other people use nothing at all, and have very happy plants.

For substrates, there are many options that will work. Flourite is great, but it's expensive. If you're going for low-cost, low-maintenance, you can use gravel or sand - Len recommended I place peat beneath my substrate, I tried it, and agree it's a great idea. Just a little peat, and/or mulm (filter gunk) under the gravel will give plants a great head start.

Plants do good things for the water chemistry; they take up ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate (any form of N), as well as phosphates. Regular water changes will help replenish some of the elements that tap water provides.

I still get overwhelmed with all the information involved in keeping plants successfully. Keep in mind there are fifty ways to do any one thing, and it'll probably take some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. My best advice is to do what makes you feel comfortable, trust the plants to let you know if there's something they're missing, and work from there.

I think it would be cutting it close.
You could try a betta, three corys (they're best in groups of three or more) and maybe one or two male platys, but I wouldn't put in more than that.
Dwarf, pygmy (keep six or more) or pandas are probably the best choices. I don't recommend bronze corys - they're beautiful, but they can reach 3" long.

I think if it was my tank I'd try the betta and corys with two otos - they're adorable and do a great job cleaning up algae and leftover food.