Experimenting with first planted tank

[Sumpin'fishy]

I'm cycling a 20 gal tank (24x12x16) now. I have a Penguin 125 with bio-wheel as filter, and will not add airation to it. I need a tank with a slow current because one of the occupants will be a male Betta. 6 corys, 4 ottos, and about 5 Ghost shrimp will also occupy the tank. I have a 12" tangled piece of driftwood, an 8"x5"x5" (roughly) piece of pagota rock and medium grain sand substrate. There is only 15 watts of light over the aquarium right now, although I may place a double 20w strip light overtop it later (total 40 watts). I am thinking of possibly trying the Nutrafin Natural Plant System (which is pretty much DIY). I want this setup because it comes with a decent diffuser and a nicer looking DIY canister. I can add my own mixture to it later, as needed.

Basically my situation is that I can't be dumping a bunch of cash on a setup, but want to try my thumb and see if it's green or black! I'm trying Houseplants, too .......doing OK so far! I later want to setup a 55 gal with pressurized CO2 and high light, open-top tank for submergent plants, etc.....the works! I just want to get familiar with the basics so I don't throw away large amounts of money later.

Question 1- Where is a good place to get some decent low to moderate light plants?
-My LFS doesn't stock anything most of the time, and they aren't very good anyways. PetsMart only stocks Hornwort (occasionally) for low light. Don't know of any other places that sell aquarium plants. Should I try some other type of shop?

Question 2- Can I get by with sand, low light, and no CO2 for this tank? At least for a while?
-I really don't have cash up front to upgrade to better equipment now. I just keep hearing how you should fully stock a tank to stop algae from overrunning the place. Do I need to add fertilizers often without rich substrates? I have very little surface agitation with just the one filter running and most of the fish I'm getting can breath O2 from the water surface, as necessary. Will I keep enough CO2 in the water to get the plants working?

I am trying to get familiar with the basics and also would like to see for myself the difference that CO2, Flourite, higher light, etc will do for a planted aquarium. It's nice to have a great setup, but it's nicer to REALLY appreciate all the money and equipment you've got improving your setup! You know what I mean?

Anyways, point out any flaws, and please voice your comments or ideas you might have. Thanks alot.

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

I also wanted to add my water chemistry from the 2 different sources I have. (values are after sitting for 24 hrs.)

Tap Water:
-pH: 7.7
-KH: 5.4

Well Water:
-pH: 6.6
-KH: 0.6

The only problem seems to come when I mix the water and test the results. I mixed the tank I'm cycling with about 75% well water - 25% tap water (not exact figures). The results were: pH ~ 7.2, KH ~2.6. This is getting towards a decent pH, but the KH is getting quite a bit too low to add CO2. Should I stick with tap or go 50-50 and call it even? I think the KH would be a bit above 3.0 going 50-50. I wish the pH would drop according to the KH drop. Also, can I add Crushed Coral and will this have my desired effect or just counteract the well water and sent everything back up? Remember the fish I'm working with. I know they can survive at higher pH's, but I'm trying to supply them with a quality environment that they will thrive in. I will not trade chemistry for stability, though! I just have free well water to work with and would like to put it to use, if at all possible.

Thanks again.