Could Someone Check My Stocking Plan Please?

[RipSlider]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm interested to see how it goes - a journal in the planted section would be really interesting, but please keep an open mind in case it doesn't work out for the kind of tank you want.

What I'm looking for really is an excellent tank for fish to live in, and if plants grow, then thats all for the good as well, rather than focusing on the plants first. Definately looking for a fishtank, rather than an aquascape in the main. The question I keep asking myself in my head is "would this setup suit Blue Rams?" - I'm not planning on keeping them, but they are hard fish to keep in anything other than excellent water, and so thats what I'm using as a target.

The CO2's main job is to control the water chemistry - I have hard-ish water and I want a South American setup, and from experience, bogwood alone won't do the trick. It's no SO hard that RO is the only option - I have been down the RO route before, and it's not a cheap way to keep fish. Therefore, I'm having a crack with CO2 instead. I will never get to an ultra high tech setup, because I just don't have the light for it, and I'm not planning on any major nutrient additions, at least at the moment. I'm not expecting the CO2 to be above 15-20ppm.

For the algae, thats the purpose of the shrimp and the otos ( well, second purpose - I love shrimp and otos to look at anyway ) and I'll have to play that one by ear.

If I can get some nice looking plants growing, then thats going to be fantastic, but it's not the principle reason for putting in the CO2. However, while I have it, I figure that I'll give the green fingers a crack and see what happens.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Always better to know where your priorities are. Co2 is working great for me at keeping my water chemistry neutral and stable. I usually have a ph of around 8.0 and now I can keep angelfish.