Rocks and Driftwood

[An t-iasg]

Hi meegosh,
I think you need a total of 150 watts for your heater. Since it's a long tank, I'd use two 75-watt heaters, one on each end of the tank. I place mine vertically or slightly slanted but I keep the dial where it's easy to read and adjust.

If you are using fake plants, you don't need Eco-complete. It's a very good substrate and the only one I use. But it is somewhat expensive and it would be "wasted" if you're going to have fake plants. The moss doesn't have roots so it doesn't need Eco either. You could get regular black Estes gravel if you like a black substrate.

[meegosh]

Perfect! Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was a little worried that the one, albeit larger heater, would not be enough.

I feel kind of dumb now asking about the eco since java moss doesn't even have roots! LOL! I have 50lbs of pool filter sand which is white/beige. I am going away from darker colors since I have black/multicolored gravel now. New tank is going to be more of a natural looking tank.

Now for my final question (for now) is the one AquaClear 50 enough filtration/aeration? I have two powerheads laying around that I could add one to the opposite side of the filter if necessary/beneficial.

[pitt420dude]

The AC 50 pumps 200gph (or is at least rated for that) so I think it should be fine. Especially if you're going to add additional powerheads, which you may or may not want to do depending on your livestock. (Fast or slow swimmers).