Advice! heading to the next big step!

[avaine]

I have been successfully owning a single male betta for two years now and i want to start the next Adventure of being a Fish-keeper. I want to start a Community Freshwater Tank. My Budget for setup (everything) is about $350.
I really like the Fluval Edge 2 12 gal tank for its size and clear glass beauty and have found very conflicting reviews about it. I have also thought about getting a much larger tank (Aqueon 25 Gallon premium Aquarium Kit) which comes with almost everything. I prefer small tanks but i keep on hearing that larger tanks have better success for beginners. I sometimes also get sucked between a planted tank or one with fake plants or dive into ideas such as have potted live plants in the tank.

I am very confuse with many things such as:
gravel vacuuming, can you to that to a planted tank?
Good hearty fish for the cycling process?
what plants are easy to care for?
best fishes to put together, can i put snails and shrimps?
what gravel/substrate to use?
I believe that i am confused because every site i go says a different thing and its driving me a little bonkers.

Any answers,Tips, Advice is much appreciated!!!

 

[jetajockey]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree, bigger is better, it's nice to have a larger water volume to work with, as it is often more forgiving.

Definitely go with live plants, they are more natural for the fish and they also serve to help filter the water.

You can vacuum a planted tank, you just have to do so carefully as to not disturb the plants.

Hearty fish, pretty much any fish can be used when cycling. Some are more sensitive than others, but generally speaking if you keep toxin levels low enough, any fish can be used since they won't be exposed to toxic levels of nitrogenous waste to begin with.

Good low light plants are things like java ferns, anubias, java moss, anacharis, wisteria, and many more.

As to what you should stock, there are so many combinations, I would start by deciding what fish you like most and going from there.

You can use whatever kind of substrate you want.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.