I'm a little afraid of change but...

[Skyrmir]

You wouldn't have to go co2, but you're going to want a little bit of carbon supplement. Either Flourish excel or a diy co2 should be plenty. To get a carpet effect out of wysteria, you'll need good lighting and carbon. I was running 130 watts cf on my 29 gallon with diy co2 when I did it.

As for the substrate..ugh it's messy to change. It's best to drain the tank to replace the substrate. With that small of a tank, your fish would be fine in a 5 gallon bucket with the filter hanging on it and the plants floating around for a fairly long time. That gives you plenty of time to clean out the tank and replace the substrate.

I just went with a layer of eco-complete myself. Most people would throw something on top of it to make it look better. (It's a dark brown dirt, not the prettiest) I found I liked the natural look of it.

[Karackle]

Again, thanks so much for the input! Yeah....I was afraid of that with the substrate change, i'll see what I can accomplish wit one then. I'm FINALLY getting my tank to look like I want it to, I'm not ready to overhaul and rescape it right now, so the thought of pulling everything out...not just yet. There's significant rooting in the gravel...don't want to disturb it any more than is necessary. Ah well...the colorful rocks stay for now I think i'll try for a carpet with something other than the wisteria too, it's not quite the look i want....and the wisteria's presence is well enough visable in it's happy jungly corner If I add more lighting, i'll definitely up the Excel dosing as well. My Paludarium project is giving me too much trouble as it is, i don't think i need anymore "building" projects at the moment, so i'll stay away from CO2 for now, but thanks!