Help! Nooobie Here- do I NEED Co2?

[Nreal]

Sorry, this may get long as lots of ?'s


Summary:
So I am getting the plants soon: 6" X 6" christmas moss & Cryptocoryne wendtii tropica x 3 stalks. If they are placed in a tank that has not yet fully established and does not have co2, will they simply grow slowly or start to suffer? I have no aquatic life yet in the tank but will be purchasing a fair amount of CRS.

Objective:
I need to re-silicone my 55gal so the plants will be held in a 10 gallon, then transferred to my 55gal. I intend to maintain the 10 for a cherry shrimp tank family, or many families. But I am having a hard time finding the little red crawlers on here -freezing- sellers want to wait. Prob get 20 crs in my 10.

Substrate:
I have read so many of the best substrate articles but, would a hydroponic wool cube (like a small sponge though is porous for root development, a lot like cotton) or go with aqua soil or the like?

Summary:
Using a LED strip (bright!) with compact fluorescent. Eventually the 55 will have happy fishes but I am so lost on if I need co2. Do these shrimp do fine with tap water?
thank you for the help. Any topic you know well, please lend me your expertise. I need it...

 

[Nreal]

Sorry, this may get long as lots of ?'s

Summary:
So I am getting the plants soon: 6" X 6" christmas moss & Cryptocoryne wendtii tropica x 3 stalks. If they are placed in a tank that has not yet fully established and does not have co2, will they simply grow slowly or start to suffer? I have no aquatic life yet in the tank but will be purchasing a fair amount of CRS.

Objective:
I need to re-silicone my 55gal so the plants will be held in a 10 gallon, then transferred to my 55gal. I intend to maintain the 10 for a cherry shrimp tank family, or many families. But I am having a hard time finding the little red crawlers on here -freezing- sellers want to wait. Prob get 20 crs in my 10.

Substrate:
I have read so many of the best substrate articles but, would a hydroponic wool cube (like a small sponge though is porous for root development, a lot like cotton) or go with aqua soil or the like?

Summary:
Using a LED strip (bright!) with compact fluorescent. Eventually the 55 will have happy fishes but I am so lost on if I need co2. Do these shrimp do fine with tap water?
thank you for the help. Any topic you know well, please lend me your expertise. I need it...

Looks like this is a common question-

 

[JokerWx13]

co2 isn't really needed with those plants because they're fairly easy plants to keep. co2 is usually used to keep the nutrients balanced in a tank, and if there is too much light and not enough co2, you will get an algae bloom, which won't look pretty and will take the nutrients from your plants. tap water is not good for any type of fish or shrimps. you could either buy a dechlorinator bottle or leave the tap water in the tank overnight. you should cycle the tank before you put any fish in it tho, there are a great number of articles about cycling anywhere. as for the substrate, i don't know lol

 

[Nreal]

I think the issue is that I'm doing too much reading, and find conflicting info or my interpretation of what was said was wrong. It's simply that all set ups are going to be so different and starting this again after major problems in the past makes one a bit over-cautious and second guessing in constant. I think it's the quest to get it perfect on the first try, which is silly. But thanks for the info, so helpful to hear that I can do without more equipment...for now at least!

 

[Nreal]

No, it's not - all is crystal clear now. A little from here than some from there and all of the sudden, years of unexplained algae blooms explained!