A Brave New Tank To Be

[cakelies]

Hello! I joined this site about 3 hours ago and have spent those hours reading through the guides and help pages(thank you!) and feel a little more ready to start a tank. My only experience with fish is a beta fish i had for a few years in a ten gallon tank who lived a mighty life despite my complete lack of knowledge. He was named Brandy Alexander. I am planning on setting up a bigger tank once i move to my new apartment in a month and have set about learning what i can.
 
Thats a thick file!
 
After all the reading today, my eyes hurt and I'm not sure if I'm any smarter. 
 
Here's what ive got and what I plan to do, maybe you can tell me where I'm wrong and what to do instead.
 
 
I have a 30 gallon tank, two ceramic hides, and a fondness for plecos. I was going to start with them but I am told they are delicate and need algae, so instead I will start with some hardy community fish. I've been thinking 4-5 danios and am open to suggestions for some fish that will live happily with plecos.
 
I am a plant person before a fish person, so I was going to start the tank out with moss balls and lucky bamboo before i put any fish in it at all. if I let those grow for a while before introducing fish will this help with the levels of bacteria or do i need to introduce some kind of ammonia first? (and if so, is there anything wrong with using a small amount of soiled kitty litter?)
 
While I'm talking about water quality, I should mention that the water is hard where I live. How should I deal with this? is lake water better or worse? 
 
I know I need a filter, and that I will have to put down some money for one, thats non negotiable. I am currently looking at an aqueon "quiet flow" power filter rated at 200 gph, intended for 40-45 gallon tanks--is this suitable? why or why not?
 
I love all plecos, but I know they get huge. since i dont have a koi pond i thought bulldog plecos or clown plecos would be attractive small fish. are there differences in care i should know about? Can i feed them zucchini pieces along with the algae that grows in the tank?
 
Finally, what kind of substrate do I need? I dont like how the bright colored stuff looks and dont want to use sand which can be kicked up easily. can I use pebbles from the beach, or sanded glass pieces, provided I boil them to get the nasties off?
 
 
All right, I think thats everything on my mind. Thank you for reading and giving your thoughts.

 

[stanleo]

I have a brand of substrate designed for planted aquariums. I don't remember what its called but its mostly black with earth colored pieces and I mixed that with white sand. About 2 parts planted substrate and one part white sand for a more nature look. My plants seemed to love it and the corydoras I have root around in the sand and it doesn't hurt their whiskers. It also doesn't kick up that much.
 
As far as plecos, its best to wait till the tank is established so there is enough algae for them. Or you could feed algae wafers everyday.
 
I think that filter is fine. You want to turn over about 10x the tank water per hour but that seriously depends on your stocking too, more stock of fish you have the more filtration you want.
 
You have options with hard water. You could get fish that like hard water. I think they sell chemicals you can add that take the minerals out but don't quote me on that or you could go the expensive route and invest in an R/O filter. If you get R/O, you will have to add some minerals back into it. Fish can't live on R/O alone.  
 
I would definitely set up your décor and plants before adding the fish. You can do that before the tank is cycled. But you will still have to dose with ammonia.
 
Also with plants you want to decide before you buy whether you are going high tech with injected CO2 or low tech with no injections. You have options either way but some plants don't do well in low tank setups. (learned that the hard way)
 
As far as what to put in there, there are too many options to give you a list.
 
Good luck! And may I say you are smarter than I was when I started. I didn't find this forum till I had the tank up and running for 18 months!