Is a large 'overstocked' Co2 community planted tank possible?

At the moment, I'm working outside SA and planning on going full steam into the hobby once I return. I've got a 60cm tank ATM to gain experience in the hobby.

I love aquascapes, a large variety of fish and planted aquariums. I've discovered that most fishkeepers tend to focus their aquariums on 1 or 2 of the above i.e. an incredibly detailed aquascape with demanding plants and just a modest shoal of tetras, OR, a beautiful variety of fish, with modest plants and not much attention devoted to the scape. I understand the logic that a large variety of fish steals the attention away from a meticulously designed aquascape (and that large fish might spoil the Iwagumi illusion of a miniature landscape) and vice-versa, but I'm looking to go the opposite route.

I want to create a large aquarium with demanding plants, an intricate scape and a large variety of fish.

- Approximately 140cm long (450lit), thick and clear glass
- Aquascaped (Iwagumi styled with plenty of hills and hardscape)
- Plenty of carpet plants (Co2 injection)
- Large variety of fish, from kuhli loaches to Neon Cardinals to Angelfish/a Betta and possibly a spiny eel.

At the moment, the issues I'm anticipating are:

Flowrate and turnover

- A large aquarium that is "overstocked" with fish is going to require a high turnover rate. I'm looking at 10X per hour or more (so around 4500lit p/h, probably 2X Fluval FX6's). The high turnover rate should take care of the ammonia and nitrite, but high turnover also means high flow rate, which might have issues with some of the smaller fish, like cardinal tetras, constantly battling the flow.

Bottom dwellers and plants/substrate

- I love the weirdness of bottom dwelling fish contrasted with the beauty of cardinal tetras in the same tank, I just love variety. The problem I'm anticipating is that some of the bottom dwellers might uproot some of the carpeting plants or disturb the layout of the substrate. I'm hoping that not carpeting the whole aquarium and leaving a decent amount of substrate bare for them to burrow through might keep them from messing things up too much.

Any other problems I should anticipate, thoughts or suggestions?

Many thanks, folks.

 

Howzit
This sounds like a fun project, please post pics.
Ja, any "catfish" like plecos, or rainbow sharks will prevent you from growing a carpet, not sure about loaches. Don't get a tank that's too deep or your light won't penetrate and you'll struggle to grow plants.

 

It is possible to do what you want by balancing the 2 sides of aquarium keeping. The loaches and the eel will need hiding spaces which your hardscape will provide. Just don't expect to see them much as they are nocturnal. I would personally replace them with one of the nice colorfull corries, at least 20 of them in that size tank.

Turnover at 10x shouldn't be an issue as there are various ways in reducing the flow in the aquarium by using things like spray bars, pointing the outlet to the front of the tank or a spin lily pipe.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Tapatalk

 

Personally I wouldn't try 10X turnover, that's a river. I'd rather stick to 5X and use a sump with a massive amount of quality bio-media.

 

Just remember that filter turnover isn't as important as filter volume. Consider a sump with a refugium.

 

You can do both depending on your scape. I had heavily planted jungle tanks with cardinals, neons, dwarf gourami, gbr, rasbora, corydoras, angelfish, guppies...
They were fine in my tank as they had their spots in amongst the plants but would have been strange in an Iwagumi.

If aquascaping is your thing then choose your scape and add fish to suite.

I liked both hence the jungle style

 

@A new day
Very nice well thought out answer there
Good point on the Ph of local water; remember a lot of planting substrates lower Ph.
I like the point of trying to have visibility into hiding places, it sux when you can't find your fish

 

Spiny eels are a bit needier than standard community fish, and like digging so they may not fare too well in the bright planted tanks that are typical of Iwagumi.

 

Thanks, folks.

Addressing what "A New Day" said, yes, I don't mind stocking faster growing plants. It won't all be carpet plants. What I'm really trying to steer clear of are plants with large leaves as they don't really tie in with the aesthetic. I'm open to anything which can grow bushy, dense and without large leaves. I actually enjoy trimming, it's therapeutic.

With such a large tank to be aquascaped, I'm definitely going to take my time with the hardscape. The method I thought of employing was to divide the tank into 3 sections (using cardboard sheets), pour the substrate in and focus on designing one section at a time. Using this divider method, I'll definitely consider using a finer substrate, or sand, in certain areas for the bottom dwellers to borrow in.

Long ago, I had a single kuhli in a 100cm tank and he/she didn't mind moving around during the day. Still, it'll be fun designing caves, crevices and hiding spots into my scape for these fish. Even if they might spend most of their time hidden, it just makes the occasion that you do see them in the day that much more special. I've kept a few corrys and while I've no complaints, they're not a fish I'm terribly fond of. Kuhli's and siamese algae eaters are probably my favourite bottom dwellers and I might look into adding a 3rd variety.

 

If you want a bushy plant that grows fast look for water sprite, this is in my planted tank last year:

 

@Adrian Gatter

I have those in my current 75lit tank and I'm pretty happy with them. They're certainly a candidate for my dream tank.
Your angelfish is stunning!