Much needed advice for a newly planted tank

["Rheta Chase" <Chase_rm at attbi_com>]

I have a 46 gallon bow front tank that I have had set up for a year now and have recently, within the last month, added some live plants to my tank. They consist of 3 varieties of Anubias, 2 Thai onion, hornwort, 2 java fern, 2 Vallisn and a crypt wendtii.  Basically, I've tried to stay with plants that AFM listed as easy to keep aquatic plants in the Dec 2001 issue.  The current filtration methods that I have in the tank are a Magnum 250 and a UGF with a 660 and a 550 powerhead on each end ( I have closed the venturi on each powerhead ) The tank currently houses 20 fish all of which are approximately 2 inches in size (ie, tetras and dwarf cichlids).  

My questions are:

1) Should I switch from the UGF filtration to a better form of filtration and if so what kind?  I had read that some of the plants that I have chosen would benefit from some added nutrients in the substrate and I cannot do this while using a UGF.

2)  I would like to add CO2 through the DIY yeast method. Will that be of benefit for a tank this size?  I am currently adding Seachems Flourish and Flourish Excel to the tank.  I've been told that the carbon media in the Magnum will diminish the effectiveness of these additives, is that true?  Will it also have a negative effect on the CO2 injection?

Any information that you could provide me will be greatly appreciated because I seem to get conflicting answers from employees of LFS.  

Thank you,

Rheta Chase


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