My new 225ltr venture!

I apologise in advance, I want to be as consise as I can! For three years we (well, I have done all the maintence etc) have succesfully kept a 30ltr tropical tank and have now bought a 225ltr tank. It was sencond hand and cleaned it with a water and vinegar as I was told was suitable, rinsed the hell out of it and leak tested, we seem all set to go. As this is a whole new venture, I want to make sure I am starting out the best I/we can.
Equipment I have so far chosen are 2x 200w heaters (interpet probably) and an Eheim Ecco pro.
Rather than going out and buying plants here and there from the two decent shops to select from in Aberdeen, we were looking to buy the following; http://www.onlineaquariumstore.com/a...ollection.html
After lots of research, ThinkFish as my primary source, the comunity we are looking to build to so far is; penguin, black phantom and neon tetras, white cloud minnows, marble hatchets, 2x angels and a few japonica shrimp. And also my new colleagues yet to be identified bottom feeder from her tropical tank which she is giving up (brown stripes, about 7cm long so far)
Now, I have two main questions. firstly, I am unsure which substrate would best suit the fish and plants? I have been looking a pea gravel, though I do not know when sand is most suitable or the planting substrate.
Secondly, when I trailed my partner around to check out the competition (which wasn't that difficult I am afraid to say), one shop advised my partner that we could happily keep a blue lobster/crayfish in the tank we were intending to keep. This seems to conflict with everything I have read. And also that we could get hermit crabs, however I can only find info on marine hermits. Could someone please help me, as my partner is now convinced that we should get a crayfish and/or crabs for our tank, and I feel like fish will end up as feed!
I would be extemely grateful to anyone who will pick apart the plan and put me straight, and all suggestions appreciated!
(BTW why hasn't Practical Fishkeeping got back up yet? I was advised they had a security problem 04/12 and that the website would be closed down until further notice!)

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:30:36 +0000, Sie1808 wrote:

I apologise in advance, I want to be as consise as I can! For three
years we (well, I have done all the maintence etc) have succesfully
kept a 30ltr tropical tank and have now bought a 225ltr tank. It was
sencond hand and cleaned it with a water and vinegar as I was told was
suitable, rinsed the hell out of it and leak tested, we seem all set to
go. As this is a whole new venture, I want to make sure I am starting
out the best I/we can.

The Ecco pro is a good filter but I suggest you also have a look at the
Tetratec EX1200
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...ternal-filters.
asp as it's had good comments in the PFK forum. I don't have one but am
likely to replace my Fluval 305 with one next year. I use an Ecco Pro
200 to power the reverse flow undergravel filter.

I regret using Dorset gravel in my 120cm tank. I was considering black
gravel and wish I had gone with that. I painted the back and one side
of the aquarium with Blackboard paint so that I couldn't see the pipes
and cables and the tank contents do really show up with the contrast.
It would have looked a lot better if the gravel was black as well.

I suspect the blue lobster will eat anything it can grab. If you think
you might want some of the smaller shrimps, such as CRS or Cherry I'd
ditch the Angels since they would love a shrimp snack when fully grown,
presumably you have seen a fully grown Angel :-)

White Clouds like cooler temps but I'm not sure of the upper limit so I
suggest you look into that.

For the first time ever I didn't go for Neon Tetras and got Cardinals
instead. They grow slightly larger but the red stripe runs the length
of the body.

I looked at those plant sets but didn't think I'd have the patience to
plant that many all at once so I bought individually from several
places over a few months. The best quality ones came from eBay which
surprised me.

I hope everything goes well for you.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:26:05 +0000 (GMT), Rodney Pont wrote:

The Ecco pro is a good filter but I suggest you also have a look at the
Tetratec EX1200
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...ternal-filters.
asp as it's had good comments in the PFK forum. I don't have one but am
likely to replace my Fluval 305 with one next year. I use an Ecco Pro
200 to power the reverse flow undergravel filter.

That url wrapped so I've posted it again with wrap turned off:
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...al-filters.asp

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Dec 23, 2:42*am, "Rodney Pont"
wrote:
On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:26:05 +0000 (GMT), Rodney Pont wrote:
The Ecco pro is a good filter but I suggest you also have a look at the
Tetratec EX1200
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...ternal-filters.
asp as it's had good comments in the PFK forum. I don't have one but am
likely to replace my Fluval 305 with one next year. I use an Ecco Pro
200 to power the reverse flow undergravel filter.

That url wrapped so I've posted it again with wrap turned off:http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...external-filte...

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail *ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Yet another ****ed up Brit with crooked teeth with a propensity to
shag sheep and **** his momma and daddy in a threesome. ****ing limeys!