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i saw in one reply that plants act as a natural biofilter....do they remove nitrate, ammonia, or nitrite?
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Most if not all aquatic plants prefer ammonia to nitrate. Some may use nitrite as well, but I don't remember how well they like it rather than ammonia or nitrate.
One thing that's wrong about most diagrams of the nitrogen cycle, like this one:
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Cycle1.jpg
is that it suggests that only nitrate is used by plants for fertilizer, but this is very misleading: they much prefer ammonia. This is beneficial to you, since by using up ammonia directly, they prevent nitrite and later nitrate from being in your tank. Since ammonia and nitrite are far more dangerous to your fish than nitrate, this is a real bonus.
Having lots of plants in your tank when first started up is a good idea. I've just finished cycling a small (5 gallon) tank at work. I put in loads of hornwort, and it took in almost all of the excess ammonia. While the tank was cycling, the ammonia and nitrite levels never got above 0.5ppm. This is really low for a cycling tank!
I definitely wouldn't bother with CO2. It's too expensive and/or too much hassle. Note: this is my view. Some people, who are real aquatic gardeners, pay $$$$ for very bright lights, CO2 systems, and fertilizers, and they have absolutely amazing looking tanks. But these cost alot to set up and take alot of time to maintain (the plants grow so fast you have to trim them often to keep them from overgrowing the tank). With less lighting, no CO2 additions, and little to no ferts, you can have slow to moderate growth of easy plants (like the ones you have). It looks nice (if not spectacular), costs very little, and requires very little maintenance.
About those African Bolbitis ferns: I got some very cheaply from the local fish shop; they cost about the same as the standard Java Fern. They haven't done as well for me as the standard Java Ferns, so I wouldn't buy them again. I also got some Java Fern "Windelov", see below
http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=008B
from a specialist aquatic plant dealer. They were only slightly more expensive than the usual Java Fern and I think they look quite cool. But I've only had them a few weeks, so I don't know how well they will do for me.