Here is one for yall, lol sorry for the southern twang, i love it though, well here is a question to ponder, when you have a heavily planted tank such as mine where there is less current near the bottom of the tank due to the amount of veggitation that is in there, would you A. buy a small power head and place it with a sponge filter near the gravel and point it in the direction of the stalks of the plants? B. Place two power heads among the plants and have them facing slightly forward from the back of the tank toward the front center of the tank to keep debris moving so that the filter can pick it up? C. Don't buy any power heads and use about twenty or so diff cory cats and a few gae's and let them do the cleanning for you?

I would figure the responses would be quite varied from person to person, i am sitting here watching my tank as i often do during times when i need reflection. (two deaths in the fam in less than a week) but that's a topic for a diff time, i will tell you how i have it set up, I have the two power flow pumps from my co'2 canister units facing slightly forward toward the middle front of my tank and i also have about fiftenn cory cats and three GAE's. my filter return is facing the right side of my tank where it creates a current that comes back around to my intake on the left side of the tank, i did some rescaping today and when i was finnished there honestly and truthfully was barely any debris that was kicked up, and my water didn't get merky what so ever. just interested in your thoughts and ideas and any suggestions you may have,
Will be posting new pictures this evenning hopefully they will be approved shortly there after so you can see how great my tank looks now along with seeing the pride i take in making my tank the complete center piece for my living area.

Thanks to all in advance,
Brandon

corys will kick up a lot of stuff especially when disturbed, but 3 alone would only seem to remove so much detritus in my little tank no matter how frisky they got. I actually picked up a powerhead last week to supplement my tank movement from side to side and it seems to have improved litterally the amount of ''crap'' sitting around that corys have no interest in at all, I mean what fish would? ;)
My final consensus: More supplemental filtration/water movement would probably be more beneficial than increasing your 'cory count'. As far as placement, it sounds like you have a good concept, this would vary a lot from tank to tank as every setup is different and plants are shaped differently in different spots. You'll be able to tell where your water is going once you've put some pheads in there...It took me almost an hour to figure out the best placement of mine. Buuuuut it also sounds like your current setup is working pretty efficiently to begin with...I'd also say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :)

i am installing an under gravel jet system! this works in direct opposition with ander gravel filter. you attach a power head to a network of pipes under the gravel with angled jets pointing in different directions. this keeps debris from the bottom and catches it in filter sponges! hopefully not having to vac gravel ever again!

thanks for the advice guys, lol am finding that the cories are doing an awesome job, have about 20 of them tney wind in and around the plants moving the debris to the front where i now have some bare ground and the little current i have picks it up and sucks it into the filter intake, is pretty awesome that things are going so well with my tank, the only plants that i am having an issue with are the aluminum plants they look great but come in weighted bunches, they don't root very easily and due to this the plants aren't getting enough food so i am taking them out and am going to fill the spots where they are with purple cabamba and a few more foxtails to add a bit of a softer look with more heighth. let me know what you think of this idea, or if you have any other suggestions for plants let me know, i have a few micro swords now and am getting a 12 by 12 inch square of micro grass to fill in a few of the lower up front areas of the tank, hopefully this will take off and cover the bottom of the tank am looking to make my tank look like a nice glade with a soft bed, something that one would take time to picnic at. LOL i know it sounds strange but it's an idea i am trying to run with.
thanks for the advice and the ideas, would love to hear what you think of my ideal look.
Brandon