Ok, I have attempted the dirted tank, but all it did was put a weird white film all over my substrate. I am not doing that, ha so that is not an option.

FAUNA: The tank I will be planting, is my 55 gallon. It's stocked a little on the heavy side. 3 Angels, 10 Rummy Nose Tetras, 1 Farlowella, and a trio of cories. I know I need to get more cories. So I'll start from the bottom up. My substrate will be 1" of flourite gravel-sized pieces, and on top of that, 2" of Eco-Complete Planted.

FLORA: I have a few plants already. The background has some regular hygrophilia, and some hygro. difformis "wisteria". I may add a little jungle val in the middle, so show a little contrast in texture. For the middle, and some of the foreground, I will have some dwarf sag, I need some more medium sized plants that spread out too. I really need some good carpetting stuff for the foreground. We NEVER get dwarf hair grass, but babytears are common. I hear they can be hard though. I will be getting a HUGE Amazon Sword. The crown is about the size of a fist and a half. That will be one focal point. The other focal point, will be my tiger lotus, behind some drift wood.

NUTRIENTS: I give them regular doses of Excel, and Flourish, and I plan on adding iron so that my lotus gets some nice color.

LIGHTING: The lighting includes a t5HO, with two 6700K bulbs. It adds up to 108watts. I may eventually do a 2 liter DIY Co2 system. But we are moving next saturday. 

Please give me some pointers on what I could do to make this tank flourish! ha I may attach a file of my planned layout. Thank you!