Pre-planning tank ... few questions? =]

Question

OK, so im like WAYY pre-planning this tank, think like 1 or 2 YEARS lol =] i know im gonna have live plants and heres my stocking plan:

i want 7 Penguin Tetras (i MAY have to settle for black neons, if so i will probably get a few more since they ae a tad smaller)

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830 890 1579&pcatid=1579

i want 4 dwarf wag platys

http://www.brettb.com/images/RedPlaty1.jpg

and i would also like to have 2 black molly's:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830 1101 2089&pcatid=2089

and MAYBE ill have 2 or 3 red wag platy's, just to tie the redish orange and black together=]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830 1103 2728&pcatid=2728

well, basicallly my questions are:

what do you think of this? you like?

any suggestions on my stocking list? like, tweaking numbers or if or if not i should get the red wag platys?

what size tank? i was thinking like 25 or 30 gallon, and please dont give me the inch per gallon =] i know its false through talking to many fish experts (and no i dont mean the ones at the petstore... those ar usually just idiots =P) all i know is i would LOVE a bow-front if i can get one =]

oh, and i want the mollys soooo bad but i had some that unfortunatly died because they were in a 10g and no salt (how do you think i found out petstore people were idiots, i will NEVER trust them again!) and i read 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon is optimum for health, so will the other fish tolerate i and be healthy with it in the water? if not ill scratch the mollys and either get more platys or just fing a sub or just scratch that totally and b happy with the other fish on the list=]

and will the plants tolerate the salt?

and last but not least i know to use aquarium saly but do use 'Aquarium salt' or 'Conditioning Salt' apparantly theres actuallly a difference:S

ok, well thats it for now, if i have any more questions ill just re-post the

question so i dont make this any more confusing=] please, i know its a long and confusing question but please answer!! =]

Answer 1

Sounds like a good stock.  Mollys do prefer a bit of salt, because they can actually be converted to saltwater if done slowly.  I would suggest maybe going a bit bigger with your tank because you will want a few cory cats to keep the bottom clean, unless you plan on gravel vaccing bi-weekly or more. Also I would suggest either a siamese algae eater or better yet a pleco or maybe snails depending on your tastes.  You will definately want an oversized filter preferably a canister filter, but again that is up to you.  However if you opt for a pleco aquarium salt shoud be administered carefully because they are scaleless and the salt will irritate them, well supposedly.  I have had mollys without salt and they did fine, but they do best with a bit of salt and the platys also do very well either way.  I am not sure about plants, but I am sure that they will be fine with the salt.  I have a 51 gal flat back hex with 2 giant danios, 6 cory cats, 5 upside down catfish, 2 plecos, 1 giant gourmi, 1 paradise gourmi, 3 platys and 1 bumble bee gobie.  I also have a 30 gal saltwater tank. This is based solely on my experiences.  Hope this helps.