we were going to use either a 10 gallon or a 20 gallon. We decided to look up the water plants in oklahoma, for he wants this to look like one of our 6 ponds outside, 20 acres has bennifets. currently investigating this odd green algea, see it everywhere. and as for rocks, we have live rock, now dead rock. same as is in my tank. we also have rose rocks see pic below. our choice of this rock is because the fact that rose rocks are extremely rare and the only place to find them on earth is Noble Oklahoma, our hometown. there are thousands here! yeah, they can be found elsewhere, but is is extremely rare. here, you looke down and there they are. heres the picture... they are crystals made of sand!