YAY!!! (and seeking advice as well)

[TharBePirates]

Roommate got me a bigger tank!

So Gyarado's ammonia situation hasn't been getting any better, the levels have been spiking like crazy and I've been changing every day. I was sick and tired of it and decided to pull him out and set him up in a hospital tank (another cookie jar like Jeffery's) while I attempted to get the 2.5 gal tank to re-cycle. My roommate has been watching me go through this with Gyarados, and last night was a serious low point. Little G's heater broke and electrocuted me without warning. At 25 watts I had some burns on my fingertips and some tingling up to my arm, so it was no big deal. Luckily Gyarados was out of his tank, waiting for me to put him back in or he would have been toast.

I was pretty frustrated last night because of everything, and I have been expressing how I'd like to get a 5 gal for some time now. Money however has been a problem. This afternoon though I cam home to find a much larger 5.5 gal Early Christmas Gift sitting in front of my 2.5!

I moved the old tank's gravel, filter and assortment of plants into the new tank along with a cup of the old tank's sand next to the filter (I'm hoping the sand has some bacteria in there to help the cycling along).

Tomorrow money comes in so I'm off to both Petco and the LFS. I'll be exchanging the heater (and investing in a nicer one) as well as picking up some gravel (tired of sand as a the prime substrate, too dity for my tastes) and of course plants!

I'd like to know if there is anything plant wise you guys would reccomend? right now I have Java fern, riccia flutains and anubias nana with some straggling duckweed. I want to try anacharis again (I think my tank was too small for it the last go around) and I'll be pricking up more riccia, but I need something with some height since this tank is taller. I'm hoping to get a good sized piece of bog wood or mopani and attaching some more riccia to it (also letting some of the riccia float). I don't know many other plants though, and would love some input.