Hey guys!

I just joined the site yesterday and I have been researching as much as I can. I have started small this time (kind of unusual for me) with a 10Gallon tank and 10 feeder goldfish. The lady at the pet store told me they were the most resilient species they had in the store and because I'm experimenting it wouldn't be a drastic financial loss if they perished in the experiment. I will however, do my best to ensure that they live and are vibrant and healthy, after all, they are living creatures in my care.

So I've got a 10 Gallon tank, 10 gold fish, the water is sitting at ph 7.3, ppm is 20, temp is 22C. Does any of this need to change? I have put in tap water which has a bit of a chlorine smell, the pet store lady informed me it would be a good idea to use some dechlorinator. I have used this (http://www.seachem.com/Products/product ... Prime.html) in it's proper mixing requirements. I let it sit for about 15 minutes and the fish appear to be swimming happily. I also pinched them a small bit of fish food.

The fish tank has no gravel in it. just a shiny reflective bottom. Is this ok? I've got a big air stone in it and it's pumping air pretty good. I've also got two 13w CFL lights illuminating the tank, is that too much for Gold fish? I think this tank used to be used for a reptile.

So what I'm curious to know is.

1.) Where do I get the bacteria required to turn fish poop into plant food? Does it grow on it's own automatically?
2.) When can I start growing a plant in/on/above this sucker?
3.) If I use a raft style grow technique, will the fish eat the roots? I was thinking about trying some basil first. Apparently that's a heavy nitrogen plant.

thanks for reading!