I have a 25 gal still all alone and dry back at my house (living in an apartment for college currently), and I was wondering if it would even be possible to have a tank that would only need maintenance once a week? The fact that I have it, but I can't have it at my apartment is killing me, so I was thinking about setting up a nice "underwater flower pot" for my mom. I go back home once a week, so that's when I could work on it. I don't have much experience with plants, all I have are a couple in my 1.5 gal, but I do want to set up something nice for her. (read: ME!) So what I'm looking for is:

What substrate should I use that will fertilize the plants, but not make the water cloudy or discolored?
Depending on if I can find the lighting hood, the lighting will either be a medium light for about 4-8 hours a day (when mom comes home from work and goes to bed) or it will be very low light, using ambient light from the room. Are there/which plants would work with this?
What plants are low maintaince (sorry for the spelling, I suck at it) enough I could get away with only working on the tank once a week?
I'm trying to do an underwater flowerbed theme, would I have to treat flowerpots if I use them in the tank?

A lot of questions, I know, but thanks for any advice!

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

Have you thought of a Riparium or Paludarium?

Paludarium - Root word palud, meaning swamp, or marsh, so this is meant to recreate a swamp environment, which incidentally enough, contains land and water. Could anyone please help with this? Paludarium build - Aquascaping World Forum I think with this one you 'build up' the land area.

Riparium - Root word ripa, meaning riverbank (or, possibly, shoreline), so this is meant to recreate a riverside environment, which ALSO contains land and water, but the focus tends to be more on the water side of it all. Aquatic Eden: Ripariums: Riverbank Aquascaping - Aquascaping Aquarium Blog I think with this one, you can hang plant pot just under the water and have the plants grow above water - so you don't actually need land.

The links are to give you ideas of what they look like. (You can even put fish in them.) I would think it's going to take some work to set it up, but should be fairly easy once it gets going. (Don't know, it's just an idea.... maybe more work than you were wanting.)

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

You might try a beaslbob build.

Actually looking at the tank once per week is a good idea when considering adjustments to feeding, lights and so on.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Eco complete or even baylees better bottom is a very good no hassle choice for your tank.The beaslbob method is good too,but not sure if you will be moving plants about and in my experience,the peat comes up when moving plants.On the lighting aspect,I suggest you get a timer.Walmart has some for about four bucks,and up.Just something you can plug the light into that will turn it on and off at the same time daily.The routine keeps the plants happy too,as they get the same amount every day.And you can check weekly to see if algae is building up and drop the lights by 30 minutes until its balanced.Lowlight plants grow slow so dont expect the tank to fill in rapidly.Good ones are swords,crypts,java moss and ferns and anubias.

Ripariums focus on false riverbanks and look awesome.You will need to get some planters that attach to the back,and you can grow crypts emersed,which are very beautiful when they flower.Usually the fish are a small school of something like rasboras,and nothing else.The plants growing along the "bank" shades the bottome quite well,so many dont plant much other than javas and anubias,as they stay pretty small.

Really the main thing is how much you want to spend to get this started,and what the main objective will be.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"