aeration and gravel cleaning

Question
I have a 20 gallon tank in it's second weed of processing with plants.  The plants are just stem cuttings (except for the nubians) and not thick at all.  I also have a 5" bubbler in the tank.  I have an eclipse 2 filtration system.  I know I need to wait a month before I put the fish in.  I am putting a male betta, gourimaies and speckled cories.  What  I need to know is will the 5" bubbler be enough for the fish until the plants thicken and once the plants are completely filled out will I still need extra aeration?   Also, once the plants are full size should I clean the substrate of leave the excess food in them for the plants?  I also have two varieties of clams and snails and I feed the clams fine filter food.

Thanks for your help,
Marie Hood

Answer
Marie,
well lets see where we are and whats what.
first, you can add fish right away, I would put the beta and a cory in first, add the rest a couple at a time over a week or so.
the bubbler does not actually add o2 to the water, it will facilitate a gas exchange at the surface. The eclipse does the same thing.
The bubbler will move some water around and that is a good thing as well.
So the short answer is it is fine as it is.
do not leave the food in the tank, and remove excess plant material as well.
the freshwater clams will get what they need and the snails will scavenge the tank, and eat the plants as well depending on what variety of snail that you have.
I believe you state that you have anubias, they are tuff and require little attention, however they do grow slowly.
In this tank I would recomend approx 6-8 gouramies, counting the beta as they are in the same group, and 2-4 cory cats .
you can however get the dwarf size gouramis the ones that stay small and there are several varietes and you could add a dozen or so at that size.
enjoy the tank ...