I would read threw my thread on Bruce. to sum it up.. I'de get a planted set-up going and get some guppies breeding in it.. get some blackworms settled in.. and make sure you have a source for them. Put a few good sized peices of driftwood in, and some stem plants ( ie anacharis, hornwort, ect. I personally used rotalia)( opposed to root plants they tend to utilize nutrients faster, especially nitrates.) I also had pond snails and MTS in my set-up that helped alot w/ algae control.
the goal is a mini biope with plenty of live foods that are nutritiouse and constantly available. imo this set-up should be up and running a min of 3 monthes before the aba is introduced to make sure it is fully cycled and the "food" is flourishing. good surface aggitation is nice, but the water moveemnt itself or turnover rate doens't have to be anything special. You can not do to many water changes on he system but I woudln't do more the 50% daily. and I took the extra time not to unduely spook him. The lights where on timers to reproduce a natural environment as much as possible.
If I could do things different I would have gone with a tank with built-in over flows.. I was doing water changes off the top most the time to remove any surface film ( which you deffinately don't want with a delicate surface breather) and instead of starting with a 20H.. I would have used a min 40B, he grew very fast once settled in and eating.
