Planted Tank + Loaches

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

So I am planning on plating my 75 loach/catfish tank during the summer and I want to plan ahead.
I have a couple questions; but before I start, the stocking I have currently in the tank is in my signiture, but the stocking planned for the planted tank is: 1-2 more yoyo loaches, 3-4 Zebra Loaches, my common pleco, my clown pleco, my 2 weather loaches.
I will most likely be giving away my: Spotted Pictus, 4-line pictus, bumblebee catfish, and MAYBE the ladder loaches. Only reason is because they get 8 inches

Back on track. At the moment the substrate is play sand and everyone seems to love it. The only issue I have been thinking about is my common pleco. He's pushing 9 inches and every time I do a water change,he digs in the sand to his liking, which leads into the plant issue.
I don't want him digging up the plants, let alone messing up the setup.

So I've been thinking, would it be okay to get round gravel like in rivers for the loaches? Or will it be a problem because the weather loaches are always squirming around and I don't want them to get scratched.

I'm sorry for having such a long story or too much information, but any advice is much appriciated

But here is one of the gravels I've been thinking of:

(Last post)

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134159&page=12http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...thumbpage=1&list=5328,5329,5495,5496&breeds=1

 

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

TTT

 

[Lupin]

As long as the gravel does not have sharp edges, it's fine but sand is much better as loaches love to dig and play around it than in gravel which is much heavier and rougher for them.

 

[justonemoretank]

My loaches love the play sand I have in my tank. Before it was planted, I had my common pleco in there, but I moved him right before i planted it because I knew he'd disturb the plants. As for loaches and plants, I learned the hard way that they like to snack on the leaves. I have perforated amazon swords, LOL. So, you may want to re-think this, not only on account of the pleco, but also the loaches!

 

[redinfinity]

I solved my fish digging plants out problem just by putting rocks around my plants or weighing them down some other way - but that may or may not work for everyone depending on your landscaping.

 

[JakeH]

As far as I can tell, Loaches will chew holes in just about any plant. If you can live with that, they will love the landscape! I use the rock trick for my planted plants (Amazon Swords) & I use fishing weights for the floating plants (Java Fern, Wisteria, Anubias). They also like to play with my Marimo (Algae) Ball & mow the Java Moss on my driftwood. The hole-punching is greatly reduced by feeding them fresh veggies. I think plants are almost required with the Loaches, since they HATE phosphate...

 

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

I'll try putting rocks around the plants because I'm going for a sort of river look so that will help

Thanks guys for the help, I'll keep the sand.