Help Needed: New 300g Stock Tank Setup for Black Banded Sunfish

I have been cycling my 300g stock tank for the past week or so, I first planned to breed ancistrus plecos on a larger scale but have a new found liking of local fish. The tank is nearly finished, as in cycled and tannin stained, and will be used for spawning black banded sunfish and possibly top minnows of some sort. Any info from previous breeders would be much appreciated. I have spawned all sorts of fish and breed many other species of animals so in this respect I am some what seasoned. My main questions are listed below:
What type of substrate would they best benefit from, as in gravel, sand, mix, or mud/leaf litter, rock slabs, driftwood, etc.?
What types of plants are best to be used and to what density should they be planted?
What ratios of males to females of sunfish should be incorporated?
How many total fish would make this setup as close to the "real thing" as possible?

Any info would be much appreciated; this is my first post on this forum but certainly not my last. Thanks in advance:

Trey Bell
www.FullSpectrumReptiles.com

I would say 1male :2or 3 females but I would think trying to breed both would be more diffecult
substrate-gravel with lots of drift wood and larger rocks
plants-java moss as thick and as much as you can get
I would try 2-3 trios for numbers

for topminnows
substrate-N/A
plants-same as above+ hornwort or anackris(bad speller)
numbers- 4-5 trios

Check out my thread about my blackbandeds that just spawned. I am not sure how you can sex these fish except by behavior (males guarding territories and pursueing females) and when they are in the act of spawning coloration changes for a short time. I was lucky enough to catch this in the pics in the other thread. The tank is very heavily planted with valsinaria crytocrenes and has a peice of driftwood that the fish actually spawned on with java moss and ferns growing on it. I also would say definately atleast 2 females for every male if you can come up with a way to sex them, probably even more females per male won't hurt. I have 6 in a 20 gallon tank but I think a trio of 2 f 1 m would be better for that size of tank, I just am very space limited right now. The best way to sex them may be to observe the fish in another tank and watch for fish that start setting up territories to be potential males and those that don't and get slightly plump to be possible females. Also I feed primarily frozen blood worms and ocassionally live blackworms and some fry from other fish I have spawning. hope this helps.