Tips for growing plants in a tank?

Too broad of a question, but plants need light, substrate (unless it is a floater, or wood-attacher), nutrients, and a Carbon source.

Id go with zebra danios - you will never get bored of them zipping through all the cracks and openings of a highly planted tank.

Ive had mine since I started the hobby and although have bough bigger and more exciting fish since then, the zebra danios are often more exciting to watch

(I agree with Tanker "to broad a question") I don't want to make this complicated but really depends on the type of plants your looking to keep and the investment your willing to make.

In a pinch-
I'm currently doing a low tech 15w over a 20g long with Anubias nana plants, a box filter/air pump just using atmosphere for Co2 lightly stocked and I'm getting new growth, but you'd probably have more fun watching paint dry. On the other hand it's exactly what I set to do low maintenance.