Ok. Let's start with the basics then. 1st thing you need to do is cycle the tank. This refers to the nitrogen cycle. Check out this thread about it,
Cycling. You can get this started now and we can figure out what your water is like and what fish and plants would well in it. I think you mean Tetra safe start? I don't trust such products but some people have luck with it. If you want to use it this is a good source of info on it that I just found,
TSS email.
Do you have a test kit? You will need a test kit to know what your water is like and to monitor the cycle plus regular testing to ensure everything is ok. This kit will have the most important things for cycling.
API Master Kit. It is a little cheaper at
Kensfish but you need to spend $49 for free shipping and it is slower shipping. $49 isn't hard to spend though lol
And this kit will tell you your hardness (alkalinity and general hardness).
GH/KH test Which will help determine what fish/plants will thrive in your water.
Live plants are certainly good for a tank! Clean....it makes the water "cleaner" by removing nitrogen and such that we can't see but affect the fish. But it is another organic material being adding to the tank and will drop dead leaves and such possibly not looking so clean to you. Don't know what your level of clean is. lol
Plants add another complicated concept as well. Fish alone can be overwhelming so adding plants can be overwhelming to some. There are plenty of easy plants out there though that we can start with. First we need to know your light setup. Is it a long fluorescent bulb? If so what wattage and does it have any sort of reflector behind it? How tall is the tank from the bottom of the light to substrate where you intend to have plants?
