More importantly, do you like the way it looks? I've seen one very nice tank, lightly planted, with a river rock substrate. The owner was going for a river look and achieved it quite well. We can tell you what works best for growing plants or as a substrate in general, and the reasons for it, but in the end, you want to make a tank that catches your breath every time you walk in the room, one that you can spend hours watching, and as a result don't mind spending hours working on 
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The biggest problem with large sized substrate is that it cannot be easily cleaned and wastes sink down to the bottom instead of staying near the top were you can vacuum them or the filter can get them.
From my experience, I'll say that planting, the actual process of putting the plants in, is much easier in a fine substrate than a big, bulky one. The latter is really tough on the plants. It is doable, but your choices of plants are limited to those that are not dependant on roots for feeding. Most stem plants are workable, although as I said, planting them without damaging the stems is tricky, to say the least. Plants like anubias and java fern can also do just fine since their 'roots' act more as anchors than nutrient absorbers.
.The biggest problem with large sized substrate is that it cannot be easily cleaned and wastes sink down to the bottom instead of staying near the top were you can vacuum them or the filter can get them.
From my experience, I'll say that planting, the actual process of putting the plants in, is much easier in a fine substrate than a big, bulky one. The latter is really tough on the plants. It is doable, but your choices of plants are limited to those that are not dependant on roots for feeding. Most stem plants are workable, although as I said, planting them without damaging the stems is tricky, to say the least. Plants like anubias and java fern can also do just fine since their 'roots' act more as anchors than nutrient absorbers.
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