Hi I'm beginner too and completely new to this..So from my experience and because of my conditions in my low equipment tank I would say get amazon swords if you like because those tend to grow faster on basic equipment. It takes like 3-4 days for the plant to grow new leaves. I have gravel and I am currently removing my artificial plants with live plants. I wasted $20 on fake plants because I thought live plants were so hard to maintain.
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The amazon swords do not need anything just put them on your tank they'll grow in any conditions...the lights I am using is what came with my 20 gallon starter kit.