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Go nuts with the hardy low-light plants like anacharis, java ferns, and java ferns if you're new to plants. They're hard to kill and easy to provide for. You might try branching out into more demanding plants with fancy light setups and injected Co2 later on, but for the simpler starter plants, you really just need to swap out your existing bulbs for some daylight/6500k cfls with enough wattage, and make sure to do some PWCs early on to get trace elements from your water supply into the water column.
Planted tanks are also more stable and easier to maintain. PWCs can be delayed if necessary b/c the plants will soak up some nitrates for their own growth, and the fish certainly like having plants to hide in. A small 4" $5 tube plant can easily outgrow a $30 piece of plastic decor within two months, and fish seem to appreciate having real plants to hang out in.
Be warned though: live plants can and will take over your tank given enough nutrients and light. A pruning every other PWC or at least once a month will keep them in check.
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