As long as the fish fit and don't eat plants they should be fine.
Try the plants you like. If I had stuck with the plants that others decided would work I wouldnot have had 95% of the plants I have had. And effectively all have worked well to too well.
It really depends on the type of planted tank you want. I want a fish tank that has plants in it, so the fish come first. To me that means not doing anything that would be risky to the fish but help the plants. So I never use CO2. I have used liquid carbon supplements (got my cabomba to grow 4" in 24 hours). A little extra light, maybe some basic fertilizers, and try some plants. If you go with the sand I recommended use some root tabs to give it some nutrients for the plants to use.