Do alot of research and plan, plan, plan. I've done plants for a long time but never anything of this size so I planned and researched for almost a year before I took the plunge. It's best to get all your supplies first, especially substrate, and look at tons of tank pic's to get a good idea what type/style you want. Then see what plants you would like THEN pick out the proper type and amount of light you need for those type plants. You need to decide if you want to do liquid carbon or do CO2. Plan, plan, plan and get everything first, then consider starting on actually setting up your tank.