Switching to real plants - what do I need to know?

[Chiroptera]

I've kept one or two solitary ferns and grasses in a tank and betta habitats that had the rest that were fake plants, and never needed to give any supplements because what my fish and water gave the plant was enough to keep that one plant running.

I plan on switching to a full planted tank.. I need medium to low light for my fish species, and I found plants with little lighting requirements that are easy to care for. I'm also planning on doing root tabs, and flourish, but is there anything else I need to know?

I'm going to be using sand substrate, and have scattered driftwood for some anubias plants I'm ordering. I've heard of CO2 use, but adding any extra equipment is going to be a pretty steep learning curve. I'd like to know what I should know to start off, and about some common issues I may encounter. Will I'll need any extra equipment/products other than the flourish tabs/liquid fertilizer? CO2? Aeration? Current? Thanks in advance!

Extra Information:
Plants I've been looking at: (In case that changes the answers at all)
Definite:
- Hygrophila Angustifolia (Willow Hygro)
- Anubias Congensis
- Several pieces of driftwood with Anubias Nana rooted on them

One setup/look:
- Anubias Coffeefolia
- Microsword
- Java fern

Other setup/look:
- Riccia Crystalwort
- Cyperus Helferi
- Acorus

Tank size:
- 125, possibly wide

Current?:
- Medium, enough to get a river feel for the fish

Lighting?:
- Moderate, some fish sensitive to light

Agressive, or plant-eating stock?:
- One rhino pleco, can't see it being a huge issue.

Substrate?:
- Sand

Temperature?:
- 75-80F

If there's anything else that may be relevant, please let me know!

 

[Atxpunx]

Micro sword is a higher light plant. Kind of a pill to get that desired look too. How about dwarf sag or Pygmy chain sword in place? Acorus plant is a bog plant not meant for submersed growth. The idea of having the anubias and java fern is great for low light. Don't get to deep in debt, low light should mean low cost too. People forget that aquatic plants are weeds that have thrived for centuries without the need of all this high tech stuff.

 

[Atxpunx]

For lighting you might need a four bulb t8 system, a 2 bulb t5 normal output at the most.