Hi again!
Ok I have a couple questions regarding my tank and plants. I have a high pH, around 8.0, is this an ok range for plants? I've mostly been seeing that they require a neutral pH, or a little lower, so I'm concerned. Also, I have micro sword, and I have heard that it will grow like a little carpet over the tank, which sounds really cool, but then I'm wondering how I can siphon around it, if it covers the whole bottom? Would it be ok to siphon right on top of it?

Also, is a substrate for plants absolutely necessary? I will get it if it is...but what kind? I was looking into this, and there is a fluorite substrate from Drs Fosters and Smith that looked promising.

And one more...will adding the needed minerals to the tank hurt the goldfish? After all some of them are metals, so I wasn't sure. Thanks everyone, again, for answering my noob questions!

When choosing plants for your tank, research them first and find out their pH tolerance range. Some are fine in 8.0, others aren't. For example, many anubias, aponogetons, bacopa, ceratopteris (water sprite), crinum (onion plant), cryptocoryne, echinodorus (swords), hygrophila, microsorum (java ferns), and vallisneria can handle 8.0, though you should check the particular species since some may be more sensitive than others. Tropica is a good website for plant information:

http://www.tropica.com/default.asp

Plant substrates are neccessary if you want a well-planted tank, but if you just want to grow some basic, easy plants then regular old gravel is fine. Some plants like a richer substrate than gravel; again, check this out before you buy. I have flourite in my tanks and I like it. You really have to rinse it and rinse it and rinse it before you put it in your tank, and even then it will still make your water cloudy for a while. My plants seem to prefer flourite quite a bit over gravel.

As for vacuuming, when you have plants you don't need to do deep gravel cleaning, just groom the surface to avoid disturbing your plants root systems. Any waste that gets deeper into your gravel will be food for the plants. If you have a groundcover like micro sword just vacuum over the top of it to pick up any loose debris.

I assume that aquarium fertilizers will be safe for fish, because they're meant to be used with them, but I don't have any specific knowledge on the subject. Maybe someone else does?

Hope this helps!