Just got a 56 gallon tank (tall, rather than rectangular). Totally empty right now. I am thinking of putting rainbow fish in there. What kind of decor and substrate do they prefer? Ideas for other compatible tank mates?

lol fill that tank up with live plants and they will be very happy fish. Substrate doesn't really matter to a fish, unless it's a bottom dweller, which rainbowfish aren't, so pretty much whatever you want (avoid painted sands and gravels though)

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

If you believe you may want a planted tank down the road some time, I would add a substrate that is suited for it. That way you wont have to do later.

Lots of plants=happy fish=healthy tank :D

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

What types of plants are easy to care for? I've never had live plants in a tank before but am interested in trying it out.

What type of substrate do you recommend? I've seen some with live bacteria in it, are they any good?

There's a couple different substrates that would help plants, mind you I've only ever used plain gravel with root tabs to fertilize it. I hear Ecocomplete is pretty good, there's the Walstad method (layering dirt, sand) and even the Beaslbob method. As I said though, I'm growing plants fine in gravel, and they can do well if you keep up the fertilizers. You'll also need lighting that supports live plants, giving you at least 1 watt per gallon, and at least a 6,700 kelvin rating (daylight light). Susankat wrote a great thread about lighting here: Aquarium lighting

You will also need fertilizers (or ferts for short) of some kind. I prefer root tabs that you stick under the gravel, since they work for about a month or two. There's also liquid ferts that go in the water that are great for plants that mostly take nutrients from the water column instead of through their roots. For starters though, I recommend root tabs because they're A) relatively cheap, and B) easy to use.

Some plants that work in gravel (and assuming you use root tabs) are:
swords plants (most of them at least)
anubias*
java fern*
mosses*
wisteria
hornwort
crypts
duckweed*
various stem plants
dwarf lillies
aponogetons
hygros

*do not necessarily require substrate at all, either floats or is usually ties to driftwood or rocks, do not plant rhizome under substrate
Rhizome is the horizontal part of the plant where the leaves and roots connect.

If you get the substrate, lighting, and ferts figured out, plants are really pretty easy to grow!

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

Thanks for the plant information! Very helpful! So many things to decide for this tank..lol