I've met people who keep plants in gravel-only tanks. The plants aren't dying, but they aren't growing very much either. Perhaps some fertilizers can make the plants grow better?
I personally use a mix of Seachem Flourite and gravel, which worked quite well in the past, until algae took over. I'm using the same mix again this time around, so I hope nothing goes wrong!
I was also wodering if any one could tell me what good essential nuts or ferts to use.
Some peanuts will do fine. *r2 Just kidding. *j4 Seachem Flourish root tabs are really good. Their bottled fertilizers are also really good. But I must warn you, if your plants are doing fine, fertilizer may not be necessary. Usually, using fertilizers is best utilized with CO2 systems. The three basic needs of plants are light, nutrients, and CO2. All three work hand in hand; you will not get maximum growth if one of the components is missing. So what I'm trying to say here is that if you use fertilizers and your plants don't utilize it well, algae may make better use of it...which brings me to the whole water change thing. You really gotta do frequent water changes or high nitrate levels can cause algae!
I think the biggest goal of planted tanks are to make sure the plants beat the algae to the nutrients.
Sorry for the novel. *old dude