Sounds nice. It depends on the litreage as to exactly what fish you can have but your standard 4 footer should take those fish comfortably. Id use either a fine gravel, or sand, or even a mixture of both if you prefered it. For filtration, id use an external filter around 1000LPH, which you could probably pick up on trademe for not too much, or even brand new for just over $100.
Have you read my starting a planted tank article? ill try find it for you
EDIT: here it is, hope it helps you
http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/thinki ... 18044.html