Welcome to the exciting world of fishes! Warning: it can be very addicting.

Sounds like a pretty nice deal. I think you should check the tank for holes (by adding some water as a test run) just in case because of the deal you got... you never know.

Once you see that there's no holes in the tank, you can proceed to the cycling process. I think I would start with the plants. Have you research the requirements for the plants you'd like? I am not a plant expert, but I know some general things. I'd also be happy to help you research if you can give me some specifics of what you'd like. I usually start at liveaquaria.com.

I strongly recommend researching everything you want in the tank before starting that way there will be no surprises. As always, I'd be happy to help you find some things.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."