planted fish tank

Question
hello,
I have a 80 gallon fish tank with blue gravel and plastic plants, and I want to switch to live plants. I have 2 bala sharks, a ghost knife, three blood parrots, a needle fish, two gouramis, a cory catfish, 2 plecos, 2 convicts and a pictus catfish( I've had all of these fish for several years). I have 2 emperor 280 as my filtration systems combined they pump 100 gallons per hour, which i heard it is always good to over shoot your aquarium just a little. I also have an air pump. I want to know how I can add alot of live plants into my aquarium without harming the fish and what is needed. I know that fertilizer is a requirement and C02 and other substrates are needed as well. I am hoping you can recommend things, also if there is a different gravel that might be needed. I don't want to add all of this though if their is a great chance that I lose all my fish.
 Can you please give me advice on what I need to do in order to make my tank suitable for freshwater plants and what I need in order to do so.

Answer
Hi Derek: There is no danger of losing fish from adding in the typical aquatic plants to your tank.  You do however want to find a balance between the fish and the plants... they will both benefit each other but fish have specific needs and you will need a place for them to swim about in.  Fish safe fertilizer is a good way to go... I recommend the tablet form over the liquid form because sometimes the liquid can discolor the water.  There are also fertilizer gravel such as fluorite which the plants will feed off of... if you go this route then add it in slowly so that the change to pH is not sudden.  Things like Fluorite, Peat, etc will drop pH so you can counter that with a little bit of coral gravel.  If you use the coral gravel to buffer the pH then use it in 1/4 pound amounts and test the pH frequently... once ever two hours until it stabilized... repeat process until you achieve the pH you desire.... I hope this helps... dave