Cycled Tank , Real plants good or bad??

Question
I have a 30 gallon tank , I set it up in the beginning of November  , I had 2 opaline Gouramis and a peral Gourami, along with 4 Neon tetras until xmas , All my levels were good(nitrites were a little high today , but I did a 25 percent water change , I had added 3 Blind cave tetras , and 2 sunfire Platys and and 2 black Mollys (not all at the same time since xmas , . Water quality has been good sine cycling the tank , My question is , are real plants better to have ?? I have 2 now that are growing very well , and I wish to add more (started with Bulbs) and how many plants are good for the size tank I have . Last question , do I need to provide some sort of plant food ??

Thanks for your time .. Mitch  

Answer
Dear Mitch,
Sounds like you have a really nice tank. Real plants are usually a good thing unless you have fish that will destroy them and you don't.  Plants will use fish waste as fertilizer and help to keep your tank well balanced.  You do have to be sure to not let any      or decaying leaves or stems stay in your aquarium since that will be adding decaying waste to your tank and that is not good.  As for how many for your tank size--it's going to depend on what size plants and it they spread alot. You also want to be sure that plants don't take over your tank so much that the fish don't have adequate swimming area. There are mixed feelings on whether or not to fertilize.  The plants will get alot from your fish waste.  Some plants that are heavy feeders might need fertilizer.  That will probably depend on what type of plants you want in your aquarium.  Also, some plants need alot of light as in higher watts than the usual aquarium lighting.  Some plants are considered low light plants.  I've grown beautiful plants from bulbs without special lighting or fertilizer.  Just experiment with a few plants at first and see how they do. Be sure to keep doing regular and frequent water changes even though plants help with water conditions you still don't want to take the chance of conditions in your tank getting unsafe for you fish. Best of luck--I'm sure things will work out great!
Hope this helps!
Karen