Beginner New Tank Setup: Advice Appreciated!

Hello! I've recently had my 125l tank arrive, and have finally got it set up yesterday with hardscape, equipment, and plants! (had some real trouble getting plants that grow on rock/wood to stay down, so please excuse the temporary mess!)



I'm going for a planted/silent cycle, based on what i've read. There are more stem plants hidden at the back that aren't really visible in that photo, but i'm going to hopefully grab a few more tomorrow to fill it out a bit more, as i've heard that the planting needs to be quite heavy to work. The thing is, i have no idea what to look out for/what to do at the moment, besides watch for signs of growth in the plants. I've got water test kits, but i'm not sure what i should be looking out for at thus point in time, and how often to do water changes. I know a weekly water change is good when it's all set up, but do i need to change it more frequently now that it's just starting? and what are the indicators that show i need to change the water? Any help would be appreciated!

Also, if anyone has any tips outside of what has been mentioned, i'd love to hear them! Also any critiques about the layout would also be appreciated, as it's my first time doing something like this!

I think @essjay and maybe @PheonixKingZ have planted tank? I have no experience so I can’t comment

Let’s work out your cycle first... are you aware on how to properly cycle a tank? If not, read up here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Do you have a test kit?

Get. Amazon frog but and water lettuce to float on water surface.
Turn everything on as you’ll have it when the fish are in. Temp, light hours, filter etc Test your water once all your plants are in, take a photo once all your plants are in......then wait and wait until there’s definite plant growth.
If I can do a silent cycle anyone can.
Spend your time peering into the tank, researching fish and drinking beer. It’s the least stressed your ever gonna be regarding your tank. Enjoy it.

Nice scape

Amazon frogbit or water sprite as floating plants would be ideal for a silent cycle. You do need fast growing plants and java fern, anubias and moss are slow growers. I don't know what the plants at the back are but if they are stem plants they are usually fast growers.
With a silent cycle, once the tank is planted you wait until the plants are showing signs that they are actively growing and not about to die. Then add fish slowly, one batch at a time. Monitor ammonia and nitrite every day to make sure the plants are taking up all the ammonia. After a week or two, get the next batch. If at any time you do see ammonia/nitrite you will need to do water changes till they drop to zero, and wait a few weeks before getting any more fish. Hopefully during that time the plants will have grown a lot bigger and able to take up more ammonia.

I have slow growing plants attached to wood and floating plants in my main tank. If I get new fish, I move a few water sprite plants from my main tank into my quarantine tank and they do the job just as well as mature media. I've also used bunches of elodea (anacharis) left to float in the QT.

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I'll be sure to post a new image once i've gotten the additional plants in. In regard to the test kit, i have the API master kit as i heard it was effective. Do i need to test for ammonia/nitrates before i add the fish, or only after? And if i do need to now, what do i look out for, and when do i change the water (besides weekly)? I'd already hoped to get some Frogbit tomorrow in addition to extras of the species that i already have, as i do not particularly like the look of the floating water sprite i have (top left of the image, as the filter flow pushed it into the corner). That water lettuce looks good as well, would it be ok to combine them, or should i stick to just one floating plant species? Also, once the fish are in and the floating plants have taken over, would it be possible to crop them back without causing an ammonia spike, or should i make sure they don't take over in the first place so as not to go over my stock quota accidentally? Thanks again!

Well I'm back with a slight update! I didn't manage to get all/as many plants as i'd hoped, but i've added quite a few few new stem plants at the back (you can see a couple to the left of the large bogwood), some more on the right as well, a few more rotala on the left, and some floating water lettuce.
I hope this is enough to at least get it started, but let me know if i need to get any more as i can always order some in. In regards to water testing, i've never been very good at the colour matching, but ammonia, nitrates and nitrites all seem low/none, so that seems good.

I've another problem i'd hoped someone could help with however: i've noticed a strange, opaque.. fluff over some of the bogwood and substrate. I imagine it's an algae of some kind, and i'm not sure what to do about it.

Apologies for the poor photo, but it's hard to get a good image of it. For context, this is the piece on the far right of the tank in the first image. Any advice would be appreciated.

Stuff on driftwood looks like biofilm, a kind of algae that grows on driftwood. It's harmless and would normally dissipate on it's own.