Basic Plant Advice .... Inc Plastic!!

If you don't want live plants I would suggest silk rather than plastic artificial plants. They usually look more realistic and are softer.
There are many different types of anubias, so you could get different ones, or perhaps java fern (which should also be attached to decor).
I have found cryptocoryne species quite hardy, an vallis is always a bit of a go to plant to fill a bit of space.

thanks - water sprite is pretty.
I will go looking at the silk plants - at least if they are fake I cant kill it. Its an expensive hobby when you buy a plant to watch it deteriorate or a Cpl of weeks!

But maybe I will have another go at the live before I give up entirely!
What about the hygrophilia polysperma? 
I also read plenty of conflicting info re hard/soft water - I have hard if it is relevant!

Plants can be a lot of work. I've got a little addicted to my aquarium and now have an SE Asian biotope with a plethora of plants (and fish) from that area.

If you're looking for an attractive floating plant for a small aquarium, I'd recommend Floating red root (PHYLLANTHUS FLUITANS). Duckweed is sometimes recommended for a smaller aquarium, but it can be difficult to eradicate if you no longer like it.

The plants Sue has listed are all great, low maintenance plants but they are pretty slow growing. If you're after an indestructible, fast growing, real plant, look no further than Hygrophila polysperma. It grows well in sand and only needs low light.

Assuming you have gravel/sand substrate and not soil, another solution is bury small containers (yogurt pots/margarine tubs) that are filled with aquarium safe soil and planted with Cryptocoryne species. These are beautiful plants that are suitable to low light aquariums. They don't require fertiliser though they benefit from root tabs. They can take a while to get going, but are truly stunning once established. Check out C. wendtii and C. beckettii 'Petchii'. They often look dull in your LFS as they are in emersed form. Check images online to get a better appreciation of their true beauty.

Plants are amazingly rewarding once you get the hang of them, and provide many useful benefits to the aquarium (food source, nitrate consumer, oxygenator). Good luck with whatever you choose!

That's interesting as my water is hard and I literally couldn't do anything to stop H. polysperma growing like a weed. It could be a little leggy, but that was down to poor lighting IMO. Strange...

Maybe it was too well lit...

I think i must just be lucky going by other users on here as my plants are going strong at the moment' My only problem is the amazon swords get either that blackbeard algae stuff or brown dots and are like furry on the leaves.

I do dose Seachem flourish every 3 days and dose liquid C02 daily with mineral blocks every 3 weeks and keep the lighting to 2 half hrs in the morning and 4 half hrs in the evening. I did learn something from sue this week the blue moonlight causes algae.

My preference is live plants but hey i am new to all of this.