If you sprinkle colored gravel on top, it will eventually get thoroughly mixed in, so keep this in mind. Do you want natural with specks of blue? I suggest dark brown or light natural to get you a different look without looking too weird. You can't really have 'lots of variety' and 'fish that get big'. You have to choose a variety of small to medium fish or 1 big fish. Eel, lobster, oscar, dempsey are all in the 1 per tank category and even then they may outgrow the tank. Kribs, severum, & angels are all attractive and attentive (to people) and a pair in that size tank could breed for you. Live plants are more money and work to set up. But they are colorful and may reduce your need for water changes. The fewer, smaller fish you put in the tank, the less maintenance you will need to do. Unless you have a pond in your backyard, I would skip the goldfish, they will outgrow the tank in no time and need a lot of water changes to deal will all the waste they make.
Suggest you try 'fishless' cycling. That will give you a few more weeks to research and make up your mind.
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