Cleanest fish?

[Lupin]

Anyone that has ever tried to keep plants knows they are a lot of work.

This is where you are wrong especially as your statement is quite broad. There are many plants that are relatively undemanding and easy to keep. The likes of cryptocoryne, Java moss, Java ferns, anubias, Egeria densa, duckweeds and many others should not be overlooked.

Don't try to reduce or avoid the work of water changes by using plants to maintain water quality, I think the plants make more work.

While you are correct that the use of live plants does not replace water changes, you are wrong on account that they give you more work. If your plants were shedding leaves or dying, then you may be doing something wrong with your routine in gardening and correct them from there. Fast growing plants consume nitrate therefore improving the water quality more than you give them credit for however there are other dissolved nutrients that none but water changes can remove.