75g planted

You need to check out, if you haven't already these sites too. http://fishtanktv.com/ and www.youtube.com/user/Dustinsfishtanks. I haven"t tried a dirted tank, but really want to.

2 bulb t5 is okay for most plants, but it's a bit skinny for a 75g so I'd go with a 4 bulb. Even the 2-bulb standard output (not HO) t5's grow most plants well in my 55g. But again, if you want to carpet the tank, go with HO's. So go for the gold and grab a 4-bulb HO t5.

As for substrate, many plants actually don't need anything specific. In fact, the majority of planted tanks I've seen just use regular gravel. However, that being said I am a fan of SeaChem Fluorite, and eco-complete is pretty good too. I am also interested in trying some of the japanese volcanic ash substrates offered by brightwell aquatics.

I have 4 planted tanks and 5 planted bowls. I use regular gravel and cheap lighting in all of them except my main planted display. It's a 55g and I use "Fluorite Black" substrate, a 4-bulb power compact fixture (but I only run two 10,000k bulbs), and I use DIY CO2.

The plants that thrive in it are: java moss, java fern, dwarf sagittaria, water sprite, temple plants, anubias, cryptos, and red tiger lotus. I was able to grow other carpeting plants as well (i.e. dwarf hairgrass, micro sword, 4-leaf clover, but NOT dwarf baby tears) but my fish kept uprooting them so I gave up on trying to make it work. The sagittaria grips the substrate well though!

ATI is probably one of the most reputable t5 brands. At the very least I'd replace burned out bulbs with theirs. Wave Point is pretty good too. I'd stay away from anything "Deep Blue" or "Coralife" brand. Coralife isn't awful, but you're going to get a waaaay better fixture (more reliable and better PAR) from one of the first two brands. Deep Blue fixtures are just awful. If I had a dollar for every one I've see returned, I'd retire. A client of mine went through 4 fixtures in a year!

Wait, I need to jump in RIGHT NOW to say two things.

1. Either get a quality t5-ho system (I like catalina personally but there are others) or get a quality LED light (probably need multiple fixtures to run high light) because you'd save in the long run since getting replacement bulbs once a year is expensive and sucks hard
2. GET THE CO2 FIRST. I made the mistake of getting a 4 bulb t5-ho lamp and running only 2 bulbs and I regret it SO MUCH. Even if you have meh lighting now, the co2 will be helpful, and it will be super helpful when you upgrade your lighting to what you want, as well as do ferts and stuff. If you do lights first, as I did, you'll find yourself in a fast losing battle with algae, that won't go away even with co2 as it will have become too established by that point. DON'T DO THE LIGHTING FIRST. If you absolutely have to, get a screen or something so that you are only running medium levels of lighting, because high light+no co2=pain and suffering.

Dramatics aside, I wanna ask what substrate you plan on using, as its almost as important a base to know as lighting and co2.

Catalinas are good lights.

From my experience I haven't noticed a need for CO2 first (you're gonna get both a light and CO2 anyway so no worries). I only run my CO2 for couple of weeks here and there, depending on how much I want the plants to grow. Sometimes I run out of room and I wait until after I harvest to add CO2 again...but I actually never have trouble with algae. The exception was once I got a very little bit of filamentous algae near the surface just before my bulbs burned out, but new ones fixed it. However I should also note that I have always kept an algae eater (chinese, BN pleco, etc..) and I probably still have a few amano shrimp running around somewhere. They keep the algae away pretty well.

Most of the really beautiful planted tanks I've seen don't use CO2 at all, but there's no denying it would make them even better (you will notice more growth for sure). However, you can have a stunning planted tank without it too depending on what plants you stock. Planted tanks are even easier than non-planted tanks if you ask me (and they actually make money), but you will have to experiment a little bit to find out what works best for you though. I'll try to add some pics to show what mine's like.

Some of the more recent pics before and after harvest. I've sold some of the fish back to the store also since I started adding discus

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