I would recommend:
Substrate: Black Diamond Blasting sand, medium grit, or any Pool Filter sand you like the color of. Rinse well a few times, and you are set.
Lights: 2 x T5-HO 54 watt 48" bulbs would work well, SunBlaster with NanoTech reflectors perched on a simple home made bracket / canopy would work well - 2 x stock 6400K bulbs, or run 1 x stock 6400K bulb, and one 'Flora' style pink bulb such as a ZooMed FloraSun.
Or you can go with a single Fluval Planted 3.0 (although front - back coverage might be limiting on an 18" wide tank).
Start with 5-6 hours per day MAX. Do this.... (you will thank me later). After a month or so, bump it another hour per day, do this each month until you are at 8-10 hours. No more than that. (algae LOVES lights being on too long).
Fertilizer: Build some DIY root tabs with size 00 gel capsules and some Osmocote+ granular fertilizer. Stay away from Flourish / API root tabs. Place the Osmocote+ tabs under larger rooted plants (crypts, swords etc.) up to once a month - so about 2-3 months to start off with (judge amount needed by plant growth speed) Grab some Thrive liquid fertilizer, and follow the directions, or try out a PPS-Pro method or an EI 'light' method. Both PPS-Pro and EI "kits" can be purchased for relatively cheap. Make sure they contain:
KNO3
KH2PO4
MgSo4
CSM+B
Depending on your pH you may want to use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive + Seachem Flourish Trace for your micro nutrients, and skip the CSM+B.
You can use CSM+B up to a pH of 6.5 before Iron will be lost and become plant-NON-available. A top-up of 11% DTPA Iron can be used with CSM+B for Iron to be available up to a pH of 7.5. If your pH is any higher than 7.5, so with a Gluconate product such ad the Seachem Flourish products (Comprehensive + Trace and / or Iron)
Might be worth dosing Seachem Flourish Excel at the "after water change" rate EVERY DAY. Or you can buy some Metricide14 and dose it at 70% the Flourish Excel rate.
Filtration: Any type should work (not undergravel filter though). Canister would be my first choice, try and aim or 2 filters rated for 75 - 100 gallons each, and place the outputs facing forward, allowing for gentle throughout the tank. Clean them often in old tank water during a water change, because plant debris can quickly build up in them causing issues with algae later down the road.
Water changes: 50% weekly is a good start, you can bump this up a little is you wish.
Plants: Anubias / java fern / moss / buce / bolbitus on the driftwood and rocks, crypts, swords and lagenandra meeboldii for larger leaved plants, Ludwigia repens, Rotala rotundifolia, Lloydiella, any Myriophyllum or Cabomba species and Bacopa caroliniana for taller stem plants should work well.
You can also use grass - like plants such as Blyxa japonica, Dwarf sagittaria, any helanthium species and any dwarf echinodorus species - such as echinodorus tenellus.
Plant right away, and get the tank rolling. Get the plants growing in well first, and by that time the tank will be stable enough for a few fish. Slowly add fish over the course of a few months (after you get the plants growing well) and you should be set
Do your water changes, keep the filters and substrate clean (by removing all decaying plant matter at each eater change), dose fertilizers, remove dying plant tissue, ensure the tank has adequate flow and keep your lighting in that 6-10 hour period, and algae should be of little trouble.
Best of luck!
