The substrate I picked up from aquarium plants.com. Their brand. I forget the name but it's made from fired clay and supposed to contain necessary trace elements. I've used sand before and had good luck, but wanted a darker substrate for this tank.
For lighting I'm using dual t5ho, they are on a timer for 6hours a day. I also run a 4ft led strip 6500k.
The tank is fairly new, so I may still have to add co2 but haven't yet. Budget being my biggest barrier.
As far as stocking I have
6 tiger barbs. Going to add a few more this week maybe 2 or three
6 Cory cats
10 neon tetras
12 ghost shrimp
2 black mollies
And 10 Otocinclus cats (algae cleaners)
3 torpedo snails