Your 30 G
Hello asberry...
I have a couple of 30 Gs that have the standard T8, 17 watt, 6500 K bulb in them. That's low light and I have Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocoryne and Amazon sword. I also float Water wisteria and Pennywort.
These plants will grow very well in low light, but need a couple of other things. You either need to dose a good fertilizer in liquid, dry or granule form or you need to have a lot of fish in the tank.
The other thing you need to do is to change half the water in the tank every week. You do this to maintain the mineral content in the water.
Substrate is easy, I just use the standard pea sized gravel you get at the local pet store.
You don't have to have anything special.
B