The color temp is important (as important as intensity or wattage). You may be able to find a suitable bulb at home depot or lowes for a lot less than your LFS will charge. It doesn't have to say "aquarium" or "plants" on it anywhere to be effective - it just needs to be in that 6500-10000 Kelvin range. It will help a lot to have this regardless of ferts. If the light is the wrong temp, your plants won't be able to use the light that is output.
For the ferts, like I said root tabs would be good for any crypts or other low light root feeders you add. They are like little "pills" as you said that you bury in the substrate next to or under the plants. They last for 3-4 months at a time.
The flourish excel, should you decide to use it, is in liquid form. You dose it in your tank 3-4 times a week (or less if you just want to use it to control algae). It is an alternative to CO2 injection, and works great with most plants in smaller tanks. And as I said, it can be a great way to help control any problem algae. It is however not compatible with all plants... vals, hornwort, and anacharis are all sensitive to it and it will cause them to "melt". It isn't really all that cheap though, but will work great for a few months while you decide if you like the planted thing, and may want to upgrade to DIY or pressurized CO2. Carbon is 1 of the essential building blocks for plants, and adding an external source of carbon to your tank (be it excel or CO2) does wonders for plant health/growth, regardless of higher light or ferts. Again though - you could get away without adding it... a low light tank moves slowly, you will have plenty of time to make adjustments and see what works, what helps, and what doesn't.
For the ferts, like I said root tabs would be good for any crypts or other low light root feeders you add. They are like little "pills" as you said that you bury in the substrate next to or under the plants. They last for 3-4 months at a time.
The flourish excel, should you decide to use it, is in liquid form. You dose it in your tank 3-4 times a week (or less if you just want to use it to control algae). It is an alternative to CO2 injection, and works great with most plants in smaller tanks. And as I said, it can be a great way to help control any problem algae. It is however not compatible with all plants... vals, hornwort, and anacharis are all sensitive to it and it will cause them to "melt". It isn't really all that cheap though, but will work great for a few months while you decide if you like the planted thing, and may want to upgrade to DIY or pressurized CO2. Carbon is 1 of the essential building blocks for plants, and adding an external source of carbon to your tank (be it excel or CO2) does wonders for plant health/growth, regardless of higher light or ferts. Again though - you could get away without adding it... a low light tank moves slowly, you will have plenty of time to make adjustments and see what works, what helps, and what doesn't.