Might do a low budget planted...

So I've been sitting here with an empty 20G L and stand for a few years now (basically since I went to reef from FW) and I stumbled on various YouTube videos of planted tanks. I know I am not going to have something like Amano would build, but I'd like to do something at least similar, within my means and ability. By similar I mean the overall look: deliberate, clean, and not a jungle that fills the tank. I kind of have something in my head of some rockwork to one side with whatever I can pull off as a carpet over a majority of the tank, possibly with some type of substrate to create the river effect to break things up. Kinda like this, but without the "tree" and just as an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwODyFMsxN8

I think it's rather doable for someone without any real planted experience (a little bit several years ago). For now I'm just thinking about it but if I do this I want to do it rather cheap. My prime cost concern is lighting and CO2. I'm guessing I can get LED for under $100, maybe even half that, but I'm really not sure, especially since I don't know what I'll be putting in there yet. The CO2 is a completely different issue as I'm wondering if I can actually pull off a planted tank without it. I doubt it, but no CO2 would be choice. I'm not necessarily looking for fast growth, but I don't want to battle algae if I can avoid it.

Livestock is still far from being determined, so I've no idea if I want fish, crustaceans, a mix, or what. Having a 24G reef I've got a whopping two fish so light on fish is cool, but on the flip side I kinda miss having a bunch of little fish swimming around.

Am I dreaming?

Yeah, no tree, rockwork or driftwood will definitely happen. The layout would be imbalanced and favoring one side, but I think it'll look fine and I like a lot of openness. I'm not sure what plants I'd want. I want the carpet/field effect to some extent and a few taller plants would be fine as well, but the tanks that are heavily planted don't appeal to me. I'll need to get some ideas on plants later once this gets closer, plus they will have to be available locally (online is just WAY too expensive). I think at this point I'm just trying to make sure I can do what I want. That example was more of for layout, not plant choice (not saying I do or don't want that). Once I get closer to doing this I'll need to iron out those details.

As far as lighting goes, will something like http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+23688&pcatid=23688 work or will I need something stronger like http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+24726&pcatid=24726 ? Since as you said it's a shallow tank I don't need as much, but I'd rather buy once on hardware (and those are just examples, not necessarily choices). Also since I keep things warm in the summer (78F) LEDs are FAR preferred, I don't need to ADD heat.

Great link. Gives me a good range. Looking at that I'd go with either the Current or Aqueon, though I've no idea yet. I like the price and feature range too.

Would I really be missing anything by sticking with lower light plants? Since I don't have my heart set on anything in particular it's not like I'll be eliminating something that I have planned. The Current appears (though with LEDs the whole WPG thing is destroyed) like it might have extra oomph, plus it's got the very versatile programming.

Wasn't thinking about individuals online but stores. That's an excellent point, especially since I'd guess that plants ship far easier then fish or coral!

So we can say most definitely doable, but lighting will need to be revisited as part of plant selection then.

That's enough for now; like I said I'm only thinking at this time. Thanks for the input, it's nice to know that I can likely make this happen.