Ken, adding plants is a wonderful way to go... There are a couple of things
to be aware of when dealing with plants... 1) Plants change your water
chemistry a little (this is a good thing because they assist your filter in
removing nitrate and other things, and they also add oxygen to the water 2)
If you have halfway decent lighting (see kush's post), then you won't really
need co2 for your tank... 3)make sure you get some liquid plant fertilizer
for your tank after you add a few species, this keeps up the iron for your
plants, and will help them grow tremendously. (this also removes the need
for co2)

*if* you do decide to add co2 (I do) you can do the Do-it-yourself (DIY) co2
generator for about $2, and produces no noise whatsoever... I want to add
one caution to doing this however... co2 changes things like pH in your
water... If you through a DIY co2 generator in your tank, then make sure you
closely monitor the pH levels of your tank (co2 will cause pH to drop, but
this is variable depending on your carbonate hardness levels) co2 is great
for plants, and for a tank your size (about 10-15 US gallons), here is how I
would make the co2 generator:

get a 1 liter bottle (like a soda bottle) and drill a hole in the cap... Get
some aquarium safe silicon and attach your standard 1/4 inch tubing to the
cap using the silicon (just so the tubing pokes through the cap by about 1/2
inch) (let it dry for about 24hrs)
make sure the tubing is long enough to go from where the bottle will be, and
where it will go into your tank. (try and get the tubing to the bottom of
the tank with a rock or something)
put an airstone on the end of the tube that is in the tank (this breaks up
the co2 bubbles so they diffuse into the water better)

the concoction you put in the bottle consists of:
add three cups cold water
add 1 cup sugar
add 1/2 tspn bakers or brewers yeast

You should have to change this about every 2 weeks...

Oh yeah, make sure that the bottle itself is in a secure spot so it doesn't
get knocked over... that would be a bad thing

-Jason

"Ken" wrote in message
om...
I've had an aquarium for about 5 years now, with some success, but now
I've decided to upgrade to real plants, rather than the plastic ones
I've got now. So, I've read the faq, browsed the newsgroups and
looked at what's available from mail order places, but now I need some
good practical advice from people with good practical experience.

What I have:
20L tank (20"W X 12"D X 12.5"H) external dimensions
Light strip w/ 24" 20W light (yeah, I know this will have to be
upgraded to about 60W total)
Bio-wheel 170
Gravel of variable size, approx. 2-5mm (1-1/2" depth)
5 Tiger Barbs (1 - 1-1/2")
1 Red Tailed Shark (4")
1 Common Pleco (5-1/2")

What I'm looking to add:

As far as the plants go, nothing fancy, too difficult to keep or that
will be eaten by the Barbs. I'm doing this because real plants look
better, especially if they put out flowers (not necessary), not
because I've decided to become an aquatic horticulturist. But it
would be nice to have a variety.

As far as equipment, nothing fancy either. I'm willing to invest in a
dual light strip, but I'm not willing to put it together myself
(beyond the usual "some assembly required") or spend mucho bucks on
some fancy MH setup. I know I'm probably going to need some extra
gravel of appropriate size. I'd like to avoid hooking up a CO2 system
if I could, but will do so only if necessary and if it's inexpensive
and silent (not "ultra-quiet", I live in a studio and can't sleep with
a pump buzzing away).

In short low maintenance = good, high maintenance = bad.

So, anybody have any suggestions for plants that would be good for me?
Also, help on finding an inexpensive dual light strip would be nice
too.

Ken