First of all, welcome to The Planted Tank 
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The first thing I need to say is that 11w is simply not going to cut it over your tank. Its not only nearly impossible to grow even the most hardy plants in it, but the tanks you showed to try to emulate all have very high watts per gallon. I'd recommend picking up a compact flourescent setup or check out ahsupply.com for retrofit kits you can put in a homemade hood. Try to go for at least 3 watts per gallon (for you that would be about 27-28 watts). Four to six watts would be excellent over it.
For substrate, you have tons of options. Many people like using flourite, but it isn't as asthetically pleasing. I personally used tahitian moon sand in my 56 gallon. Its a nice black sand that doesn't mess up your pH. Personally, I'd just recommend going to your local hardware type store and pick up a big bag of play sand. Its the cheapest option, looks natural, and as long as you keep up on dosing and lighting, the plants do perfectly fine in it.
Filtration-wise, I personally prefer penguin or emporer, but preferences vary person to person. The penguin filters are the ones I've been using, an they seem to run very strong, don't get clogged often, and are a pretty quiet filter.
As for the co2, I don't think its even worth it if you're keeping the lighting you have. Plants basically just won't survive in my opinion, even with the addition of co2. I haven't personally heard of the Nutrafin co2 system, but if its recommended by someone, I say go for it if you decide to bump up your wattage.
Also, if you plan on following the Amano way of design (it seems you do ), I'd recommend finding really nice rocks somewhere. Make sure they won't mess up your pH first however. Your rocks will be one of the main things people notice when looking at your tank, so if you can't find a nice one in nature, don't worry about spending good money to make sure you get the right ones. It'll end up being worth it in the long run.
Hope that helps.
.The first thing I need to say is that 11w is simply not going to cut it over your tank. Its not only nearly impossible to grow even the most hardy plants in it, but the tanks you showed to try to emulate all have very high watts per gallon. I'd recommend picking up a compact flourescent setup or check out ahsupply.com for retrofit kits you can put in a homemade hood. Try to go for at least 3 watts per gallon (for you that would be about 27-28 watts). Four to six watts would be excellent over it.
For substrate, you have tons of options. Many people like using flourite, but it isn't as asthetically pleasing. I personally used tahitian moon sand in my 56 gallon. Its a nice black sand that doesn't mess up your pH. Personally, I'd just recommend going to your local hardware type store and pick up a big bag of play sand. Its the cheapest option, looks natural, and as long as you keep up on dosing and lighting, the plants do perfectly fine in it.
Filtration-wise, I personally prefer penguin or emporer, but preferences vary person to person. The penguin filters are the ones I've been using, an they seem to run very strong, don't get clogged often, and are a pretty quiet filter.
As for the co2, I don't think its even worth it if you're keeping the lighting you have. Plants basically just won't survive in my opinion, even with the addition of co2. I haven't personally heard of the Nutrafin co2 system, but if its recommended by someone, I say go for it if you decide to bump up your wattage.
Also, if you plan on following the Amano way of design (it seems you do
), I'd recommend finding really nice rocks somewhere. Make sure they won't mess up your pH first however. Your rocks will be one of the main things people notice when looking at your tank, so if you can't find a nice one in nature, don't worry about spending good money to make sure you get the right ones. It'll end up being worth it in the long run.Hope that helps
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