[sparkiesford]

I just have standard lighting on my 55g, I have several plants, but they aren't doing the best. They aren't dieing, but just not flourishing. The main one that keeps browning is the amazon sword. It is a sand substrate so I know there is very little nutrients in it. When I do a water change(once a week) I add these little fertilizer pellets that go in the sand, but they don't seem to do much. What is a better fert then these? And obviously there is a lot of choices on lighting, but what is the most economical? And how many wpg would be ideal? I would like to add more plants and eventually change the substrate. But the lighting is just so expensive.
Thanks