I had some red leaved plants in my fw tank a year or so ago. At that time I had co2 (yeast and sugar method) and the same 3 bulb flourescent light's that I have now. The plant's grew great! Once they reached the top of the tank the red color was outstanding!

If you want high light, PC will be more than adequate. For a 30g tank one length of PC bulbs will be fine.

I suggest you check out www.ahsupply.com if for an excellent pc setup with 6500K bulbs. Depending on the length of your tank either a 96W (36") or 55W (24") bulb would do the trick. I have 4 x 55W on a 75g tank and I am looking at downgrading my lighting because the plants grow faster than I can prune them.

I do not suggest MH due to heat issues and due to nutrient imbalance/algae issues.

I have 1x 55w PC 10k on my planeted 25gal. I do zero suppliments, no CO2 .. nothing.. the plants get over grown within a week. I have one that is actualy blooming right now. :biggrin:

At one point I did the DIY CO2. It seemed to help, had the little O2 bubbles coming off the plants, always a good sign. But the growth rates were about the same as it is now with zero CO2 additions.

Just my thoughts.. :biggrin: