We need more details.
What size tank are you looking at setting up? What kind of fish?
Assuming that "small" means something under 30 gallons. In that case a single Aquaclear filter with two sponges in it will work quite nicely. For a 30 gallon, I would suggest at least one AC300, or two AC150s. For a 20 gallon, at least an AC200. For a 15 gallon, at least an AC150. I think you can see the pattern. A turnover rate of around 10x is plenty enough for many FW fish... vary this rate according to what kind of fish you want to get.
A planted setup can be done in a couple of ways. Generally, its split up into two sections, low light and high light.
Generally, if you're running less than 2 watts/gallon worth of NO flourescent lighting you're running a low lighted setup, any higher and its generally considered as a high lighted setup. This general rule of thumb varies according to the type of lighting you use (ie. flourescent, PC, MH), how tall your tank is, and how much ambient lighting your tank gets.
For a low-lighted tank, I would generally suggest using NO lighting... PC and MH lights penetrate the water too much for a decent low-light plant tank to work. Adding floating plants can generally help quite well... or plants that spread across the surface of the water. Fish load should be light-medium, fertillizing isn't nessessary... though adding a few trace elements may or may not help. Its a guess and check game. Once you get the balance correct, it gets quite routine. CO2 injection is optional... though its not needed, it would benefit a tank of this type to a certain extent. Plants tend to grow more slowly in this type of setup. Once setup with the correct routine, it is a relatively low maintanence type of setup.
I had a very nice 20 gallon bowfront lowlight tank running for awhile. I had 5 pgmy cories and a dwarf gourami as stock. The tank had a single piece of driftwood in the middle of the tank, partially covered with various species of anubias plants. The substrate consisted of a mixture of flourite and onyx sand and was carpeted by anubias plants as well. Floating plants consisted of a loose "mat" of riccia and duckweed. The whole thing was lighted by a slightly overdriven 36 watt PC light fixture. A 40% water change was done once every 2 weeks, and I only added a little bit of Flourish whenever I felt like it... generally once a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. It was a very peaceful tank, quite different from my other tanks which have relatively high levels of traffic.
High-light setups get a bit more complicated. CO2 injection is a must, without it, you will be forever doomed to cleaning up algae bloom after algae bloom. IME, if you have a choice between upgrading your lights and getting CO2 injection, go CO2 first. Find a KH and CO2 chart, using those two measures, aim for a CO2 concentration of around 15-30ppm. Using things that release tannis (ie. driftwood, peat) will skew the chart somewhat. Fertillizing regularly is also a need, though the amount completely depends on your fish load and plant type. As I said before, 2 watts/gallon or more of NO lighting will put you into this category. I personally prefer PC lighting for high-light setups. VHOs would work as well. I would generally limit myself to less than 4-5watts/gallon... 3-4 watts/gallon of PC lighting should be more than enough to grow just about anything. Fertillizing can get a little bit complicated if you want solid numbers... if you've been in this hobby long enough, you'll know that almost nothing is solid. Generally, you want to aim for a nitrate level of around 5ppm. Potassium, and trace elements should be dosed regularly. Phosphates can be dosed in very small amounts once a week. This is where most people slip up, and thus algae blooms go wild. Unforunately, the only way to find out your perfect level is by experimenting. If done correctly, you will more or less rid yourself of visable algae, and your plants will go wild. Generally, you want slower growing plants in a high light setup. If you have fast growers (ie. most stem plants), you'll find yourself spending more time trimming back plants, rather than enjoying your tank.
I currently have a 70 gallon high light tank running. It has a 5lbs CO2 tank feeding an internal DIY CO2 reactor, 220watts of PC lighting, and a moderate fish load (I've long lost count of how many fish I have in there). The tank is heavily planted, and everything grows like weeds. I've experimented growing nearly everything... and I can say, just about everything will grow in this tank. I even got riccia growing like weeds and pearling like crazy... very beautiful. I do 50% water changes once a week. Afterwards I dose nitrates up to 5ppm, a few capfuls of potassium fertillizer that I DIYed from water softener salt I got from Home Depot, and I dose a few capfuls of Flourish for trace. I also dose a couple mls of Fleet Enema (thats right, enema from the drug store) for phosphates. I need to trim my plants by once a week, or else they get out of control. My fish load seems high enough to keep my nitrates detectable up to my water change. As long as I dose nitrates after a water change, I normally have just enough nitrates to last for a week. Potassium and Flourish is dosed once every 2-3 days. Maintanence is relatively high compare to my other tanks, but once a routine is established its easy to do. Unforunately, I've been on extended holidays before and I lost my riccia plants... most likely due to lack of fertillization. I just came back from a 3 week vacation from Asia and my tank looks likes its probably gonna burst from all the plants that are growing in there. Trimming is going to be taken slowly though. If too many plants are trimmed back, I run the risk of causing a nasty algae bloom.
If you have any more questions with regards to planted tanks, and/or FW tanks in general, ask! I'm a newbie at this SW/reef stuff, but FW/plant tanks are my specialty =).
HTH
-Richer
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