I recently found out in my research that leopard geckos can't have sand for many reasons. I have a twenty gallon long tank in my bedroom that stands out a lot, so it is the first thing that anyone sees. I thought that using paper towel was a little unattractive.
I have some "repti cage carpet" on hand that looks a little nicer than paper towel. Is there any other safe substrate that I can use. I know the geckos needs should come before my aesthetic opinions.
and one other thing, instead of using a heat mat, could I just use a daylight blue bulb to provide heat?
these questions may sound a little dumb, but I'm still fairly new as I've only ever kept a western hognose snake.

Thanks!