New 24" tank setup- best starter options for a beginner

Hi Everyone

Wonder if I could grab some advice please I am busy starting up a 24" tank for my daughters to enjoy. It's going to be there first tank so want to make this a really attractive setup with easy plants and fish to look after.

Most importantly don't want this to break the bank. Have been reading up on lights and found deebow LED lights to be very reasonably priced compared to zetlight options. Just needed to know if anyone has had any experience with this brand and if it's suitable for plant growth as I plant to get some aquasoil in and make it a planted aquarium.

Appreciate any advice and also good stores that I can visit for support and equipment. I am out in Midrand

appreciate all the advice

 

@Theven , Welcome to the forum and this is a great place for advice etc. Is this going to be a planted tank ? If not then I would suggest just grabbing an LED light from a china mall , works out wayyyy cheaper. I personally havent heard of the brand deebow.

 

Hi abrar thanks for the warm welcome. Sharing a pic of the light for reference never seen them before thought someone may have used them

 

aaah I see. I am sure it will work if it is not a high tech planted tank. Also it looks like this is a clip on light so you have to keep that in mind as your tank will be a open top tank or glass top , that will allow light to enter the tank. Have you decided what fish you will be keeping ?

 

Thank u so much guys for the help really appreciate it. @Abrar haven't given much though on fish yet. Been spending time to get my cabinet built. Which is neat enough for the lounge area or my wife is going to remove the tank .

Been reading up on substrates as well and found alot of people moving towards Langa aquasoil which has good reviews for plants, also found that u need to have a decent top substrate to balance the aquasoil out or u get too high nutrient content in water. So also abit confused on what top substrate to put over the aquasoil. Don't want to go route of pool filter sand, it's just too fine something more gravel based to match the dark colour soil would be great.

Will definitely post pics as I move along. Leaning towards sponge filter at moment possibly with an under gravel filter? I had them back in the day and it worked well.... Not sure if it's still the best option at the moment.

Appreciate all your words of advice and the forum has been super helpful already reading others posts

 

Thanks @A new day does this mean u can use aquasoil as is? No need for a cover soil?

 

Thanks alot for all the help will definitely read into these topics the info on this site is simply amazing!! Wish I had it when I had my tanks in my younger days

 

Here’s my deebow 60A on my 2ft. Affordable and light looks great. Would recommend.


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Same brand but yeah different model


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Thanks new day for the advice will change the thread I can see more people commenting as well which is great help for me thanks everyone

 

Hi @A new day sorry to bug been trying to change this thread title to " New 24" tank setup- best starter options for a beginner" can't find an option on page on how to do it. Would you please help me thanks so much

Theven

 

Hi Theven

You've been wisely advised already by the other members Here's my 2c

Re the lights, I have two of those exact same brand lights for my 24" (60cm) tank. I have purchased the 2 x 16w lights. I am definitely replacing them soon as I want proper plant lights as my tank is running CO2 as well as ADA Amazonia substrate too. The only reason why I got those el-cheapo lights is because I was impatient, and I blame @Shabir for that. lol. With that being said though, my tank is doing just fine at the moment with it. Go see my tank's thread here: https://tropicalaquarium.co.za/threads/my-2nd-tank.36216/

If you're planning to go the low-tech route (ie, non co2), then buying ADA Amazonia is going to be a bit of a "waste". Rather get Langa. It is cheaper, and it doesn't flood the water column with nutrients on a high scale as what ADA's Amazonia does, so you won't need to do daily water changes for the first 2 weeks to counter the ammonia surges that Amazonia gives. My main tank has Langa in and that can be found here: https://tropicalaquarium.co.za/threads/my-1-2m-tank-rebuild.34742/page-4#post-454913

Here's what I'd suggest you do

- 1 x Small Lava Rock bag (approx R 200)
- 1 x ADA Clear Super (substrate additive - approx R 350)
- 1 x Langa Soil 8l (approx R 600 I think)

When setting up your scape, place the lava rock on the floor-bottom (not all against the edges though as you want to hide it from sight). Sprinkle the Clear Super across the whole tank bottom (use only as directed on the bottle), then cap it all with Langa. Now scape the tank to your heart's desire. The lava rock will serve as home for the beneficial bacteria, and the Clear Super is amazing in keeping your water clean. There are other ADA substrate additives, but they're not really needed.

For filtration, I'd opt for a Tidal HOB.

If you are wanting to go high tech, then I'd definitely recommend you get ADA Amazonia.

Three basic items not to under-invest in for a planted tank: Lights, Filtration and Substrate.

Anyway, hope this helps