Starting phase of operation 24g planted tank

[JAYGEE]

Ok so I'm setting up this tank with out the wife's permission.. only because where I want to set it up she has photo's and photo albums so I'm putting everything together for now until I get a day off and she works.

So far I have;
18x18x17, 24 gallon aquarium
ADA aquasoil
T5 light fixture
A Rock (only one I liked would like a few more though.)

So, before I start setting it up are there any tips/advice that I should to know?

I know the tank will be cloudy and I will have to do frequent water changes for the first week or two.
I went to City Pets earlier and picked this stuff up, Thanks Donnie!

Start:


Dont mind my dirty laundry! The maid quit.

[mistahoo]

Re: Starting phase of operation 24g planted tank

Lol that's asking for trouble! Where's the pics?!? Haha

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[JAYGEE]

Lol that's asking for trouble! Where's the pics?!? Haha

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

She doesnt know that I bought anything yet except for the tank...

Soon as she goes to the bathroom ill run tot he trunk of the car and grab everything.

[mistahoo]

[JAYGEE]

pic added.

[mistahoo]

I've been told that the ADA amazonia soil stuff releases ammonia. Are you dry starting?

[GoSpursGo]

Starting phase of operation 24g planted tank

You should get the green box aquaticlife w/ 1x6000 and a roseate light. I believe the blue box is setup with a 10,000k and actinic bulb.
All light helps plants but the blue bulbs are almost useless and eventually you will buy at least one replacement bulb in the near future. On the bright side, no pun intended, 10k looks better than 6000k. Well IMO.

[mistahoo]

I like 10000K much better than 6000-6700k. For my 100g non planted I have 10000k bulbs. I've been told that you'd want a temp closer to natural sunlight for optimal plant growth. I have 8000k LED strip, but I plan to get a few LEDs around the 6000-6700k temp range.

[Totenkampf]

You should get the green box aquaticlife w/ 1x6000 and a roseate light. I believe the blue box is setup with a 10,000k and actinic bulb.
All light helps plants but the blue bulbs are almost useless and eventually you will buy at least one replacement bulb in the near future. On the bright side, no pun intended, 10k looks better than 6000k. Well IMO.

+1. although i find the roseate bulb to pretty useless and replaced it with another 6000k. 10000k has too much blue peaks to it for it to be the only bulb type. it would be ok paired with a 6000k though, imo of course.

[Totenkampf]

what kind of rock is that? if its quartz okay but you dont want anything that will leach minerals into the water. have you decided on filtration? and yes the amazonia will leach NH3 at first but thats good for a fishless cycle.

[JAYGEE]

what kind of rock is that? if its quartz okay but you dont want anything that will leach minerals into the water. have you decided on filtration? and yes the amazonia will leach NH3 at first but thats good for a fishless cycle.

I got it from City Pets, it said fossil rock. Should I not use it?

[JAYGEE]

I've been told that the ADA amazonia soil stuff releases ammonia. Are you dry starting?

No, but I will be doing 10% water changes everyday for a week.

[mistahoo]

Re: Starting phase of operation 24g planted tank

I got it from City Pets, it said fossil rock. Should I not use it?

If it's truly fossil rock, I don't see any problems with using it.

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[JAYGEE]

I went ahead and bought everything to set it up, so a friend and I set it up. Sorry no pics just got a new phone not sure how yet.

[mistahoo]

Camera button? Camera app?