Newbie trying new hobby.

Your first step should be to google 'aquascaping' and read read read.

Starting right off with a heavily planted tank could come with a steep learning curve (water chemistry, plant selection, plant health) and a lot of expenses (bright lighting, appropriate substrate, water additives, maybe CO2 injection, etc., etc. depending on what you have in mind).

Have you kept fish before, or are you just new to live plants?

I'd recomend cycling the tank then adding just a couple small fish (maybe a single Betta even) and a couple plants that are hardy and interesting. Don't be afraid to understock while you get your feet wet.

Hi there,

Firstly, welcome to the hobby, Fsihkeeping Is very exciting If done corectly...

In my opinion, Firstly you need to cycle the tank...Check the link out below.....


http://freshaquarium.about.com/gi/d...://www.pubnix.net/~spond/filter/nitrogen.html

I know I looks confusing, but you'll quickly understand it


Once the tank is cycle then you can start SLOWLY adding fish, But please remember SLOWLY, otherwise your tank won't be able to cope with it, and the fish may die, but if you stock the tank slowly, you should be fine


Currently I have A tank roughly the same size as yours 24x12x12 Inches.
In there I am keeping 2 dwarf gourmais, 3 Danios (Soon to be 6 when the gourmais go in my new bigger tank ) and 3 platys (Soon to be 6)
This looks right because there Is a mix of colours inside the tank and I have fish living on the top of the water, middle, and bottom, so there Is always plenty to watch on a night...


Whatever you decide to do then It's your choice, but the main thing to worry about when starting to keep fish is.......

ENJOY IT!!!

Cheers,

Dan