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Everything in a planted tank comes back to balance

Twenty-eight catalogued tools, three calculators and four interactive simulators — a working reference for the chemistry, the equipment and the biology of a freshwater aquascape.

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◦ Chemistry

Light is the accelerator. CO₂ is the fuel.

Raise one without the other and you grow algae instead of plants. Work out the injection rate from pH and KH, then confirm it with a drop checker.

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◦ 3D Studio

Build it, grow it, model it before you buy it

Assemble a tank layer by layer, run a planting forward in time, model the water chemistry over six months, and check whether your stocking list will actually get along.

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Independent education

Written to explain how equipment and chemistry actually behave. Nothing here is sponsored, and no brand pays for placement.

Nothing for sale

No shop, no affiliate links, no cart. Tools are catalogued and explained so you can judge a specification, not so we can sell you one.

Free 3D tools

Four interactive simulators run entirely in your browser. No account, no upload, no external library — and a 2D fallback if WebGL is unavailable.

Livestock safety first

Every entry states the welfare limits: CO₂ ceilings, moulting needs, minimum group sizes and cycling times. Biology comes before aesthetics.

Categories

Five categories, twenty-eight tools

Every entry states what the item does to the water and the organisms in it, what it is compatible with, and the safety limits that apply.

Tanks & Filtration

The glass, the water volume and the machinery that moves it. Filtration choice sets the ceiling on how heavily a tank can be stocked and how forgiving it will be when something goes wrong.

6 tools

Lighting & CO₂

Light is the accelerator pedal and CO₂ is the fuel. Get them out of balance and you grow algae instead of plants — the single most common failure in a planted tank.

6 tools

Substrate & Hardscape

The base layer and the rocks and wood above it. Substrate decides what roots can do and what the water chemistry does in the first six months.

5 tools

Aquatic Plants & Livestock

The organisms themselves — their light and CO₂ demand, growth rate, adult size and temperament, and who can live with whom.

6 tools

Water Testing & Maintenance

The instruments that tell you what the water is doing, and the routine that keeps it that way. Most aquarium disasters are invisible until something is measured.

5 tools
The process

Four stages, in order

The order matters more than the equipment. A tank set up in the wrong sequence costs more to fix than one set up slowly.

  1. 1
    Step 1

    Plan & Design

    Decide the tank size, the style and the stocking list before spending anything. Volume and light set every other decision, and both are expensive to change later.

  2. 2
    Step 2

    Set Up Tank

    Position the tank on a flat, supported surface, lay the substrate in a front-to-back slope, place the hardscape and connect the filtration.

  3. 3
    Step 3

    Plant & Cycle

    Plant densely from the first day — a sparse start gives algae the gap it needs. Then run the nitrogen cycle to completion before any livestock go in.

  4. 4
    Step 4

    Maintain & Grow

    A weekly water change, a weekly trim, a monthly filter service and regular testing. Consistency, more than any piece of equipment, is what grows a tank in.

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Illustration of a planted aquarium

3D preview unavailable

WebGL is not available, so the interactive preview cannot run. The illustration behind this message shows the same layout.

3D Studio

Four simulators, no install

Each one runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, no account is needed, and every simulator falls back to a static view if WebGL is unavailable.

Aquarium BuilderPlant Growth SimulatorWater Chemistry SimulatorFish Compatibility Checker
All four tools
Most used

Popular tools

The entries people read first — the ones where a wrong choice is expensive to undo.

TanksSetup

Rimless Aquarium

Low-iron glass tank with no plastic trim, mitered corners and a clean open top.

Setup stage
TanksSetup

Canister Filter

Pressurised external filter with stacked media trays, sized by turnover rate.

Setup stage
TanksCycling

Sponge Filter

Air-driven foam block that is the safest biological filter for fry and shrimp.

Cycling stage
TanksMaintaining

Protein Skimmer

Foam fractionation unit that strips dissolved organics — a marine tool, not a freshwater one.

Maintaining stage
TanksSetup

Overflow Box

Gets water from an undrilled tank down to a sump without losing siphon on a power cut.

Setup stage
TanksSetup

Sump System

A second tank below the display that adds volume, hides equipment and stages filtration.

Setup stage
LightingPlanting

LED Aquarium Light

Dimmable multi-channel LED fixture; spectrum and PAR matter far more than wattage.

Planting stage
LightingPlanting

CO₂ Regulator

Dual-gauge regulator with solenoid, needle valve and bubble counter for injected carbon.

Planting stage
All 28 tools
Calculators

Do the arithmetic first

Three calculators that answer the questions the equipment labels do not: how much water is actually in there, how much CO₂ to inject, and how often to change it.

Tank Volume Calculator

Nominal volume is not water volume. This accounts for glass thickness, substrate displacement and hardscape, then sizes the filter and heater to match.

Free tool5 outputs
Free toolOpen

CO₂ & Fertiliser Calculator

The pH/KH relationship gives you the CO₂ concentration already in the water. From there the bubble rate and the dosing schedule follow.

Free tool5 outputs
Free toolOpen

Water Change Calculator

Nitrate only leaves a tank through water changes and plant uptake. This works out the schedule that holds it in range.

Free tool5 outputs
Free toolOpen
From the blog

Background reading

The chemistry, the biology and the routine — explained from first principles rather than as a set of rules.

Beginner4 February 202614 min read

How to Start a Planted Aquarium: A Beginner's Guide

The decisions that actually matter in the first month, in the order you should make them — and the four things beginners spend money on that change nothing.

Editorial Desk
Setup11 February 202611 min read

Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle

Ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, why it takes weeks, and the three tests that tell you where you actually are.

R. Nakamura
Setup18 February 202612 min read

Choosing Substrate for Planted Tanks

Aqua soil, sand and gravel do completely different things to roots and to water chemistry. This is how to pick, and how to lay it.

M. Hollis
All articles

Plan the tank before you fill it

Volume, substrate weight, filter turnover, CO₂ rate and stocking density — all of it derivable in a few minutes, and all of it expensive to get wrong afterwards.

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