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Aquarium guides/Beginner planted aquarium equipment checklist

Beginner planted aquarium equipment checklist

For an easy planted tank you need three things beyond the basics: a planted-tank LED that spans the tank, on a timer; low-light plants such as java fern, anubias and cryptocorynes; and food for them. Java fern and anubias tied to rock or wood feed from the water, which fish waste and a light liquid fertilizer supply; crypts and other rooted plants feed through their roots, so give them root tabs or a nutrient substrate. None of these plants needs injected CO₂.

Planting an Anubias with tweezers
Shown: planting an Anubias with tweezers. Photo: Abhik.Mazumdar.73, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Choose the plants first

Choose the plants first, because they set everything else. Low-light plants such as java fern and anubias grow on rock or wood under a modest light; carpeting plants such as Monte Carlo and many red stem plants want strong light and usually CO₂. The low-tech planted tank guide lists plants that grow well without it, and the fertilizer and root tabs guide sorts plants by whether they feed through their leaves or their roots.

Then measure the tank’s length and depth: the light has to span the length and reach the bottom. Choose a tank format or enter your own measurements in the equipment planner.

Light, mount and timer

Buy a light whose brackets span your tank’s length, and put it on a timer for 6 to 8 hours a day to start. For low-light plants almost any planted-tank LED that fits will do; for carpets and red plants, check how much light reaches the bottom. Fluval publishes that for every Plant 3.0 and 4.0 size, and the plant light calculator reads it at your tank’s depth: a Plant 3.0 32W gives at least 107 PAR to plants 11 inches down in a 20 long, which is high light. The Plant 4.0 works only through Fluval’s app, so check your phone supports it before you buy.

Planted light fit · How long to run the light

Substrate, rock and wood

Any sand or gravel grows java fern, anubias and crypts if you push root tabs in beside the rooted plants; a planted-tank soil or a mineral gravel feeds them from the start. Lay 2 to 3 inches where plants will root. Which substrate compares soil, mineral gravel and sand, and how far a bag goes.

Rinse rock and wood, and leave out limestone and shells if you want soft water, since they raise hardness and pH. Add the weight of the substrate and rock in the filled weight calculator.

Keep the filter and heater within reach

Plan the layout around the equipment: stems grow over intakes, and wood wedged against a heater makes it hard to lift out. Leave a gap in front of the intake and the heater, and room to lift the filter’s media out. A pre-filter sponge on the intake keeps shrimp, fry and fine leaves out of the filter.

Filter types · Where each plant goes

CO₂, fertilizer and extras: only when you need them

Java fern, anubias and crypts grow without CO₂. A liquid fertilizer at the label dose feeds the plants that take their food from the water, and root tabs feed swords and crypts; the fertilizer calculator works out each label’s dose for your tank. Add CO₂ only when you want carpets or fast red stems under a strong light, and check the level with a drop checker or the CO₂ calculator.

Count the bottles and tabs you will use in a year in the first-year cost calculator. The general equipment checklist covers the rest: water conditioner, a test kit and safe electrics.

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