A Beginner's Guide to Aquascaping Your Fish Tank

For freshwater keepers moving to a planted layout: which plants survive modest light without injected CO2, how to build the layout, and how to light, feed and style it.

Easy plants rated by light and CO2

Ratings and heights below are from Tropica, a commercial grower that labels each plant Easy, Medium or Advanced. Every plant in this table is rated Easy.

Plant	Light / CO2	Height after 2 months	Notes
Java fern (Microsorum pteropus)	Low / Low	6–12+ in (15–30+ cm)	Tie to wood or stone; a buried rhizome rots
Anubias nana	Any / Low	2–6+ in (5–15+ cm)	On stone or wood; slow leaves collect algae
Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Green’	Low / Low	4–12+ in (10–30+ cm)	Rooted; fine in hard water
Amazon sword (Echinodorus grisebachii ‘Bleherae’)	Low / Low	8–12+ in (20–30+ cm)	Needs a large tank; prune so it doesn’t shade others
Vallisneria spiralis ‘Tiger’	Low / Low (Purdue: high light)	8–12+ in (20–30+ cm)	Spreads by runners
Helanthium ‘Quadricostatus’	Low / Low	4–6+ in (10–15+ cm)	Carpets by runners; very pale leaves mean low micronutrients
Sagittaria subulata	Low / Medium	2–12+ in (5–30+ cm)	Space ¾–1½ in (2–4 cm) apart; can suddenly grow tall
Hygrophila corymbosa ‘Siamensis 53B’ (stem)	Low / Low	6–12+ in (15–30+ cm)	Fast and bushy; replant cut tops
Egeria densa (stem)	Low / Low	8–12+ in (20–30+ cm)	Fast; soaks up nutrients that would feed algae
Amazon frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum, floating)	Low / Low	1–2+ in (3–5+ cm)	Thin it out so plants below get light

On Vallisneria, Purdue’s older pamphlet says it needs lots of light (Purdue), while Tropica says it grows in “virtually all light” (Tropica). Treat it as low-to-moderate.

Tropica also rates Hygrophila polysperma and Limnophila sessiliflora Easy (Tropica), but both are US federal noxious weeds (eCFR); US keepers should use the stems above.

Plants often sold as “easy” that aren’t:

• Cabomba. The cabomba most shops sell is Cabomba caroliniana. Flowgrow, a German hobby plant database, rates it medium difficulty with medium-to-high light (Flowgrow). It rates the rarer C. aquatica difficult (Flowgrow). Tropica, which sells only C. aquatica, labels it Easy with medium light but says it “still causes problems in poorly lit aquariums”, and suggests Limnophila sessiliflora where light is short (Tropica), though that plant is a US federal noxious weed (eCFR). Skip cabomba under a basic hood.
• Duckweed. A pest: it arrives on other plants, a single small plant can start a population, and the mat shades everything below (Aquasabi).

Building the layout

Tropica advises planning the layout, ideally as a drawing, before you start (Tropica). A workable order:

1. Hardscape and substrate. Tropica’s quick guide places stones and wood first, then spreads about ⅜ in (1 cm) of nutrient substrate and at least 1½ in (4 cm) of gravel (Tropica). ADA lays the substrate first and then places wood (ADA). Stand heavy stones on polystyrene to protect the glass (Tropica).
2. Slope the gravel. About 1¼–1½ in (3–4 cm) at the front rising to 2½–3 in (6–8 cm) at the back gives depth (Tropica).
3. Plant in shallow water, about ¾ in (2 cm) above the gravel, poured over a saucer; mist plants as you work (Tropica).
4. Fill slowly, keeping the jet off plants and substrate (Tropica).
5. Grow in. Tropica delays fish for 3–4 weeks while plants root and changes 25–50% of the water a couple of times a week for the first 3–4 weeks (Tropica). For cycling, see the aquarium setup and maintenance guide.

Height planning. Put tall, dense plants in the rear corners, group shorter ones around them, and keep the front open (Purdue). ADA finishes the midground before planting the foreground (ADA). From the table: stems, swords and Vallisneria at the back, crypts and Java fern in the midground, Sagittaria or Helanthium in front.

Plant densely from the start. Tropica adds fast-growing “auxiliary” plants such as Egeria densa to a new tank to absorb nutrients algae would otherwise use, removing them once the main plants are established (Tropica).

Light: how much and how long

Tropica sizes light by lumens per volume of water (Tropica):

Plant category	Lumens per US gallon	Lumens per litre
Easy only	about 40–75	10–20
Medium	about 75–150	20–40
Advanced	over 150	over 40

Light falls off toward the corners, where Easy plants such as Java fern cope (Tropica).

Starting photoperiod. Tropica says 6 hours a day for the first three weeks, rising gradually to a maximum of 8, because too much light causes algae (Tropica). Purdue and GWAPA give 8–10 hours (Purdue; GWAPA). Use a timer: lights left on 24 hours a day stress fish, and direct sunlight drives algae (Merck).

Fertilising: root tabs, liquids, lean or rich

Method	Best for	Trade-off
Root tabs / capsules	Swords, crypts, Vallisneria, established carpets (Tropica)	Tropica’s capsules release over 6–9 months (Tropica)
Liquid	Java fern, anubias, moss and floating plants, whose roots aren’t in the substrate (Tropica)	Needs daily or weekly dosing; excess feeds algae (Tropica)

Lean vs rich. Estimative Index (EI) doses excess nutrients and resets with a 50% weekly water change, suiting high-light, high-CO2 tanks; PPS-Pro doses only what plants use (GWAPA). For an Easy-plant tank, stay lean: Tropica gives no or little fertiliser for the first 3–4 weeks because nursery plants carry their own reserves (Tropica).

Keep light, CO2 and nutrients in step. Easy plants manage without added CO2; Medium plants need about 10–15 mg/L and Advanced 15–30 mg/L (Tropica). GWAPA gives the same 15–30 ppm target and warns that more can kill fish (GWAPA). Raise light, CO2 and fertiliser together.

Three layout styles compared

	Nature Aquarium	Dutch	Iwagumi
Hardscape	Wood and/or rock, often covered with ferns, moss and anubias (UK Aquatic Plant Society)	Usually none (UK Aquatic Plant Society)	Main, secondary and ornamental stones (ADA)
Plants	Ferns and crypts suit low maintenance (UK Aquatic Plant Society)	Stem plants in rows, low in front (UK Aquatic Plant Society)	Short carpet plants (ADA)
Beginner fit	Best start: wood plus Easy plants	Hard: heavy pruning and replanting (UK Aquatic Plant Society)	Hard: typical carpets need injected CO2

Iwagumi’s usual carpets are not Easy plants: Tropica rates Monte Carlo Medium, needing CO2 to grow compact, and HC ‘Cuba’ Advanced, with high light and CO2 needs (Tropica). ADA’s own Iwagumi example runs injected CO2 (ADA).

For stocking ideas, see the betta care guide and the cleaning and maintenance guide.

Mistakes that cause problems

• Full light from day one. Too much early light causes algae (Tropica).
• Medium or Advanced plants without CO2. Tropica says they need it, and a plant that dies off releases nutrients that feed algae (Tropica).
• Dumping trimmings outdoors. Several aquarium plants are US federal noxious weeds, listed to stop their spread (eCFR).
• Leaving dead leaves to rot. Remove dead plant matter promptly and change about 25% of the water weekly (Tropica).