Getting Started & Build Guides
Step-by-step first builds by setup type and size: the 5, 10, and 20-gallon planted tanks, the nano and shrimp and betta tanks, the beginner terrarium, and the shopping list that gets you there for the least money.
All 14 guides
Aquascaping for Beginners: Your First Layout
The fastest way to spot a beginner scape is symmetry: a stone dead center, matched pairs, everything even. Real underwater ground is never symmetrical.
How to Grow a Planted Tank Without CO2
Almost every plant that fails in a low-tech tank fails for one reason: too much light and no carbon to use it. The fix is to cap the light, not raise it.
How to Make a Jar Aquarium (a Real One)
A fish in a jar is the picture most people have, and it is the one build a jar cannot do. A real jar aquarium is a planted shrimp jar: no filter, no heater, invertebrates only.
How to Plant Aquarium Plants So They Actually Root
Half of a new tank's plant losses happen at the planting: a buried rhizome, a floated stem, a melting crypt pulled out too soon. Here is the method.
How to Set Up a 10-Gallon Planted Tank
A 10-gallon holds enough water to stay stable and little enough to sit on a shelf, which is why it is the size most keepers should start with. Here is the whole build and what actually fits in it.
How to Set Up a 5-Gallon Planted Tank
A 5-gallon is the smallest tank worth starting on, and it holds exactly one of three things well: a betta, a shrimp colony, or a true nano school. Here is the build and the three paths.
How to Set Up a Betta Tank the Right Way
A betta needs 78 to 82 F, a lid, and water that barely moves. The store cup is none of those. Here is the tank that actually suits one.
How to Set Up a Desktop Ecosystem
A 2-gallon jar of moss and shrimp on a desk runs with no filter and no heater, but only if you stock inverts and leave fish out. Here is the build.
How to Set Up a Nano Tank (Under 10 Gallons)
A nano tank is any aquarium under 10 gallons, and the small water volume makes it swing faster and demand more attention, not less. Here is how to set one up and stock it honestly.
How to Set Up a Planted Aquarium, Step by Step
A planted aquarium is built in one order that does not bend: substrate, light, plants, water, weeks of waiting, then fish. Skip to the fish and you fight ammonia for a month.
How to Set Up a Shrimp Tank
A cherry shrimp colony grazes biofilm you cannot see and breeds on its own, given the right minerals and no copper. Here is the build, in order.
How to Set Up a Terrarium for Beginners
A closed terrarium waters itself: the same cup of water evaporates, fogs the glass, and rains back down for months. The layers underneath do the real work.
How to Set Up an Aquarium in a Bowl (Without Killing Anything)
A goldfish in a bowl is the oldest way to kill a fish slowly. A bowl can hold a stable living system, but only if you stock invertebrates and plant it hard.
The First Planted Tank Shopping List
A planted tank needs about ten things, and the animals are not among them yet. Here is the shopping list, in the order you actually buy it.
From the compatibility database
Parameters pulled live from the compatibility database.
- the standard first planted tank
- container · $
- buffering, nutrient-rich planted substrate
- substrate · $$
- Note: Lowers pH and leaches ammonia when new: cycle first.
- adjustable planted-tank lighting
- light · $$
- Light: low · beginner
- Temp 68 to 82 F · pH 6 to 7.5
- Hardness 3 to 15 dGH · CO2 none
- read the nitrogen cycle and parameters
- tool · $$
- hardscape and epiphyte mount
- hardscape · $$
One build breakdown a week.
A stocked, balanced setup pulled apart: the plants, the cleanup crew, the parameters, and where it would go wrong. Free.
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