- 217
- Species profiled across five pillars
- 443
- Gear products from 12 brands, matched to your tank
- 7
- Planning tools, from the tank planner to dosing calculators
Photo: Simon Infanger· Unsplash
What this is
Fin & Stem is a working reference for aquascapers anywhere in the world. 200+ profiled fish, plants, shrimp, mosses and snails, cross-referenced for compatibility, plus 400+ filters, lights, CO2 kits, fertilisers and hardscape matched to your tank size. Parameters up front, every photo attributed. From a 20 L nano on a kitchen counter to a 600 L showpiece, start here.Stock smarter. Start anywhere.
Fish
90+ species profiled: schoolers, micropredators, dwarf cichlids, algae crew, and surface specialists. Parameters, group sizes, water column, plant and shrimp safety, and the catch in plain English.
Plants
80+ species profiled: foregrounds and carpets, midground rosettes, background stems and bulbs, floating cover. Light demand, CO₂, substrate, propagation, and trimming cadence.
Shrimp
Neocaridina, Caridina, and the specialty filter-feeders. Lineage, colony minimums, TDS targets, breeding notes, and which fish they actually survive alongside.
Mosses
Java, Christmas, Flame, Phoenix, Weeping, Süßwassertang, Riccia and more. Attachment surface, typical use, trimming cadence, and the shape each one forms underwater.
Snails
Nerites, mystery snails, ramshorns, MTS, assassins, rabbits. The algae crew, the substrate cleaners, the display species, and the ones that arrive uninvited.
The catalogue, plus the cross-references no-one else builds.
The species data is the foundation. The tools are what make it a planning resource rather than a lookup table.
Tank PlannerBuild your tank, check the fit.
Add the fish, plants, mosses, shrimp and snails you're considering, then pick a filter, light, heater and CO₂. We work out the temperature, pH, hardness, light and CO₂ the tank needs, flag predator-prey and parameter conflicts, and tell you whether the gear is up to the job.
Open the planner
CompatibilityWhat else fits this tank?
Pick any species as an anchor. We surface every fish, plant, shrimp, and moss in the catalogue whose water and tank-mate rules overlap.
Pick an anchor
CompareLine up to four species, side by side.
Temperature, pH, hardness, tank size, light, CO₂ and tank-mate safety in one table, with every range stacked on the same axis so the overlap shows. Switch to substrate mode to compare aquasoils and sands the same way.
Start a comparison
Gear catalogueKit that actually fits your tank.
443 filters, lights, CO₂ kits, heaters, fertilisers and hardscape from 12 brands. Enter your tank size and we show the models that fit, with verified specs, price and quality ratings, and a side-by-side compare.
Browse the gear
Beginner-friendly classics.
Species that almost always work in a first planted tank, across fish, plants, shrimp, mosses, and snails. Tap any card for the full profile.
Built for everyone who loves the underwater world.
Most aquascaping resources profile species in isolation and leave you cross-referencing five tabs to figure out what works with what. Fin & Stem ties everything together, every fish links to plant and shrimp safety, every plant lists its real light and CO₂ demand, every shrimp tells you which fish it survives alongside. Written for the global aquascaping community, a love letter to the beauty of what we build underwater.
- 200+ species profiled across five pillars, and every entry shows the parameters that actually matter up front.
- The Compatibility page cross-references any fish, plant, shrimp or moss against the other three, so you can see at a glance what fits in your water.
- A gear catalogue of 400+ products from 12 brands, matched to your tank size, with verified specs and side-by-side compare.
- Species photos come from Wikimedia Commons, Flickr and iNaturalist under open licences, with the author, licence and a link back to the source on every photo.
- Written by aquascapers who keep planted tanks themselves, and who still find the underwater world quietly astonishing.