The supplies you need for aquascaping break down into a few clear categories: hardscape materials (rocks and wood), substrate, planting tools, fertilization, and CO2 if you're growing demanding plants. You don't need an overwhelming list. A focused selection of quality tools and materials gets you further than a pile of gadgets you bought without a plan.
This guide covers each category in detail, including specific products, what to spend money on versus what to skip, and how your choices change based on the style of aquascape you're building. Whether you're doing a Nature Aquarium layout, an Iwagumi stone arrangement, or a biotope-inspired riverbed, the supplies needed overlap significantly with a few important differences.
Hardscape: Rocks, Wood, and How to Use Them
Hardscape is the structural backbone of any aquascape. It defines the composition, creates visual depth, and provides anchoring points for plants. Getting hardscape right before adding anything else saves enormous rework later.
Rock Types and Their Uses
Seiryu stone is the most popular aquascaping rock for Nature Aquarium and Iwagumi styles. It's a blue-grey metamorphic rock with sharp ridges and natural crevices that catch light dramatically. ADA (Aqua Design Amano) sells premium Seiryu, but you can find similar stone labeled "mini landscape rock" from multiple vendors at lower prices. Seiryu raises water hardness and pH slightly due to carbonate content, which benefits some plant species but can be a problem in soft-water biotopes.
Dragon stone (Ohko stone) is an alternative with a more porous, honeycomb texture. It's lighter than Seiryu and creates good root anchorage for plants like Anubias or Java fern. It also raises pH, though generally less aggressively than Seiryu.
Lava rock is porous and relatively pH-neutral. It supports bacterial colonization well and is used both as hardscape and as biological filter media. Red lava rock adds warm color contrast against green plants.
For purchasing, check local aquascape specialty shops or importers. Rock is heavy and shipping cost adds up quickly. Buying from a local fish store or landscaping supplier often gets you the same quality for less.
Wood Options
Spiderwood (also sold as azalea root or Rhododendron wood) is the most common choice for dense, branchy hardscapes. It sinks quickly, doesn't rot for years, and creates a natural forest-floor look. You'll find it sold by the piece or by the pound; expect to pay $10 to $30 for a medium piece.
Manzanita driftwood has smoother, more sculptural branches that work better for open, minimalist layouts. It's denser than spiderwood and extremely durable. Premium pieces from aquascape suppliers run $20 to $50.
Cholla wood (skeleton of a cactus) is very porous and breaks down over 6 to 12 months. It's good for blackwater biotopes and shrimp tanks where the wood adds tannins and provides a hiding structure, but it's not a long-term hardscape choice.
Always boil or soak wood before placing it in the tank to leach tannins and kill surface organisms. Spiderwood often needs 5 to 7 days of soaking before it sinks naturally.
Substrate Choices for Planted Tanks
Substrate supports plant roots, anchors hardscape, and in nutrient-rich substrates, feeds plant roots directly. There are two main categories: active and inert.
Active (Nutrient-Rich) Substrates
Active substrates contain ammonia, organic matter, and minerals that feed plant roots and drive the nitrogen cycle during the initial setup period. ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia is the benchmark product. It lowers pH (to about 6.5 to 7.0), softens water, and supports demanding plant growth. It releases ammonia during the first 2 to 4 weeks, requiring a fishless cycle or a delay before adding sensitive livestock.
Fluval Stratum is a lighter, lower-ammonia alternative to ADA. It still lowers pH and supports plant growth, but the initial ammonia spike is usually shorter and less intense. Good for setups where you want faster livestock introduction.
Inert Substrates
Inert substrates (fine gravel, sand, or black diamond blasting sand) contain no nutrients. Plants grow slower without root tabs or liquid fertilizers, but there's no ammonia cycle on setup and you have full control over nutrient levels. For low-tech tanks with slower-growing plants like Cryptocorynes, Anubias, and Java fern, inert substrate with a few root tabs is perfectly adequate.
Black Diamond Blasting Sand (20/40 grit) is a popular aquascape substrate. It's angular, dark, and extremely cheap (about $8 for 50 pounds). It needs thorough rinsing. Add root tabs from Seachem or Aquarium Co-Op under root feeders.
Planting Tools
A good set of aquascaping tools makes planting exponentially easier. The four essential tools are:
Straight tweezers (25 to 30cm length) for placing stem plants and foreground species precisely. The Fluval Plant Tweezers or the JARDLI Aqua Tweezers 30cm are good stainless steel options at $15 to $20.
Curved tweezers for placing plants behind rocks or under overhangs. Same length as straight, just angled 45 to 60 degrees.
Curved scissors for trimming plants in the tank without removing them. The Aqua-X 7-inch curved scissors work well. You can also find full stainless steel scissor/tweezers sets from brands like NilocG or JARDLI for $25 to $40.
A sand/substrate spatula for smoothing substrate, creating slopes, and filling in around hardscape. A simple stainless steel kitchen spatula with a bent handle works. ADA makes dedicated aquascape spatulas but the functionality is identical.
Fertilizers and CO2
For planted tanks, fertilization is the difference between plants that grow slowly and look okay and plants that grow densely and look vibrant.
Liquid Fertilizers
A complete liquid fertilizer covers macro and micro nutrients. Seachem Flourish is one of the most used products and covers most micronutrients well. It should be paired with Seachem Flourish Excel (liquid carbon) for no-CO2 setups or used alongside a CO2 system.
For high-tech (CO2-injected) tanks, use a two-part fertilizer system. NilocG Thrive All-In-One fertilizer dosed 2 to 3 times per week covers most planted tanks up to about 100 gallons.
CO2 Systems
CO2 is optional for low-light tanks with slow-growing species, but it transforms a planted tank with medium to high light. Plants grow 3 to 5 times faster, colors intensify, and algae is suppressed because the plants outcompete it.
A pressurized CO2 system consists of a cylinder, regulator, bubble counter, diffuser, and drop checker. The CO2Art Pro-Elite Series regulator is widely respected and runs around $80 to $100. Cylinders come in 5 lb and 10 lb sizes from aquarium suppliers or welding gas suppliers.
For small tanks under 30 gallons, CO2 capsule systems like the ADA Mini S or Fluval CO2 Kit 45g avoid the cost of a full regulator and large cylinder. These are more expensive per gram of CO2 but practical for nano setups.
For complete gear recommendations on planted tank equipment, check our Best Aquarium Equipment guide and our Top Aquarium Equipment roundup.
Adhesives and Mounting Supplies
Attaching plants and moss to hardscape requires super glue gel (cyanoacrylate) or aquarium-safe epoxy. Super glue gel bonds Java moss, Anubias, and other rhizome plants to rock and wood in seconds and is completely safe in water once cured. Use the standard Gorilla Glue Gel or generic cyanoacrylate. Thread-like binding materials like fishing line or cotton thread also work for moss but take longer to establish.
For mounting equipment, plastic egg crate panels (light diffuser panels from hardware stores) work as platforms for growing moss carpets before placing them in the tank. Cut to size, tie moss with cotton thread or glue, and let it establish on the panel for 2 to 4 weeks before placing it as a foreground carpet.
FAQ
Do I need expensive ADA products to aquascape successfully? No. ADA products are quality items but far from mandatory. Pool filter sand, local rocks, and generic tweezers produce the same results for a fraction of the cost. The most important investments are a good substrate if you're growing demanding plants, and decent stainless steel planting tools that won't rust.
Can I mix different rock types in one aquascape? Technically yes, but aesthetically mixing types creates visual dissonance. It's better to pick one rock type and use pieces of different sizes to create scale and depth. The only practical exception is using a different rock type as a background accent if the colors are complementary.
How much substrate do I need? Plan for 2 to 3 inches of substrate depth across the tank floor, sloping to 3 to 4 inches at the back for depth perspective. A 20-gallon long tank (30"x12") needs approximately 15 to 20 pounds of substrate. ADA Aqua Soil bags are listed in liters: a 9-liter bag covers about 15 to 20 gallons at standard depth.
Is CO2 necessary for aquascaping? No. Many excellent aquascapes use no CO2. Low-light species (Anubias, Bucephalandra, Java fern, Cryptocoryne, mosses) grow well without CO2 injection. The tradeoff is slower growth and less visual drama in the foreground carpet. For carpeting plants like Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba) or Eleocharis sp. Mini, CO2 is essentially required to grow a dense carpet.