About Shoal & Stem
A home for people who care about the craft of keeping.
Keeping a tank — whether it's a planted aquascape, a biotope, or a paludarium — sits somewhere between gardening, architecture, and painting. The results can be extraordinary. The process is obsessive in the best possible way.
Shoal & Stem is built for people who care about that side of it. Not just keeping things alive — creating something worth looking at and learning from.
We built it because this community deserves a proper home. Somewhere to document your tank from first hardscape placement to full growth. To share your work with people who'll appreciate what went into it. To get inspired, find rare livestock, and ask Finn when you're stuck at 11pm wondering why your carpet isn't spreading.
Shoal & Stem lives on the web, on iOS, and on Android. The mobile app adds camera-driven test scanning and push reminders for water changes; the website is where the journals, marketplace, and forum live. Both stay in sync.
What you can do here
Keep a tank journal
Document your tank from day one. Log updates, milestones, problems, and solutions with photos. Track water parameters, water changes, plant and livestock lists, and watch your tank evolve over time.
Build a visual timeline
Turn your tank’s journey into a cinematic timeline. Add chapters for rescapes, milestones, and key moments — or promote your best journal entries directly to the timeline with one click.
Tank health score
Get an AI-powered health analysis of your tank. Finn evaluates stocking, water quality, maintenance, compatibility, and more — then gives you a holistic score with actionable insights.
Scan test kits from your phone
Point your camera at a test strip, liquid kit, or digital reader — the app reads the values and writes them into your tank's parameter log. No more typing pH, nitrate, GH one at a time.
Smart water-change reminders
The app schedules water changes around your tank's actual stocking and parameters, not a generic weekly nag. Push notifications when it's due, snooze when life happens.
Explore community tanks
Browse tanks from keepers around the world. Nature Aquarium, Iwagumi, Dutch, biotope, paludarium — filter by style, size, and type.
Look up any species
Plants, fish, shrimp, snails and more — with care guides, placement tips, and community advice contributed by keepers who’ve kept them.
Ask Finn
Finn is your aquatics assistant. Ask about layouts, hardscape, plant selection, water chemistry, equipment — anything design or care related. Or just tell him what you did, like 'did a 40% water change' or 'added 5 amano shrimp', and he logs it straight to your tank. He remembers your tanks between chats, and writes your timeline narrative too.
Share your work
Share your tank page, timeline, and journal entries on Instagram, X, Facebook, Reddit, and Pinterest. Your tank’s story is meant to be seen.
Ripple
Community tips and knowledge from keepers who’ve been there. Upvote what’s useful, share what you’ve learned.
Marketplace
Buy and sell plants, livestock, hardscape, and equipment directly with other keepers in the community.
Forum
Talk with the community. Layout feedback, hardscape advice, plant ID, help and discussion — pull up a chair.