Back to the Roots Indoor Aquaponic Garden - 3 Gallon Self Watering, Mess-Free Planter and Self-Cleaning Fishtank for Herbs, Microgreens, Bamboo, Succulents, and Houseplants, support Fish

I love this product. Love it.Since pets can be too much responsibility for a New Yorker, I decided to try a single fish as an adult. I was a kid when I used to have fish and times were simpler then, but now there's so many accessories and things to worry about. I wanted a simple eco-friendly solution, with a nice presentation, that gave me food to eat, and something pretty to look at. This water garden checked all the marks.— SET UP —Setting this up was incredibly easy. There is an included brochure that walks you step-by-step throughout the process with illustrations and easy to understand instructions: wash all the pieces, pour in tap water in tank, add dechlorinator, attach pump, add top white piece, add sponge, add grow rocks, add beneficial bacteria, add seeds, add gravel, add fish, and add additional decorations (purchased separately). Pretty easy.— GROWING —This comes with three growing trays, and you are provided with two different types of seeds: wheat grass, and radish micro-greens. They take anywhere from 7-10 days to be ready to eat, with the wheatgrass good for one extra regrowth. I was hesitant about throwing seeds on wet rocks and expecting something to happen, but three days in and they are all sprouting! (The radish are the faster, more obvious grower). I make shots with the wheatgrass, and use the radish on pizza. I also grow scallions (green onions) in here—which is easier to clean because the roots don't get tangled.— CHOOSING A BETTA —You are provided a $3 coupon at Petco for a Male Veiltail Betta. This is enough to make it free. I would suggest seeing how well you can take care of your first Betta and if you are successful, maybe consider a prettier but more expensive Betta (but don't put them together, of course). I didn't use the coupon and got a Double Veiltail for about 2.5x that price.— ADDITIONAL DECOR —I spoiled my Betta and got him live plants (to rest on), extra gravel, and two snails to clean any possible algae, along with food options. You are free to decorate how you wish. I do have to note that the gravel provided is minimal so you may want to get more.— THE ECOSYSTEM —If everything is done correctly, this system should basically be the circle of life in a 3-gallon tank: you feed your fish, the fish poops, the poops turn into food for the plants, the plant's roots clean the water, which your fish will enjoy living in to continue eating. I threw in live plants and snails, so we'll see if that helps to maintain overall cleanliness and liveliness.Also, this may not be obvious, but you *need* to be growing something on top. If you have dead/dying plants on top, it will throw things off and the water will turn gross. Try to have at least one or two trays growing something.— MAINTENANCE —As with any aquarium, you will have to take clean this at least once a month minimum. For me, I usually do a 25-35% water change every week. I take out water and pour distilled water back in. The rocks on top might grow fuzzy mold if you don't have good airflow in your home, so that will require taking the containers out to clean, along with the rocks. The tube will also have to be cleaned out regularly so that water can flow up. This is all part of the package of owning an aquarium. It will require upkeep.— THINGS TO NOTE —Don't put this in direct sunlight because your fish will hate you, and algae will grow faster. Also, the pump can be noisy; adjust the cord so it isn't vibrating too loudly. There should only be the sounds of humming and drops of water from the tray, which creates a soft white noise in whatever room you put this in.— SUMMARY —I happened to get this during a sale, which made it worth it to me. This is a wonderful idea well-executed (this is version 2.0 of the product, btw). You get to take care of a low-maintenance fish, grow food you can eat on a weekly basis, and beautify your home. Recommended.

I love the setup! The plants grew so fast I have to keep trimming them, and the tank does not get dirty unless I use it for shrimp and have to use algae tablets... but even then it's not that much build up as you would expect. If you like the little waterfall sound you can let it get a little low and appreciate that, otherwise it might be a downside that you have to refill the water more often than you would in a regular tank setup. I say if you are on the fence, get it! It's adorable, it's fun, and it actually does everything it says!

I've been looking for a tiny plug-and-play aquaponics solution for years. Except for this one, they were all overly complicated and had terrible reviews. While this isn't perfect, it's the best one I've found yet. To be honest I was suspicious that it was from the "Back To Roots" company because we had previously tried their mushroom grow kit (nothing grew) and their "Garden In A Can" variety pack which sprouted seeds, but they never thrived.I bought it as a gift for my spouse on a Black Friday sale. It's $5 cheaper a month later. A good reminder that such sales are just gimmicks.It comes with almost everything you need, including a coupon for a discount on a beta fish if you live near a Petco. After stopping by a store to get a fish and some aquarium gravel (gravel not included with this "everything included" kit) and hopefully a fake plant and a tiny castle or something for the fish's enrichment, just add water and included water treatment chemicals and it's ready to go.The aquaponic component works pretty well for most micro greens. Some radish and wheat grass seeds, if there is anybody who actually eats wheat grass, is included. The radish seeds sprout and grow almost immediately and are ready to eat a few days later. They are tasty and just a tiny bit spicy. They are an excellent first choice for somebody to try unless they prefer to have a tiny lawn of wheat grass. We bought other micro green seeds to grow from Johnny's seeds like corn, sunflower, salad mix, cilantro, onions, etc. We accidentally let our first batch of corn shoots grow too much so they got transplanted into the garden. The next crop of corn shoots we tried were harvested at the right time and had a sweet, fresh corn taste.A lot of the microgreens don't need any sunlight but some of them do. This is where the kit falls short, there is no lighting kit for this product that one can buy. I did find an LED desk grow light that works well with this unit. The other way this falls short is that they don't sell replacement pumps on Amazon, and while they can be ordered from the Back To the Roots web site, they will not ship to Hawaii, so the replacement pump is effectively unavailable to us. I don't understand why they can't put a 2 ounce pump into a first class padded envelope and mail it for $4 and charge us to do that like every other company on the planet. Their customer service did recommend a different pump we could buy from a company that does ship to Hawaii.Is this going to produce enough microgreens to supplement your diet? No, not even close, but a tray of them (there are three trays on top of the little aquarium) adds a nice garnish to a salad or a bit of crunch and flavor to a sandwich. It's a fun way to add some value and entertainment to a fish tank. It has a stylish, integrated look, which is even more striking with a full crop of microgreens on top, but I could not find a lighting solution that complemented the appearance so if you plan on adding a light, expect a more cobbled-together appearance.Overall, I would recommend this for anybody who has or has been thinking of getting a fish that would be happy in a 3 gallon tank and wants to dip their little toe in aquaponics and microgreens.

I absolutely love this system. I was considering rehoming of our betta fish because the tank required so much maintenance. This tank grows me salad and sandwich sprouts and keeps the water/tank SIGNIFICANTLY cleaner. I went from not wanting to keep the fish we had to considering getting another one because this system makes everything so manageable. It's great if you have children because they love watching the sprouts pop up (they only take a couple days to show) and it makes the responsibility of taking care of a fish much easier. I highly recommend.

This fish tank was easy to assemble and came with easy instructions. We love the way it looks in our home and feel this product is good value for the money spent. Would recommend to anyone.