The best aquaponics kits are quick and easy to set up. The beauty of aquaponics, though, lies in the perfect unison of plant and animal life working together. Their cooperation creates a smoothly running, mutually beneficial ecosystem. Aquaponics is the practice of combining aquaculture (raising aquatic life) with hydroponics (growing your plants without soil). In an aquaponic environment, you simply feed your fish and wait for your plants to grow. You may need to add water occasionally as it’s lost through evaporation, but the system mostly looks after itself. The fish or other aquatic life produce waste, and the system uses this to supply nutrients to your plants. The system then purifies the water that carries the waste, as the plants use the nutrients. Finally, it gets filtered back into the animals’ habitat.
As you can imagine, this is a wonderfully symbiotic environment, and you’ll notice your plants growing much more efficiently within this system. This is due to the constant and readily available supply of both water and nutrients. You can grow fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables to eat. You can also farm your own fish for consumption. Or optionally, you can simply grow beautiful flowers within an aesthetically pleasing aquaponics system to beautify your home.
What You Need to Get Started with The Best Aquaponics Kits
You can set up your own aquaponics system with a few basic necessities. However, if that sounds like too much hassle, consider purchasing an aquaponics grow kit. Most of these kits only require that you add the fish and plants. Also, there are many options that will fit any gardening need. A large, higher-end aquaponics kit is ideal for growing many crops in the shortest time. However, if you’re looking for something smaller, there are many options available. In fact, some kits are even fit on your countertop. These kits provide more of a visually pleasing centerpiece than a high output vegetable garden. Now, let’s check out some of these kits to find the perfect aquaponics system to fit your needs.
Genesis Aquaponics Kit
One of the best aquaponics kits is the Genesis Aquaponics Kit. It provides 24 square feet of grow bed as well as a 140 gallon fish tank, giving you the potential to grow up to 240 pounds of vegetables and 25-30 pounds of fish per year. You’ll also receive pre-cut plumping, water & air pumps, and clay pebbles which will be used to help you set up your system. It’s easy to assemble, and a detailed owners manual is included to walk you through the set up. The system is 48” wide x 96” long x 42” tall and is available in desert tan, plum, and gray.
Professional AquaBox Aquaponics Kit
The Professional AquaBox Aquaponics Kit is crafted in a beautiful wood design and comes with everything you need to set up your aquaponics system. Just add plants and fish. The grow bed on top is filled with hydro clay pebbles, which act as a growing media for your plants. The 30 gallon fish tank is situated below the grow bed. Yet, it’s easily accessible for feeding. The entire system is 35” wide x 58” long x 26” tall. Its size makes this system big enough to grow a decently sized crop and raise fish that are large enough to eat.
Aspen Aqua Grow Aquaponics System
Another great option for the best aquaponics kits is the Aspen Aqua Grow Aquaponics System. It’s 40” x 33” x 24” and is available in light granite, dark granite, or red brick. The grow system comes with everything you need to get you started. For example, it includes a pump, a filter system, an instruction manual, and a starter pack that supplies you with clay grow media, powdered soluble seaweed, nitrifying bacteria, natural water conditioner, and a medium buffer bag. Additionally, the system features a trellising post which you can use to attach a grow light or to support climbing and vining plants. The tank in the bottom can house between 5-7 decorative or edible fish.
Ecolife Aquaponics Indoor Garden System
The Ecolife Aquaponics Indoor Garden System fits on top of a 20 gallon fish tank to create a closed-loop, sustainable ecosystem. The system is equipped with programmable LED lights which offer 4 grow settings as well as a built in timer and a remote. The kit also includes instructional videos and email and phone support, in case you need help setting up your system. Additionally, the company offers learning curricula for teachers, for systems being used in the classroom as a teaching tool. However, the 20 gallon tank, plants, and fish are not included with this system.
EcoQube Aquarium Aquaponics System
The EcoQube Aquarium Aquaponics System is a 1.5 gallon aquarium, just large enough to hold several small fish, guppies, or one Betta fish. It is designed to house one Basil plant which will act as a part of the filtration system to purify the water. This modest tank is perfect for a desk, bookshelf, kitchen counter, or any other small space. The kit comes with decorative sand, a decorative stone mountain, and a glass cover. It also comes with a remote controlled UV LED Light. Best of all, you should never need to change the water with this low maintenance, self sterilizing aquaponics kit.
AquaSprouts Garden
The AquaSprouts Garden fits any standard 10 gallon aquarium and comes in a sleek, matte black design. The aquarium is not included with the kit, but you’ll receive a removable light bar that can support any standard indoor grow light. Plus you get a water pump with a timer, and clay grow media to support your plant’s roots and help filter waste from the water. Lastly, the kit includes a detailed step-by-step instruction manual. Specialized teaching curricula is available if this aquaponics kit is to be used inside the classroom to teach children about nature, gardening, and the ecosystem.
Back to the Roots Mini Aquaponic Ecosystem
The Back to the Roots Mini Aquaponic Ecosystem is one of the few aquaponics kits that includes everything you need to get started, even a coupon for your fish! With this kit, you’ll receive microgreen seeds, D-Klor, Zym-Bac, growing medium, and fish food. The tank is 13.4” x 13.4” x 9.5”. So, it’s compact enough to fit in a small space yet just the right size for growing microgreens and raising small decorative fish. The kit is 100% guaranteed to grow. If it doesn’t, you’ll receive a free replacement kit or get your money back.
Neverland Aquaponics Ecosystem
The Neverland Aquaponics Ecosystem is 15″ long x 6.5″ wide x 9″ tall and features a stylish rounded design. The tank is equipped with an LED light that can be set to red, blue, green, purple, or white to create a relaxing atmosphere of soft lighting. Additionally, this aquaponics system uses a four stage filtration system with volcanic stone, nitrifying bacteria, activated carbon, and biochemical cotton filters in order to completely purify the water before it returns to the tank. Ultimately, this system would make an excellent, low maintenance piece of living decor for any room.
Huamuyu Aquaponics Garden
For an inexpensive option, the Huamuyu Aquaponics Garden is a 12.2″ x 7.7″ x 11.0” tank that holds up to 3 gallons of water. The water level fluctuates in 2-minute cycles to provide a regular oxygen supply to the plant’s roots. Also, because the aquaponic environment is naturally filtered, you’ll rarely need to clean the tank. However, when it does need cleaning, the U-shaped based makes the job much easier. This kit comes with the tank, a seed sprouter tray, a pump, filtering sponge, pea seeds, ceramsite, and an instruction manual.
AIBSI Aquaponics System
This super tiny AIBSI Aquaponics System is only 5.5” x 5.5” x 5.1”. It can support 1-3 small fish and a little herb plant or succulent. The tank is a translucent blue hue, and the kit comes with a planting pod, a terracotta disc, and vermiculite. This system will auto-irrigate the plant for 3-4 weeks. However, the water will need to be changed periodically. Also, additional fertilizer may need to be added to the plant pod to supplement the nutrients provided by the fish waste.
The Best Aquaponics Kits - The Wrap-up
As you can see, there are aquaponics kits and systems to suit almost any gardening need, be it for high crop yield or simply to create a gorgeous display of plant and animal life. The price range of these kits can vary greatly, with tiny single fish tanks being quite affordable to larger, more expensive farm systems that will house an entire school of fish. Choose the kit that fits your budget and gardening needs. Then, start creating your very own enclosed ecosystem to raise and care for.
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