Our kitchen is the hub for our family and entertaining. We spend time cooking, baking, entertaining, and visiting in the kitchen so it makes sense to add a little fun to it. I was excited when I heard about this Aquaponics Water Garden because it combines two of my teenager son’s favorite interests – plants and fish. Although this beta aquarium is in the kitchen, it is pretty much his!
Watch this Water Garden 2.0 unboxing and tank set up video from my son!
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Bring Family Fun to the Kitchen with Water Garden 2.0
I’m surprised at how much life and fun this Water Garden 2.0 has brought to our kitchen. We all enjoy watching our Beta fish and seeing what she’s up to. We’ve also really enjoyed watching out micro-greens and wheat grass sprout and grow so quickly and then enjoying them on our salads.
This Water Garden is not an ordinary Beta fish aquarium. It is a self-cleaning fish tank that grows herbs and microgreens on top. It is its own mini aquaponics ecosystem in which the fish waste fertilizes the plants and the plants keep the water clean! This means less water changes for you – making it an easy-peasy aquarium to take care of.
As you can see in the video above, setting up the aquarium is very easy and everything is included in the box that you’ll need. There is even a coupon for Beta fish at Petco!
There is gravel for the aquarium and substrate in which the seeds will grow. I found it very amazing that the seeds sprouted and grew in the substrate (no dirt) in just days! And, if you are like me, you’ll appreciate that you don’t ever have to water these plants – the aquarium does it for you!
We set our Water Garden on the counter, between the canisters and coffee. We have a simple under counter LED string lights like this one. It has been enough light for both the fish and the plants. The instructions don’t say there needs to be a light but if you don’t have this near natural light, I recommend it. 
The microgreens and wheatgrass sprouted in just a couple days and we had a full, busy bunch of both within a week! I LOVE having fresh herbs in my kitchen. In the summer, I have a ton of fresh herbs growing outside so I really miss it when fall and winter comes and I don’t have access. I plan to try some other herbs once these are done like oregano and parsley. There is something about having fresh herbs in the kitchen that feels amazing. I know it will really life my spirits once the dark, cold days are winter are here – seeing fresh GREEN in the kitchen will be so lovely. If you have a gardener on your Christmas list, this makes a thoughtful gift.
You can pick the herbs and greens right from the planters to put on salads and dishes. It is organic and you know where it is grown so you don’t have to worry about chemicals or anything. Kids that help garden are more likely to eat fresh veggies, so I’m sure that also pertains to herbs too! If your kids help with it, they will want to enjoy the benefits of it.
If you are new to aquariums and aquaponics, this is a great starter set. Or, if you are like my son and have many aquariums, this is a unique one to enjoy, especially if you like Beta fish but prefer a larger aquarium for them. This is a wonderful aquarium for families to enjoy together since so many of us spend time in the kitchen together, it will bring the family together in the kitchen for just one more reason.
Purchase Water Garden 2.0
You can purchase the Water Garden 2.0 on the Back to the Roots website for $99.99. Use our Back to the Roots Promo Code AKRON20 to get 20% OFF!!! Promo code expires 12/31/2019. You can also find it on Amazon.com on sale now for $69.99. If you want to make this a family project or home school lesson with STEM curriculum, buy this kit.
