The Water Garden includes everything you need to get started right away! Just buy your fish, set up and decorate your tank, and watch your plants grow. The components that come with your tank are:


FISH TANK

  • The Water Garden Tank is a 3-gallon acrylic fish tank made right here in California. Specially-designed and manufactured for Back to the Roots, there's no other fish tank like it! The top of the tank is artfully crafted to hold your garden, so you can grow fresh greens in your kitchen right from your fish's beautiful home.

DECORATIVE GRAVEL

  • Your gravel is a great first addition to your fish's new home - fish often find comfort in poking around through the rocks like they do in the wild. Make sure to give your gravel a rinse under warm water to remove any dust before adding it to your tank.

WATER PUMP, PUMP TUBE, AND TANK CLIP

  • These three components make up the pump assembly - an essential part in your aquaponics ecosystem! The pump circulates water (and the nutrients dissolved in it) up to your plant roots, feeding your greens as they grow. Give each of these components a rinse before setting up your tank, and again about every month afterward to prevent buildup that can reduce water flow. For more details, check out our detailed pump cleaning video.

GROW BED AND GROW PODS

  • Your Grow Bed and Grow Pods serve as the frame from which your garden will grow. The bed is contoured to fit precisely inside of the top of your tank, and your three pods fit together inside of the bed and hold your Growstones®. Your pump brings water up to the bed, where microgreen roots can soak up the water's nutrients before the water falls back down into your tank through the open slot in the bed.
    Note - make sure to align the round feeding holes in the grow pod and grow bed for easy fish feeding.

GROWSTONES®

  • Your Growstones® are highly-porous recycled glass that serves as an excellent growing medium for your microgreens! Remember, your aquaponics system doesn't use soil to hold and provide nutrient to your plants - it relies on the transfer of nutrients from your tank's water directly to plant roots. So while you don't need soil to provide nutrients, we still need something for your plant roots to grab ahold of! That's where your Growstones® come into play - they provide an excellent place for your plants to take root and access the nutrient-rich water flowing through your ecosystem.

WATER SPONGE

  • Your water sponge fits in the grow bed's waterfall slot and helps prevent plant debris from falling into your fish tank. Check your sponge every month or so and clear it of any loose roots or seeds.

NATURAL DECHLORINATOR

  • Back to the Roots provides you with a small bottle of D-Klor™ Natural Dechlorinator. Made of vitamin C and aloe vera, this chemical free tank addition not only removes chlorine from the water but also enhances your fish's natural protective slime coating! Make sure to dissolve ~1/2 a capful of D-Klor™ into your tank water upon initial filling, and add it to any future water before you add it to your tank.

NITRIFYING BACTERIA

  • Zym Bac™ Nitrifying Bacteria consists of beneficial organisms that establish the biological filtration in your tank. They kickstart nutrient cycling and help correct for ammonia and nitrite levels that might otherwise be harmful to your fish. In fact, they convert those compounds into nitrates - the nutrients that your plants need to grow!

    Pour the entire bottle out across your three sets of Growstones® before you plant your seeds - your Growstones® are the perfect environment for these beneficial bacteria to do their job. Very important - after each harvest if you are cleaning your Growstones®, do not rinse more than 1 pod per day! Spacing out cleanings will allow the bacteria time to repopulate and keep doing their job.

ORGANIC RADISH MICROGREEN AND WHEATGRASS SEEDS

  • We provide you with two packs of seeds - organic radish microgreens and organic wheatgrass. Fast-growing and quite nutritious, these greens are the perfect starter crop to get your aquaponics system up and running.

FISH FOOD

  • Your fish food contains a combination of ingredients that provide the necessary proteins, vitamins, and dietary supplements for your fish. These include krill meal, kelp, herring meal, spirulina, biotin, and vitamin B12 supplement. Add 4-5 food pellets each day through the feeding hole, making sure your fish sees and eats each pellet. Avoid overfeeding, as excess pellets can make your water dirty.

FISH COUPON

  • While Back to the Roots can't provide you with a fish directly, we've partnered with Petco to make picking out your new finned friend as easy as can be! Attached to your instruction booklet is a coupon for $3 off a betta fish at your local Petco. Don't have a local Petco? That's okay! Pick out your fish at your closest pet store, and you can use the other coupon we've provided to get $5 off our other Indoor Gardening Kits.

 If you have any further questions, please let me know, I'd be happy to help!