2 Liter Aquaponics System

myminifactory

This object was made in Tinkercad. https://www.tinkercad.com/things/6ixIYuTw4cS I decided to do a planter for the Design Contest because I'm an Environmental Science teacher and am big into Aquaponics and Upcycling.  This can be printed as a set, or the cup can be printed alone and fitted into the top of a 2 liter soda bottle with the top cot off.  If you print the whole thing, the vase part already has a 1/4" hole for an airline tube to make the system work.  If you only print the cup, you will need to drill or melt a 1/4" hole into the bottom inch of the side of your bottle to run your airline through.  An airstone is desired, but not necessary for proper operation, as the function of this project is to cause air bubbles to pop and splash the roots of your plant.  The addition of an Airstone will make many more bubbles and will produce better plant growth, as well as keeping your fish healthier due to more oxygen dissolving into the water. As bubbles rise through the water column, the water is circulated, causing a small amount of flow in the container.  Fish like flow, so this is a good thing.  It also causes particulate matter to rise through the water as well, which sticks to the roots and growing media, allowing bacteria to access food to create nitrates to feed the plant.  You could use this system to do Deep Water Culture Hydroponics or Aeroponics as well, and just swap out the fish with the appropriate chemicals/water depth for your methods.  If you do use this as an Aquaponics system, please clean out the container of solid waste often, and do regular water changes as you would for any aquarium.