So, wanting to play around with some of my clippings, I have never grown indoors, and my luck with growing things in pots seems to be like zero success… I have an outdoor grow that was successful last year and this year so far has been ok. So I wanted to have something for my desk. I found some amazon LED lights for about $40 that have awesome reviews and figured I would have some fun. I took a cheese ball container and a soda bottle, cut them up and drill some holes in the soda bottle lid, added a water bubbler in the rocks underneath the plant, and one in the water for the fish. My theory is that Reefer (the betta and his food) will make the water nutrient rich for the plant. Has anyone ever done anything like this? 5 days strong and the clippings seem to be holding up good so far… Will give weekly updates as to progress. I am open to ideas and suggestions, or opinions on what will make this successful!
Currently running the blue lights as it appears to promote root growth… on a 12/12 (to let the fish sleep a little)
Hey there
If all goes to plan, you might loose reefer in amongst the roots that’ll form in his jar. It’s going to behave like a hydro set up.
Good luck, I’ll tag along.
Cheers Johnny
An Aquaponics grow!!
Far out!
I’m down for this!
Cheers
G
You took the words out of my mouth lol.
Been wanting to try something like this but with turtles. Definitely pulling up a chair and hanging out for this one 
Watching with great enthusiasm. I love aquaponics, was always curious if you could do it with cannabis.
That’s gonna be a lot of fun. Just get an API freshwater pH test kit to be aware of the pH for the betta buddy and the plants. The food and waste breaking down will acidify the water in that volume pretty quickly if overfed, as the bacteria establishes itself it will be more stable. The betta can breathe air too so make sure he’s not constantly at the surface because that could mean low oxygen. The water would do good for both around 6.5-7. Lower could be better for the plant but, too acidic for the fish. 8.0 won’t do anything to the fish but makes it more difficult for the plant to take up nutrients. The fix is easy, whenever pH is out of range, use filtered/bottled water (not alkaline boosted because that means higher pH) and change out a small volume like 10% at a time. Good luck 
So today I checked the ph it was high around 8.0 so I did a 15-20% water change with bottle water and will test in a bit. Added a fake plant for the betta to swim around and hide behind. All looks good so far.
Yup, yup. It just needs time for the bacteria to multiply, but don’t use anything like a supplemental bacteria because it would then deplete the nitrogen and interrupt the cycle. Next one, try putting a little fish food in first for a few days to spur on the bacteria even before you put the fish in or seed it with water from this one. Looks really cool!
Funny you mention that about the water sitting for a couple days, I actually setup another tank similar but with no fish, simply to use as a control to see if the fish helped the plant grow bigger or whatever. Originally i was thinking about if i needed to change the water in the betta tank, I would have the same room temp water already dialed in to refill, or replace during water changes, and it wouldn’t be such a shock to Reefer. Nice to see I wasn’t over thinking it…
Exactly my friend. Funny how intelligence and intuition work together huh? I used to own an aquarium store, so I’m full of shit, I mean aquarium information.
I thought I would give an update… seems the plant with Reefer is definitely benefiting as the other plant without is starting to turn yellow… Reefer is happy as can be, getting him trained with a small hole cut into the top and I feed him, so now if I walk up to him or get close he heads straight for the hole and waits… It’s kinda relaxing to get really lit and watch him… fish totally have personalities… lol I am really stoned right now… anyways here is Reefer!
Fish absolutely have personality! Especially the big guys like puffers and triggers. Some get used to you petting them and you have to stay there for a while so they will calm down, just like a puppy. I had a Niger Trigger that would spit water at me to get my attention. Somehow, he realized that the beer bottles that I would place next to the tank were being “touched” instead of him so then he just started spitting on the beer for my attention.
This is cool only have seen aquaponics done once before, over grow on, pulling up a chair for this!
Stay kind,
Pawsfodocaws
So I thought I would give another update, did a 50% water change about 3 days ago, trying to get the pH down a little, and give Reefer some clean water. Having the second jug of water sure makes things super easy! The plant on the second jug has not done so well… the leaves completely fell off and there is nothing left but a stem. I am not sure why that plant died as they were cut from the same plant… maybe the fish is helping? I am going to cut another clone and attempt to try again. This time using a soda bottle and air bubbler like the one with Reefer, and duplicate the same exact environment just minus Reefer. I have since eaten another jug of cheese puffs and think I might get Reefer a buddy… and this time start from seed… I mean… why not…??
Reefer is doing awesome and I swear he looks sometimes like he is in heaven, playing in the bubbles, hauling ass around the tank, I think we have even played hide and seek a few times… oh!! And the plant with Reefer is showing roots inside the bottle… which I am now wondering if them being in a clear bottle will hurt the roots growth with the lights…The clone looks very healthy, but hasn’t really grown in size yet… will upload more pics with measuring tape for future reference…
If you’re not adding nutrients to the water, then Reefer is definitely the reason one clone survived and the other didn’t.
From what I understand in an aquaponics set up, the fish waste product feeds the plant while the plant filters the water for the fish. You feed the fish, the fish feeds the plants.
I have not added nutrients to the water, I am not sure what will and will not hurt Reefer, I have just been feeding him and watching the pH.
The fish food is being processed into a more plant friendly substance and that is the basis of your nitrogen cycle in there. There’s bacteria coating and penetrating the gravel right where the roots are that are converting the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate into plant food like nature intended. 
Definitely don’t add nutrients to Reefer’s water, add nutrients to the one that doesn’t have a fish that’s feeding it
I would, but I use that water as my “refill” for Reefer when I do water changes, then I refill the “control” tank so it has time to come to the same temp and doesn’t shock Reefer when I need to fill his tank. So it ends up in Reefers tank eventually…