AquaSprouts vs Penn-Plax: Which Small Aquaponics Kit Fits?

AquaSprouts vs Penn-Plax is a comparison of two small aquaponics kits that look alike in a search result and are not alike on a desk. The AquaSprouts Garden is a pumped grow bed that sits on a 10 gallon aquarium you supply. The Penn-Plax Aqua-Ponic is a self-contained 1.4 gallon round tank with a planter pot on top and no pump. One is a small working system. The other is a decorative planter with water underneath it.

Both are sold as ways to grow plants over a fish tank, and both turn up for people searching for the Back to the Roots Water Garden, a third kit with a similar pitch. This page puts the two you can still buy side by side, explains where the Back to the Roots kit fits in, and ends with a pick for three common situations. For the full list of boxed systems, see our guide to aquaponics kits.

AquaSprouts vs Penn-Plax at a Glance

The table lists what each listing says is in the box. The row Still needed is the one that decides the real cost of ownership, because the AquaSprouts kit leaves out the aquarium and the light, and the Penn-Plax kit leaves out the plant.

The Two Kits Reviewed

These are short reviews that focus on how the two differ. The full reviews, with the same text on contents and size, are in the AquaSprouts Garden review and the Penn-Plax Aqua-Ponic review on the kits page.

AquaSprouts Garden

The AquaSprouts Garden is a grow bed made to sit on a standard 10 gallon aquarium, about 20 by 10 by 12 inches. A small pump lifts tank water into the bed on a timer, the water floods the clay pebbles around the roots, then drains back through risers. That is a flood and drain cycle, the same design used in larger home systems, only scaled to a desk or a console table. The tank is not included, and neither are the fish.

Setup is short. You rinse the clay pebbles until the water runs clear and fill the bed, connect the pump to the inlet with the supplied hose, and set the timer to the schedule in the maker's instructions. Putting plants in during setup lets them root while the tank cycles, so they are ready to take up fish waste by the time fish go in.

The plain Garden lists no light, which matters indoors unless the tank sits by a very bright window. AquaSprouts also sells a 29 gallon version for a standard 29 gallon aquarium, which gives the roots more room and the fish more water.

Best for: anyone with a 10 gallon aquarium who wants a bed that grows herbs and a few small vegetables. Missing: the aquarium, the fish, a grow light and a test kit.

Check price on Amazon

Penn-Plax Aqua-Ponic Planter

The Penn-Plax Aqua-Ponic is a clear round tank with an enclosed pot on its lid, filled with the ceramic planting media in the box. The 1.4 gallon model measures 7.75 inches across and 10.25 inches tall. There is no pump and no timer. You water the plant as you would any pot plant, the runoff drains into the tank, and the roots grow down toward the water. You reach the tank through openings in the side.

The listing is titled as a planter and aquarium for betta fish, and that pairing is where buyers get into trouble. A betta is a tropical fish that does best in a heated, filtered tank, and this kit has no heater and no filter. It also holds very little water. The Practical Fishkeeping stocking guide gives a rule of thumb of about 1 inch of adult fish per 1.2 US gallons (2.5 cm per 4.55 L), which puts 1.4 gallons at roughly an inch of adult fish. Treat the fish as optional, and the plant as the point.

Penn-Plax recommends established plants rather than seeds, such as peace lily, Chinese evergreen, lucky bamboo, English ivy, mint, watercress, chives or leaf lettuce. Used that way it is a tidy desk planter that waters itself from below.

Best for: a desk or windowsill plant, and anyone who wants nothing to plug in. Missing: the plant, a filter and a heater.

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How AquaSprouts and Penn-Plax Differ in Daily Use

Water Movement and Upkeep

The AquaSprouts pump moves water through the roots for part of every hour on its timer, so the media gets flushed with nutrient-rich water and then drains and breathes. That keeps the system running with little handling, but it does mean an outlet, a little pump noise and a hose to clean now and then. The Penn-Plax kit moves nothing. Water reaches the roots only by contact and by whatever you pour in, so upkeep is a matter of topping up and changing the water by hand before it turns stale.

Fish

The size of the tank sets the fish you can keep. The same Practical Fishkeeping stocking rule of about 1 inch of adult fish per 1.2 US gallons gives a 10 gallon aquarium room for about 8 inches of adult fish in total, such as a small group of tropical fish chosen to stay small, and gives the 1.4 gallon Penn-Plax tank room for about an inch. The AquaSprouts bed also needs a fish population large enough to feed it, which a 10 gallon tank only just provides. Our guide to how many fish fit in a 10 gallon tank walks through the choices, and the aquaponics fish tank page covers tank, filter and heater.

Plants and Light

A flood and drain bed has room for several herbs at once, and it takes seedlings or seeds. A single pot takes one plant, and an established one at that. Both need light: a room is dimmer than it looks, and a plant on a shelf away from a window will stall in either kit. If a dark corner is your only option, budget for a grow light, which the plain AquaSprouts Garden does not include. The best plants for aquaponics page sorts crops by how demanding they are.

What Happened to the Back to the Roots Water Garden?

The Back to the Roots Water Garden is a small tank with a growing tray on top, and it still draws searches for its instructions, replacement parts and whether it is for sale. Those are the questions this section answers.

Why It Is Not Compared Here

This site checks that a product has a live offer on Amazon before it is recommended or compared, and it has not been able to confirm one for the Back to the Roots Water Garden on the date this page was written. That does not mean the product is discontinued. The maker may sell it through its own site or other retailers, and Amazon stock comes and goes. It means this page has no verified specification sheet to compare against, so it does not guess at tank size, pump or contents. If you can still find one, read the maker's own page before you buy.

If You Already Own One

The kits above all follow the same cycle, so what you learn about one carries over. A small tank with a growing tray over it is the same idea as the Self-Cleaning Aquaponic Fish Tank covered on our self-cleaning fish tank page, a product that is on sale now. Maker instructions and spare parts are best requested from the maker, who holds the current versions.

Which One Should You Buy?

Decide on the tank first. Everything else follows from it.

You Only Want a Betta

Buy neither as a fish home. A betta needs a heated, filtered tank, and the Penn-Plax tank has neither. If a betta is the goal, buy a proper betta aquarium and, once the tank is cycled, put a floating planter or a small grow bed on top. Our aquaponics fish tank page shows how. If you buy the Penn-Plax kit anyway, buy it as a planter and keep the fish out of the plan.

You Already Have a 10 Gallon Aquarium

This is the AquaSprouts Garden's case. It was made for a standard 10 gallon tank and turns it into a working system with a pump, a timer and a bed deep enough for roots. Add a light if the tank is away from a window, and use your existing filter and heater for the fish. Check that your tank is the standard size before you order, since a different footprint will not seat the bed properly.

You Want Herbs You Will Actually Eat

Again the AquaSprouts Garden. A single pot of mint or chives on the Penn-Plax planter is pleasant, but the bed on the AquaSprouts kit holds several plants, so you can cut from it regularly without stripping one plant. If you want more than a windowsill of herbs, neither kit gets you there, and the DIY build guide is the next step.

Alternatives to AquaSprouts and Penn-Plax

If neither kit matches your tank or space, three other kits on the aquaponics kits page are worth a look. The Self-Cleaning Aquaponic Fish Tank is the one-piece desktop option with nothing to assemble. The larger AquaSprouts model suits a 29 gallon aquarium. The Aquascape AquaGarden is a patio pond kit with its own pump and filter.

Other Small Kits Worth Checking

Each of these is reviewed in full on the aquaponics kits page.

1. 

   1Desktop one-piece kit

   Self-Cleaning Aquaponic Fish Tank with Seed Sprouter Tray

   A small tank with a siphon-fed planting tray on top, for herbs and microgreens rather than a full harvest.

   Check price on Amazon

2. 

   2Bigger tank

   AquaSprouts 29 Gallon Garden

   The same flood and drain idea in birch hardwood, for a standard 29 gallon aquarium.

   Check price on Amazon

3. 

   3Patio pond

   Aquascape AquaGarden Mini Pond Kit

   A pond with pump, planted waterfall filter and a light, for a patio or balcony.

   Check price on Amazon

AquaSprouts vs Penn-Plax FAQ

Which Kit Fits You?

If you are still sorting out how big a system you want, the aquaponics kits page lays out every boxed option by purpose, with what each one leaves out of the box.

Keep going: aquaponics kits, self-cleaning fish tank, aquaponics fish tank and how many fish in a 10 gallon tank.