Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have the v2 latest current version as pictured. After reading so many of the other reviews I decided that I should write my own. Is this product perfect for novices? Probably not. I certainly would not put a fish in that I cared deeply about, before learning more about hydroponics. We knew nothing about hydroponics when we started and I'm very happy to report that were well on our way now. We started by soaking our seeds for almost a week till most of them started sprouting in our cookie sheet. I'm not sure why this isn't suggested. During which time my two year old daughter decided she wanted to help by mixing all the seeds :) we started with the two packs provided, and some mint, Basil, radish, wheat grass and broccoli for broccoli sprouts. Well the provided seeds did really really well, but because the seeds were mixed I kinda had to put them all in at once. The other seeds might be coming now but it's hard to tell because of the forest of wheat grass and radish sprouts. :) We've made at least four smoothies so far and the grass keeps growing great. We've cut sprouts for two sandwiches and we're having lots of fun. I tried to do my research and since we cared so much about the plants we wanted to put the tank in the sun. So I bought the betta and a plocostomous. Well I know all betta fish are different but this one didn't like that idea one bit. Within two days there was only the betta left. :-/ oops. But the plants were growing great! By this time the water was looking a little gross. Some of the seeds fell into the water and are kind of rotting on the bottom. So after that experience I decided I would buy a little fire red cherry shrimp and an assassin snail. Since I thought my betta was bored I also bought a log, and put some ping pong balls in. ( I read that online ) Since I was adding extra animals to the tank I decided to also get some baby tears plants. To help with the water quality. I put it all in but the betta still seemed kinda lethargic. I thought it might be oxygen levels or temperature so I got a thermometer and a little bubble pump. The temperature is between 76 and 78 so I think that is fine for now, and the bubble pump is kinda fun with the log. Anyway this morning I found the betta dead down by the log... So... After a day without the betta the water really started to clear up with the snail and the shrimp going strong. I thought it would be good to get another betta tonight to keep feeding the plants. We bought another one and he is much more energetic than the last one! I wanted to share all of this because as you can tell for us it's more about learning about the balance of they Eco system than the life of one fish or a plant. I know others may disagree but this has been a fantastic learning experience for us and when you look at it that way it's really fun. My wife and I have been engaging our friends about our experience and it's just shocking that most people myself included don't know that it's even possible to have an eco system like this... I wish I would have known about this when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time cleaning my fish tanks and so far this is the best fish tank I've ever even heard of. It's stylish and super fun for kids. I have every confidence in the world that we are converging to a solid balance with ours. We may buy several more shrimp and try to clean up more of the seed rot on the bottom, but I'm having lots of fun with it all. Sadly our second fish, the happy one is now dead. It was a slow and painful death for our family to watch. He started hanging out more and more by the pump and then finally he laid on the gravel and never swam back up. I'm not sure if we can put another betta through this. Our investment in education might have taught more than just hydroponics.