Owning an aquarium can be quite enjoyable, but it comes with plenty of headaches. There's a lot of maintenance that's a part of owning one – maintenance that Aqua Design Innovations aims to get rid of with the introduction of its EcoQube C fish tank.
Fish tanks are generally fairly similar to one another, but this one stands out because it reportedly requires no cleaning. This is thanks to aquaponics – a symbiotic setup involving fish and plants – which creates a constant flow of clean water that leaves the tank waste-free. It actually uses fish waste to grow a plant on top of it, which sounds odd, but promises to be quite effective.
Basically, all the aquarium owner needs to do is feed the fish. From there, the fish creates waste. The aquarium water – containing that waste – is then pumped up top and filtered through the plant's growing medium and roots to remove nitrates and ammonia, and cycled back into the tank as clean water. The cycle repeats, leaving a fertilized plant and a clean tank.
It's not a large tank, coming with a 1.5 gallon (5.7-L) capacity. It's a cube, with each side measuring 7.8 inches (19.8 cm). The creators recommend using the tank for a single betta, also known as a Siamese fighting fish.
We should note that this is not the first EcoQube, as the team has taken to Kickstarter to bring a previous iteration of the product to market, and this one builds upon what the designers learned from the original models. This is also not the first device of its kind, with some like the ECO-Cycle kit, Aqualibrium, and the Home Aquaponics Kit coming before, but the EcoQube promises to be a bit easier to set up than most.
The team at Aqua Design Innovations is seeking funding for its new EcoQube C on Kickstarter. It came into its funding period with a modest goal of US$15,000 and has surpassed that, netting over $200,000 in funding with ample time left in its funding period to grow. Backers interested in preordering a fish tank for themselves can do so for a minimum pledge of $59.
Check out the pitch video below for more information on the EcoQube C fish tank.
Sources: EcoQube, Kickstarter