I love the concept and it's a fun product but requires a lot of upkeep and maintenance. I encountered an issue early on with the water pump and spent a long time trying to find a replacement that fit the exact specifications. After six strikeouts I reached out to the company and they sent me an entire new unit (since it was still within the return window). I mention this because if the pump dies outside the coverage period, I won't be able to find a replacement and will have scrap the entire project. It's worth noting that the fish waste isn't what is giving the plants nutrients, you have to add supplements weekly to the water to do this. I don't know if long term, once the habitat is established that this will no longer be necessary, but I doubt it. Last thing, the root beds of the plants we used are extensive and get intertwined with the others. To replant these in the ground or elsewhere is probably going to be impossible or the plant might be killed in the process of removing them. My two cents, this is a fun, cool short term experiment (especially if you have younger kids) but not something I'd buy if I was looking for permanent fish tank/garden. Think of this as more of a one and done crop as I honestly don't see how you'd be able to remove the plants once grown and put new ones in. Instruction manual is next to useless and it's a very basic system. I still can't figure out to have the lights and pump start and stop when I want them to, so I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'll have bright LEDs on at all hours of the night..