Brio 43358 Aquaponics System Review

Are you seeking a new, creative way to display your fish – besides a regular old aquarium? Or maybe you’re after something more pleasing to the eye?

The Brio 43358 Aquaponics System could be exactly what you need. It’s easy to set up, comes with two lights that help sustain and grow plant life, and it boasts of a sleek, modern design.

With that said, not everyone had a good experience with this system. Some users discovered issues with the pump, thought the system was too loud, or found the price to be unreasonable for what you get.

Nevertheless, before you make your final decision, let’s take a closer look at the Brio 43358 Aquaponics System.

Brio 43358 Aquaponics System: The Details

Specs

• Weight: 29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 43.5 x 19.3 x 15 inches.
• Capacity: 9.5 gallons.
• Lighting: Two LED grow bulbs.
• Glass or Acrylic: Glass.
• Accessories: Dual light timer control with adjustable fixtures, two daylight spectrum LED bulbs, two grow spectrum LED bulbs, biological filtration planting media, and mechanical filter media.
• Warranty: One-year warranty.

Features

Glass Tank

While some aquarium tanks are acrylic, the tank of the Brio Aquaponics System is glass.

It can hold up to 9.5 gallons of water in total, making it not a large tank, but spacious enough to keep a fair amount of fish, as well as your chosen plant life.

The glass construction means you are able to see clearly into the tank and view with brilliant clarity what’s going on. The glass is also easy to clean and very durable.

Lighting

This Brio Aquaponics set-up comes with a unique lighting system, so your fish are provided with a natural environment that mimics daylight and you can clearly view the happenings within your tank.

As a bonus, this lighting system is designed to help your plant life grow and thrive naturally, under conditions they would find in their typical environment.

That means better views for you and less upkeep needed to make your aquarium thrive.

Timers

There are also dual-light timer controls, ensuring you won’t have to monitor the light settings personally; the system turns them off and on as necessary, with no input required beyond setting a timer!

Also, with different timers, you can arrange for one and then the other to activate, so your aquarium is tailored to your needs or the preferences of your fish species.

Finally, you can adjust the angles of these lights, so certain plant life can enjoy added exposure over others.

Media

The Brio 43358 Aquaponics System includes two different kinds of media filtration: biological and mechanical.

There are clay pellets that serve as an area for your plant life to rest on and grow, but which also serve as biological filtration to ensure your water remains clean.

Additionally, there is mechanical filtration placed beneath the garden layer to help remove contaminants from the water, while also guaranteeing no excess particles muck up the environment.

Top Grid

A lid is included with the aquarium leaving you with one less thing to worry about. No one wants to come home to surprises!

The lid includes a flap that’s easy to open so you can easily access your pets when you need to feed them.

Brio 43358 Aquaponics System Review

The Positives

Easy to Set Up

Beginners can rejoice; the Brio Aquaponics System is very easy to set up.

Aquaponics is a difficult arena to enter, with a certain amount of research necessary to execute the process accurately. However, this system arrives almost pre-established – you need only put together the kit!

To do so, first, arrange the pellets at the base of the system and then place them in the tank, ensuring they’re completely flat. Next, fill the tank with water and add rocks or other decorations of your choice.

Then it’s time for plants! Locate them in your desired areas, ensuring they have access to proper lighting. Insert the circulating pump on the aquarium side and then add your fish.

Install the light bulbs if you haven’t already, and you’re all set! You don’t have to be an expert to have this beautiful display in your home.

Convenient

Once established, this aquaponics system is convenient to use – as it should be. The idea is to blend plant life and fish life into a symbiotic relationship that means less upkeep and cleaning for you.

This is great news for beginner aquarists or busy aquarium owners. You can spend less time maintaining your tank and still have it shining.

As a bonus, the kit guarantees that no additional purchases are necessary. Everything comes in the box! Not only does this save you time, but it saves you the extra dollars and effort it would take to buy necessary items elsewhere.

Because the system includes grow lights attached to a timer, you can set them to activate at your chosen times, even when you’re not present.

The only things you’ll buy separately are the rocks, fish, and plants. Everything else is included to make the process as simple and effective.

Modern Design

The Brio Aquaponics System looks more like a piece of art than an aquarium. You won’t have to worry at all about your aquarium causing an eye-sore with this tank.

With its sleek half aquarium, half plant life design, it will definitely serve as an eye-catching decoration in your home or office.

The lights included with the aquarium not only add a nice bit of ambience to its surroundings, but it helps in the photosynthesizing process of your plants and herbs as well.

While it is a separate purchase, you can also buy the Brio cabinet to make this system more enclosed and aesthetically pleasing.

Functional Eco Garden System

What really makes this aquarium unique is the attached garden. Not only does it add to this tank’s eye-catching design, but it works with the aquarium to help grow your plants too.

This tank is designed to take aquatic waste from your aquarium and re-use it to feed and provide nutrients to your plants.

You’ll be able to add your own selection of flowers, plants or herbs to help your aquarium’s little ecosystem flourish. The aquarium will assist in a speedy harvest too!

The included waterfall is a great added feature that adds to the tank’s functionality (it helps to transport water to both sides of the tank)while giving aquarist’s a soothing view and sound to take in.

It’s clear there’s a lot of thought gone into making this tank not only beautiful but super functional too.

Great for Families and Teaching

Thanks to this aquarium’s ease of use and convenient maintenance, it’s the perfect aquarium to have in a space with beginner aquarists.

Even younger children will enjoy having this innovative aquarium around, whether at home or in a classroom.

It not only serves as an eye-catching or entertaining piece but thanks to the ecosystem created within the aquarium, you’ll be able to see how both sides of the tank work with each other.

This is great for teaching kids (or even adults) a little lesson using this natural ecosystem. If anything, it will be a great conversation starter to have around.

The Negatives

Difficult to Reach Filter

Sadly, the filtration media can be difficult to reach – which inconvenienced some users.

While it’s great that everything is easy to assemble and it looks nice, it’s not so great when maintenance is required and you can’t easily reach the necessary parts.

The filtration is near the base of the system, requiring you to dismantle most of the set-up to access it. Since you’ll have to insert new media on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, it’s certainly a hassle.

Expensive

This aquaponics system from Brio is also not inexpensive. At around $500 on Amazon, you are only receiving a tank that holds 9.5 gallons of water – which isn’t that much.

Considering you can buy a nine-gallon tank for a more affordable price, the sleek design and the aquaponics system may not seem worth the extra dollars that this product requires. This might be especially true if you’re on a budget.

All in all, it truly depends on how much you are willing to pay for a modern-looking aquarium that will contain your fish and help your plant life thrive.

Loud

A couple of users also mentioned how loud this system and pump could be. This was by no means a common problem, but some testers found the noise to be excessive, even for a system that’s so complex.

So, if you intend on placing this aquarium in a room that requires silence, such as a bedroom, then you may need to reconsider. A living room or busy waiting room may not be upset by the commotion.

Pump Issues

While not a common issue, some testers reported the pump breaking down after a few weeks of use.

In this event, you can redeem your warranty and have a replacement shipped to you. However, it’s still unfortunate – especially when you consider the cost of this system.

Luckily, this mishap only occurred for some users and the warranty safeguarded against what is otherwise a risky buy.

Here’s a video showing what the Brio Aquaponics System looks like out of the box.

Overall Verdict

After going through all the positives and the negatives, we carefully recommend the Brio 43358 Aquaponics System.

While rare cases do result in broken pumps and overly noisy filtration systems, the majority of users were pleased with its beautiful design and its convenient set-up.

If you can afford the expensive nature of this advanced kit and don’t mind some difficulty with the media replacements, then this system will serve your needs well.

The Brio 43358 will surely help in reducing upkeep times, boosting the natural aesthetic of your fish, and helping to grow lovely plant life.

Where to Buy the Brio 43358 Aquaponics System

Brio may be an up and coming brand in the aquaponics world, but one thing’s for sure, they’ve definitely got a knack for style that’s been catching the eye of aquarists.

Thanks to Brio’s innovative design, the Brio 43358 Aquaponics system is growing in popularity. As such, you’ll be able to find it both in-store and online.

To kick-start your search you can check out the following online retailers.

• Aquarium West (from $649)
• Brio Aquaponics (from $599)

And of course, you can also find this freshwater aquarium on Amazon.

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That’s the end of our Brio 43358 review. Tempted to give this aquarium a try?