DIY Aquarium Planter

I decided to create my own aquarium planter. This is basically a simple 2Liter bottle that sits on top of the aquarium as a planter. The plant receives water and nutrients from the established aquarium and gets its light and such from above the aquarium.

What you'll need...

Scissors
1, 2Liter Plastic Bottle with Cap (you can add more if you want)
Drill
1inch thick piece of Wood/Glass/Hard Plastic (this will act as your aquarium lid)
Plant/s
Aquarium Silicon (or adhesive of your choosing)
Aquarium filled with water (and other living inhabitants)

Step 1: Cut your 2Liter bottle in half or at an angle (like the above image). You can choose to discard the base at this time or keep it to support the top half of the bottle until the unit is complete.
Step 2: Using a thick piece of Wood/Glass/Plastic (your choice as long as it can sit on top your tank), drill a hole that will fit your bottle cap. You'll also want to drill a small hole in the top of your bottle cap (this will allow the roots to be pulled through the base later).
Step 3: Apply the Aquarium Silicon (or adhesive of your choice) inside the drilled hole in your Wood/Glass/Plastic. With the cap screwed tightly onto the top half of your bottle you'll than push it into your drilled hole with the adhesive in the Wood/Glass/Plastic. Be sure to position the top half of the bottle the way you want your planter to be displayed later once the adhesive has dried completely.
Step 4: Once the adhesive is dry you can than choose to unscrew the bottle from your Wood/Glass/Plastic and the cap should stay securely inside the Wood/Glass/Plastic hole. This will help if you ever want to clean out your planter later on.
Step 5: You can then add your plant into the top of the 2Liter bottle, make sure it is screwed securely back in place on your Wood/Glass/Plastic. Be sure the roots have been pulled through your unit and can reach the water in the aquarium.

Note: You don't need the tank lid to be as wide as the tank so long as it can rest safely on top the tank length wise. You could also make a hinged door that can be lifted up to feed your fish if you do decide to cover the entire top of the aquarium. Or even create a box type hood where you could attach lighting underneath for an all around planted or lighted aquarium.

Natural Aquarium

In this day and age who would've ever heard of a planted tank that runs perfectly without the use of high end fertilizers and chemicals (or any for that matter), and without power filters and co2 injections?! Okay, so perhaps that's how it works in fresh water lakes and ponds, but it can also work for you at home! A great site I recently came across is Natural Aquariums. At N.A. they have been creating natural aquariums since the 80's and have broken down their aquarium setups for everyone else out there that is interested in doing something like this.

Here's how a basic setup of theirs works and what you'll need to get started.

-10 Gallon Aquarium (or larger, your choice really)
-Two 40Watt Bulbs, cool-white/day-light fluorescent shop lights (of you can use 2 aquarium grow lights)
-Plenty of aquarium type plants (they have a list on their site), they recommend Amazon Swords, Cryptocorynes, Anubias, Java Moss, Ferns, Hornwort, Najas Guadalupensis and Rotala Indiva.
-Air Pump *Optional*
-Occasional/Frequent Water Changes (Gravel Vacuum & Bucket will help during this time) as well as trimming plants.
-Aquarium Heater (for those who live in cold conditions) *Optional*
-Small Fish (preferably ones that work well with your tap water and don't devour plants) and of course fish food.
-Aquarium Chlorine Remover (Depending on your tap water quality), you could possibly need other chemicals depending on your water as well but they keep things pretty chemical free. An RO Filter would also work great if you're really trying to be chemical free.
-Gravel Substrate (the typical pea sized gravel kind, avoid sand substrates)
-Peat and Wood (these can help to naturally lower pH) *Optional*
-Invertebrates such as Malayan Live-bearing Snails (these will help to clean your gravel)

According to N.A. it's all about finding the right combination of fish, plants, lighting and invertebrates that will work best in your tank setup and your water conditions while trying to avoid filtration systems, chemicals and all that fancy overpriced stuff in between.