Build It Yourself

Audience: makers and educators who want to build physical systems, print components, or deploy open-source controllers. Use case: pick a component source, choose a system or kit, then add automation as your skills grow.

Find printable components & STL files

• STL Finder (3D Model Search Engine) — meta-search across repositories; start here when hunting any part.
• Thingiverse Hydroponics & Aquaponics Printable Components — largest free archive of grow-system parts, including classic tower systems.
• Printables Hydroponics & Aquaponics Printable Components — free, well-moderated Prusa-hosted component collection.
• MyMiniFactory Hydroponics & Aquaponics Components — printability-guaranteed designs, mixed free/paid.
• Pinshape Hydroponics & Aquaponics Components — smaller mixed free/paid marketplace, useful as a secondary source.
• Parametric Net Pot / Net Cup (Thingiverse 790339) — canonical OpenSCAD parametric net cup; generate any size.
• Dzakovich Lab Protocols & STL Files for 3D-Printed Hydroponics — research-grade open protocols plus NIH 3D-hosted STLs.

Printable systems, kits & hardware builds

• Layers to Leaves: Modular 3D-Printed Hydroponics Components — peer-reviewed, CC0 parts that assemble into scalable tower systems.
• Modular Hydroponic Tower Garden — printable tower with Arduino pump controller, Windows GUI, and manufacturable PCB.
• NewTechAqua-IRTA Aquaponic Kit for Schools — free assembly guide for two cheap aquaponics systems from budget-store parts.
• BAE305 Aquaponics Project (University of Kentucky) — documented student-engineered autonomous aquaponics build with sensor control.
• DFRobot BOSON Hydroponics Kit — modular classroom greenhouse kit with sensors, pump, and grow lights (commercial, medium cost).
• OPNhydro — ESP32-C6 controller board (ESPHome firmware, KiCad PCB) with dosing, top-off, and Home Assistant integration.
• CHANST3D SLA Laser-Curing 3D Printer — student-built, reportedly fully open-source SLA printer (China); repository still to be located.

Controllers, firmware & automation software

• Simple-Hydroponics-Arduino (Hydruino) — professional-grade, fully offline Arduino-library hydroponics controller; free and open source.
• Anmirazik's Aquaponic System — beginner-friendly Arduino + ESP8266 monitoring with a Node-RED MQTT dashboard.
• GardenPi — Raspberry Pi multizone water-management platform for hydroponics, aquaponics, and irrigation.
• Grow-Dojo Stack (GrowDojo) — decentralized, privacy-focused modular automation stack for hydro/aqua/aeroponics and greenhouses.
• Kybfarm (Kybfarm Embed) — containerized open-source IoT platform for vertical farming with edge sensor/actuator interfaces.
• Autoponics — ROS2 autonomous deep-water-culture system with AI plant-health monitoring and auto-dosing (advanced).
• Edward.farm — citizen-science platform turning existing water bodies into shared, monitored aquaponics ecosystems.
• Agronaut — open-source AI agronomy agent with a deterministic aquaponics sizing engine, usable via chat.

Learn to build (courses with hands-on construction)

• Open-Source 3-D Printing Course (Michigan Tech) — build and keep your own open-source RepRap printer; full syllabus free on Appropedia.
• Hong Kong STEAM Aquaponics Teaching Materials — open-source materials for laser-cutting tanks and building IoT-connected aquaponics.