Window farm style hydroponics build

The goal here was to build this as simply and cheaply as possible. I like the window farm concept but I didn't want put holes in the wall and I want the option to move it outside when it warms up. I couldn't find instructions anywhere that checked all the boxes so I decided to wing it. Before I get too much farther, I thought I'd check with the hive mind and see if anyone has suggestions or alternative ideas. I've only built the one side so far but it's chooching along.

Frame is 1/2" pvc, bucket is a 5 gallon foodsafe, cups are water bottles painted and cut up, tubing is mostly 1/4" polyethylene because that's what I could steal from work.

Obviously I don't have media and plants in here yet. I'm planning on just filling the cups with several inches of expanded clay pellets and rooting sprouted plants directly in the pellets. I'm thinking I'll start with basil, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, snap peas, and lettuce and just see what works well. I'll use whatever nutrient blend the local hydro store recommends.

I'm placing it in a window that gets 6-7 hours of sunlight now and more as the year goes on. I'll think about supplemental lighting if the plants look like they need it.

Bad picture of the bucket. Dark thing in the middle is a air needle poked into the side of the 1/4 inch tubing and sealed with silicone. This bubbles air into the line and pushes drops of water up the tube. The airline is zip tied to the water line at the needle to keep it from pulling out. Because algae and aesthetics are both important, I drilled an angled hole in the pipe and pushed the tubing up through the frame.

Top center is an airstone on the inlet. I had a hard time getting the air to push drops up the tube rather than just bubble out the inlet, but rather than buy a needle valve and get real precise, I just put an airstone I already had on there and it provides enough resistance that everything goes in the right direction. Water comes in through the airstone fast enough to keep bubbles going up the pipe.

The frame is glued with silicone. I can pull it apart if I have to but it's decently held together, my house doesn't stink, and I didn't have to buy pvc glue. The cross at the bottom is supposed to be for support but in reality does very little. Most of the support comes from the slots in the lid.

Here's the bucket, air pump, and bottom cup. The air pump is the ten dollar one from Wal-Mart. It's reasonably quiet and when it inevitably dies I'll buy a nicer one.

The cups are the tops of glaceau smart water bottles. I don't think water makes you smart, but I thought the 1 liter ones looked a nice size and I like the shape. The plastic is also a little thicker than most other brands because screw the environment. I painted the bottom few inches of the cup with cheap spray primer. Some people say you should keep light off the roots, others dgaf. I think it looks nicer.

I drilled a 1/4" hole in each cap and shoved a piece of tubing in. I siliconed around the tubing inside the cap because silicone is cheap and wet stuff isn't. The tubing drops into the next cup down.

Here's the top. The tubing that was fed up through the frame comes out here. It goes into a pill bottle with holes in the bottom to muffle the gurgling noise. It really does help.