10 Gallon Fish Tank

Showing posts with label cheap marine fish tanks. Show all posts

All Glass Aquarium AAG21784 Fluorescent Deluxe Hood, 46bf

Ordered 2 of these hoods to replace the 2 hoods that my Oscars had broken.

They are better than the original ones I had and arrived in perfect shape.

The black is sleek and modern looking and matches both tanks. One is black and the other cherry trim, but the black makes it look new.

Would definitely recommend this item and the seller! FAST shipping and packed extremely well.

Thanks!

Recived it in three days on the dot. Fit my bow front aquarium as well as can be expected. With a few strategicly placed shims it works well. The light is ckean and clear. Great buy for the price.

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NEEWER® Digital LCD Fish Aquarium Water Thermometer

It does the job but that's it. It is what is says it is but if you prefer Fahrenheit then look elsewhere. There is no way to attach it to tank but it is easy enough to buy some Velcro and stick it on. I would have bought another one had I known upfront it was Celsius only.

For less than $4, can't beat it. Reads within 1 degree of other temperature monitors that I have. Keep in mind that it reads In CELSIUS only.

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Lee's 40/55 Premium Undergravel Filter, 12-Inch by 48-Inch

I've had a "regular" Lee's undergravel filter for my old 30 gallon tank and now this one for my 55. Both work well and I'm not sure if the grooves on this one make that much of a difference. In terms of width, this one seems to have some space between the tank and the undergravel filter though. I didn't measure to see if it was a full 48 inches, but it has more uncovered space on the tank floor than I'd like; otherwise I'd give it 5 stars. Also, as a "premium" filter, it should be made of higher quality plastic, but it doesn't have a "premium" feel for the materials. I'm not saying it's bad; it just doesn't give you the feeling that you're holding a part that could have come out of your Mercedes vs. a Honda.

This undergravel filter is well built and is currently holding up 100 pounds of substrate. The size was just as described.

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this filter does its job delivfery was good also the packaging. i also purchased power heads to enhance this filter works well.

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Had a little trouble at first setting it up but after that it is working great. I never have to clean my tank now because of it and i'm also not having to change my filter as much now either. Helps a lot with all fish tanks.

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These are a great addition to any tank. Installs easy before you put anything in the tank. Then all you do is cover with gravel/rocks and decorate your tank as you want. It works great on helping to keep you tank cleaner longer. Which means less stress on your fish.

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Fluval Chi Cover

After losing several fish to jumping escapes, I was glad to see this product become available. It's a little expensive for a notched piece of plastic that, in my opinion, should've been included with the original tank. That said, it works perfectly and has the added bonus of minimizing splash marks around the outside of the tank and on the desk where I've placed my tank. The cover has pegs in the lower side to keep it in place and the top surface is beveled to encourage splashes from the bubbler to flow back into the tank. It seems to cut down on evaporation as well. I'm happy with my purchase.

I love my Fluval Chi but as with other Chi owners, my biggest problem with the design is the large amount of water evaporation and of course, suicidal fish jumpers. The cover does help with the fish issue, and since I've installed the cover, I haven't found a fish or ghost shrimp outside the tank. Unfortunately the evaporation is just as rampant as before the cover. I'm sure the cover does help a bit, but it's not really noticeable. What I do notice however, is the fact that these covers get "gunky" really quickly. Water drops will dry on the top, hanging droplets will leave marks on the underside, etc. While the covers are really easy to clean with just a little water and elbow grease, it is a weekly chore if you want to keep them looking nice.

That being said, while I've seen the Chi drop in price as low as the five to six dollar mark (but as high as sixteen!), it still seems pretty overpriced for what it is. If you can get your hands on some cheap polycarbonate or acrylic, it should work just as well if you don't mind a little DIY.

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I never had a problem with having a fish that attempted to jump out of the tank... but decided to purchase this lid just as a precautionary measure. For $10, I think the price is kind of on the steep side... but it fits on top of the tank perfectly. I wonder why fluval wont include this lid as part of the package? :/

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I had some fish that *loved* jumping out of the tank and dying (loaches). That, plus the crabs and snail adventures, prompted me to get this cover. It's really nice, but the only drawback it had no spot for the heater I had installed. That was easily fixed by cutting a small opening with my dremel, though ;)

Bonus: No more roommates shouting, "DAVE THERE IS A CRAB IN THE HALLWAY" at 7 am.

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First off, the lid itself is cheap and flimsy. one of the pegs to hold the lid in place broke off rather easily.

And lastly this lid has not prevented 2 Betta fish from jumping to their deaths. It leaves large gaps and does not work.

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Petco Black Aquarium Sand, 20 lbs.

I have now bought 7 total bags from the actual store and thought id share some words of wisdom. COMPLETLY DISREGARD ANY CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS ON OR NEAR THIS PRODUCT! The best way to clean the sand is in a 5 gallon bucket. Stick a hose in the bottom and let it overflow the bucket pushing all the little particles out. You absolutely have to agitate the gravel while in the bucket.

When adding to a tank there is 2 options.

1) Add it before the water and have lots of it floating at the top. (The air bubbles collect on it and make the little pieces float to the top)This happened with my first experience

2) Add it to a tank that already has water in it and or fish. When you do add it make sure to get a little bit in a container(Tupperware works best) and then slowly fill the container with water in your tank and then bring it to the bottom of the tank and pour like you would a carbonated beverage(SLOWLY) on the bottom. (This works the best for me)

I really do like this product; however ease of use and lack of good directions knocked it down a notch for me.

Love the look of it in the tank. I do not have bottom feeders, so nothing stirs it up, which I have heard can be a problem. Just did a water change and the suction didn't seem to bother it either. I highly recommend.

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This sand looks really nice in my tank but I'm glad that I didn't have any fish in there when I added this. I rinsed and rinsed it and then it took a couple of days for my tank to clear up. Then, I had to change out everything in the filter (everything was black inside of the filter + plastic cups of water from the tank left a black residue in the cup after I dumped the water out of it). After all of that, its fine but I just think that was way too much work for sand, in my opinion.

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Some reviews state that there are sand particles that float when you put the sand in..Well, yeah, air can get stuck to some sand particles and float them to the top. Just hit the particles that are floating, to knock the air off so the sand sinks back down, or get a net and scoop them out.. Not hard.

The sand is not as fine as beach sand, which I LOVE. My cichlids do not stir it up every time they play in it. Neither do my plecos and one is over a ft long. The picture makes it look like the grains are big. They are not at all. I went to petco in person and bought this (Same price.) My fish play in this more than they ever did my gravel, or my old white sand. It does not make your tank cloudy AT ALL when it is stirred up. The color is very black and makes my red jewels red color pop. I want to make all my non planted tanks have this sand as their substrate.

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I bought this sand, along with two bags of the PETCO black gravel, for a 46 gallon freshwater tank. This was the first time using sand in an aquarium and I made some beginner mistakes. I did as many suggested, placing a quantity of sand in a bucket and then rinsing it outdoors to remove any sand or lighter particles. So far so good. I then dumped the sand into the empty tank and repeated until both bags of sand were in the tank. Being excited, I treated some water and filled the tank to the top by pouring the water straight into the tank. Big mistake!

I ended up with a very cloudy tank and a large layer of sand floating at the top of the water. The bottom of the tank was filled with what looked like pebbles, but upon closer inspection turned out to be air bubbles with a bunch of sand clumped around it. Anytime I touched the bottom of the tank, a host of bubbles and sand would float to the top. I waited several days but the floating layer of sand and the bubbles at the bottom remained. After some on-line research, I emptied about a third of the tank, then proceeded to slowly kneed the sand by hand, releasing all the air trapped in the sand, both on the top of the sand and buried under it. Once this was done, I knocked all the sand off the top of the water using a flat stick.

In the end, this turned out to be a good purchase. The black sand contrasts nicely with my fish and a few well placed rocks. Overall I was pleased with this purchase.

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Green Killing Machine Internal 9 Watt UV Sterilizer with Power Head

I was happy with this unit, seemed like a sane and useful design, however it failed at around 4 weeks of operation. If I am able to get warranty service, or otherwise the issue resolved I'll update this review but right now I can't recommend it.

At 4 weeks or so the control box red light went out which should indicate the UV lamp needed replacing. That's terrible but I wondered if that might not be just a defective light, etc. I just went ahead and purchased a new lamp, figured I'd use it in the long run regardless, however the control box indicator light is still out so that's not it, apparently the 'control box' has failed. I'm attempting to get warranty service from the manufacturer because I'm over the 30 day return policy.

I took a chance on a relatively new vendor and I'm glad I did. Hats off to the Umbrella Group. Everything went smoothly and the product was delivered in good shape and on time.

I'm very pleased with the unit. I needed a UV filter for a smaller tank with a hanging filter (so an in-line wouldn't work) and was very happy to find this at a great price. It's whisper-quiet and includes a power head for great circulation.

Two small words to the wise:

1) The product is a snap to set up if you're a little mechanically inclined because the instructions that come with it leave something to be desired. The illustrations are microscopic and the text says to see illustrations that don't exist.

2) Make sure you look at ALL the photos before you decide to put this in a smaller tank (20 g or less). It takes up more room than the main picture might lead you to believe but is rated up to 50g.

With that said, I would heartily recommend this to anyone who's ever dealt with an algae bloom (or anyone who doesn't want to).

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The Green Killing Machine 9 watt worked wonderfully for the first three months I owned it. Water was crystal clear, and even if the submersible part of the unit was big and bulky it was worth disguising to have such a trouble free aquarium.

Then, despite weekly routine cleaning and maintenance as suggested per the manual, the charging unit stopped working. Only it didn't just short out. It fried itself and burned so hot that it melted through the plastic housing before I caught it. I don't know if and when the little red light went out; it's simply not something most people check on a daily basis. What I do know is that the problem could have been seriously compounded had the unit continued to smoulder.

Based on the potential for danger and the fact the unit eventually stopped functioning beyond repair, I can't recommend it at all.

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I put one of these in a 55 gallon tank. During this time of the year the sun comes through one of the windows at about 8AM and turns my tank into an algae heaven. My tank went from bad to worse waiting for this to show up. I let it do its thing for a few days to make sure it would actually make a difference before performing a water change, and it really does. My tank wasn't crystal clear but I could see from one end to the other again today, which was not possible through the pea soup a few days ago. I just did a water change, and the water is pretty clear now. I expect this will keep things in check and keep the water quite clear, especially during the rest of the year when I don't have this issue. ++ item.

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Two of my kids tanks turned green while we were away on vacation. I think our neighbors overfed the fish. Anyway, after chasing the algae blooms on the 5 and 10 gallon tanks without success (repeated cleanings and water changes), I purchased the Green Killing Machine. After 48 hours in the pea-soup green 10 gallon tank, the water was noticeably cleaner. After 72 hours, the water was crystal clear. Then I transferred the unit to the 5 gallon tank. After 48 hours, it too is crystal clear.

If you have an algae bloom, this is your ticket.

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biOrb Ceramic Media - 1lb. Bag

I gave this five stars because the product is great, but there is no reason to buy it when you first purchase the tank. My kit came with plenty so we are just saving this for the future.

The bag of ceramic media that came with my baby biOrb was not enough and this 1 lb bag did the trick!

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I was disappointed that my baby biorb came with so little media. It looked empty and boring, now it looks complete. If you're getting a biorb, keep in mind that you'll also need to get a plant ring, it doesn't come with much of anything. Not enough rocks, no plants. Order this for sure!

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16 gallon Half Circle Aquarium with light and filter

This aquarium is easy to set up. It is beautiful with black gravel and one vivid plant. Plenty of room for your favorite fish. It is quite and will sit easily on a side table or bench.

EcoPlus Commercial Air 5 - 80 Watts Single Outlet

Basically owned one and used it basically nonstop for approx. 3 months. Lost power and started making a lot of noise. The other one I have works good, no problems and I've been using it for about 3 or 4 months pretty much nonstop. Maybe I got a bad one? The seller said they would take it back though.

Ordered this pump based on having one of the same brand that works great. Got this one I stalled and find it to be really noisy. Checked all I can and find nothing is wrong so I assume it is just a poor quality pump. Hope it lasts....

Contacted the company....called and talked to a female who took all my info with a promise of a return call.....nothing for 2 weeks. Tried calling and leaving messages for a couple more weeks with no return call or contact. Finally got thru to a guy who again took all the info and promised an email with results of my complaint.....still nothing a week later.....left a message again......no reply after 1 day. Really tired of the no answer policy thus place seems to have.

I thought there might be a chance to get a replacement......at least ask about it based on the loudness of the pump...but they cannot even tell me that they will do nothing. I will continue trying to contact them just becaues I want an answer....this time aiming for someone at the top.

I have been contacting the store in Ca. and they verified my online purchase and have never said I was talking to the wrong place. They did say I could contact the manufacturer but why should I have to go beyound the seller for service.....

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Stability, 2 L / 67.6 fl. oz.

With no shortage of Biological water treatments available I've never really relied on them. The reason being is there's no true shortcut to a fully cycled aquarium you have to wait and let nature take it's course. In the past I've tried products like Cycle by Nutrafin and Easy start by Tetra but in most cases these products were used in setting up fast quarantine and hospital tanks.

Most of these products want you to use them continuously which doesn't make sense. If you have a fully cycled tank why would keep adding new strains of bacteria to already established water? Well, I think because some manufacturers want you too keep coming back for more and the price of admission isn't cheap.

Cycle at around $22 for 16 ounces encourages you to dose your tank with 5 ml for every ten gallons once a week and 10 ml for every ten gallons during water changes.

Nonsense.

This brings me to "Stability" by Seachem (one of my favorite companies)But being partial to them and their product line doesn't mean I don't question or research as best I can. That said, I'm nursing a new 55, a 40 and 125. I had a bottle of Stability which I had bought on a what the heck basis the 55 has fish in it, I seeded the filter but still had serious ammonia spikes.

The bacteria used in competitive products are inherently unstable. And for the bacteria to survive it must live in the exact temperature, PH and other water parameters in which it was raised and colonized. When you add this bacteria to your aquarium, it survives for a brief while but then crashes and dies.

Stability on the other hand, has bacteria that can survive in almost any kind of water fresh and salt and virtually any type of water conditions. Seachem states the strain took a decade to develop. What sets it further apart from the competition is that it contains nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria which isn't the case for any other product of it's kind. Seachem also states other bacterial supplements form toxic hydrogen sulfide something that can never happen with Stability.

With this said, I've dosed my new tanks according to the directions which are 5 ml per 10 gallons on the first dose and a follow up of 5 ml per 20 gallons for 7 days. What I've noticed and noticed quickly, is that my water is clearly more stabilized. Currently I show no ammonia on the API test or Seachem Ammonia Alert meter it's been five days since the last dose and all of my readings are in the safe zone.

I don't use it for water changes but having experienced the problems of adding fish to a non or partially cycled tank, I have not so fond memories of daily 50% -80% water changes for weeks..ugh.

Where Stability shines is in helping you protect your fish and stabilize the water, especially in keeping the primary fish killer -ammonia in check.So for specific applications Stability is an excellent product. It's harmless to fish and appears to deliver on it's promise. But as a weekly or even monthly addition to established tank maintenance I wouldn't suggest it.

To their Credit, Seachem says you can use it as an on going additive but unlike other products they don't make it sound like you have to.

This is a wonderful product that we find to work very well. Whenever we add fish, have an issue with our tank, or treat the fish, we use stability. This is by far the best price and size to purchase. The seller shipped this fast and secure.

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This review is meant for both Seachem's Stability and Seachem's Matrix.

I helped my son set up his 120 gallon African cichlid tank. We went through about 5 or 6 different filters and settled on an Eheim. From what we had learned from our research on tank setups we had understood that the filter media, once properly colonized, will remove ammonia and nitrites from the water but will not remove nitrates (ammonia gets converted by one kind of bacteria in the filter to nitrites and in turn another kid of bacteria will convert the nitrites into nitrates). The only way to reduce the nitrate levels is by either having live plants or even better, periodic water changes. We were also told that if we have a deep enough substrate then after about 6 months or so, if we get lucky, deep in the substrate will develop a bacterial colony that will help reduce the nitrates.

As I continued my research I stumbled on to the Seachem web site. I was impressed by the specs of their Matrix product. It claimed to be able to support bacteria that will eliminate nitrates from the water. Great! Now all I have to do is buy this filter media, wait six months and I'm all set. Not only that, but from what I've read on the Internet, it could take up to two whole months for the ammonia and nitrites eating bacteria to properly develop.

Well, luck for me, I found the Stability product. I added both the Matrix filter media and Stability to my setup (Stability needs to be added to the water on a daily basis for one week) and tested the water after one week. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ammonia and nitrites levels had dropped down to 0! My son was telling me not to bother testing for nitrates because it's guaranteed that they'll be there. I tested anyway and guess what? Zero!

This works like magic!

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I use this product to cycle my tank... I think it just little faster then the normal way you don't have to wait so long before you put the fish in the tank... I think it ok...

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