I bought this kit for my first aquarium set-up in my office which has no windows. All of the pieces are pretty cheap and flimsy feeling, but that's a given seeing how I only paid $10 for everything. In the box, I received an air pump, air line tube, light hood, tank, filter plate, air diffuser, riser tube, and three different paper documents. The directions are pretty straight forward and easy to understand, but I had to research the extraneous details like how to make the water safe for the fish. Once I finally set everything up (about an hour to get it right), the Betta fish was pretty happy and everything looked good. No leaks!
The kit comes with a 90-day limited warranty and a notice that you cannot return the product to the store. To make any returns or exchanges, they want you to work directly with the manufacturer. I don't know how easy or hard this would be since I didn't need to return or exchange.
Cons:
1. I don't like that the filter plate is so light that it practically floats. It made setting up the tank pretty difficult because the jewel decorations kept getting under the plate making the riser tube too tall and lop sided. To get past this, I weighted down the filter plate with binder clips which worked perfectly. I suggest sticking to sand or regular rocks and not jewels for anyone else.
2. I can't really seem to find a clear answer on this, but the lightbulb that comes with the kit makes the water pretty warm. After a few days, this brown stuff (Diatoms?)started growing all over the tank and even on the fish! I turned the light off and the brown stuff is now practically gone just after a few days. Upon further research online, I found that you're supposed to turn the light off for a few hours each day. This might be a good tip to add to the directions for the kit.
Overall, I think this product is ok for a child or a first timer like myself. The price is right and I don't feel ripped off, but I'm definitely looking forward to graduating to something more complete.
Received this as a gift, and bought a 3 month old "Betta Baby" from Petco for it. So far, Darbie absolutely loves his tank, swimming all over and loves to hide in the little hollow barnacle ornament I got for him. The tank's footprint is small (about the size of a sheet of printer paper cut diagonally) so you can't really put much in it. Here's a little information on all the parts included:
Tank: Mine actually feels fairly sturdy, and so far I haven't had any issues with the plastic fogging up like I have with other acrylic tanks. Also, it's not blue like the picture unless you put a blue background or blue gravel in it. You're only going to want 1 lb of gravel; I've got two in there and it's a little too much.
Hood and light: The plastic plate to keep fish from zapping themselves on the light is sturdy and fit snugly inside the hood housing; you've really got to press it in there. You'll know it's seated right when there's about 1/4" between the edge of the hood and where the plate sits. The light does produce a lot of heat and replacing it with an LED bulb works very well for limiting how hot the tank gets. Personally, I use a 7.5W Hydor heater under the gravel, which keeps the tank at a balmy 80 degrees without any help.
Plant: not included in the package, and not even listed on the box; Amazon's product description is in error there.
Air pump, tube, and air stone: The air pump is, strangely enough, one of the quietest I've ever found. And you can't buy this anywhere else. It's good that they provide a replacement part order sheet inside the box the tank comes in; you can order all the individual parts separately for fairly cheap. I don't know why some of the reviewers expressed trouble finding replacement parts when the manufacturer provided a reorder sheet; most manufacturers don't do that. The air stone is good quality and diffuses water quite well, and the air hose is flexible and supple. One of the best quality aeration kits I've received in a tank kit yet.
Filter: Useless. This is the only part of the set up that I am very disappointed in. It works based off of a very basic vacuum principle: you stuff the air stone down the tube, hope it stays, and plug it in. Because the stone fills with air, it floats to the top, which basically left me needing to wrap a rubber band around it to secure it in the tube. Nixed that idea fairly soon because the band started getting fuzzy and leaching things into the water. Ideally, the air stone would stay in the bottom, pumping air up, and the water would be carried up with the air, creating a current that pulls water through the filter plate. If this worked, it would work quite well with the addition of one more thing: filter cartridges. There's no floss, no screen, no foam, no sponge, and no carbon anywhere in this setup. The experienced DIYer could probably make filter cartridges, but I didn't bother because there's just not that much room to work with. And the filter plate does float uncontrollably. Very poorly designed, but I solved that problem by just plain not using it.
Again, 2 lb of gravel like I have will give you 2" of gravel in the bottom. I'd use between 1 lb and 1.5 lb, closer to 1 in order to get the standard inch that most pet stores and hobbyists will recommend. Regardless, Darbie absolutely loves this little tank and it'll be a great first home for him until he's big enough to need a larger one. It's perfect for little bettas, like growing fry or bettas that just never grew very big, and small enough that a child can fit it almost anywhere in his or her room. I'd say it's also durable enough to withstand standard use, though of course the kid that bangs things and pounds fish tanks to get the fish to move will probably crack it in a day.
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I bought two of these aquariums today to keep in each of my kids' rooms. They have both been asking for their own pet, so thought I'd start simple and let them keep a betta fish in their rooms. The aquarium looks fine, gives large viewing area to see the fish. I do like that it came with a small lamp and pump, something not always included with aquariums this small. The tank is made of pretty brittle and flimsy plastic. Nothing has gone wrong, but I don't expect it to last long. The lid is ill-fitting, so must be very careful replacing it. I am surprised at the price on Amazon and online pet retailers, I paid half as much at the local big-box for identical product.
Overall, it will do fine for the kids' first pets, may even last a few years.
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Buy it!!! When I ordered mine off Amazon I thought it was going to be a lot smaller and less quality. It actually looks really nice when you set it up and have everything going. I would recommend any one to buy this item. My fish loves the tank. It's worth the money.
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Installation was pretty simple. Two tips.
1. Airstone bubbler goes under the under gravel filter and into the tube. Just far enough so it stays in there. The air tube will tilt the filter because of the angle but the gravel will hold it down in place. I would recommend 2 lbs. Put just about under 2 inches of gravel.
2. There's a clear plastic piece that goes inside the black cover. You just pop it into place. Keeps water from touching the light bulb.
Pump is pretty quiet.
Also, if you use the light, only turn on for a few hours each day. If you leave it on, some brown stuff will start to grow.
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with a bubble wand and it works great. The clear plastic covers on the bottoms legs are a nice addition. I think it does help in absorbing some of the noise, but for me it's still not quiet enough, and that's only because this tank is in my bedroom. At night, when it's quiet, it can be annoying, but during the day, I barely notice the sound.
