I purchased the Lees gravel filter to reduce the drudgery of aquarium maintenance on a 500 gallon freshwater tropical tank. With large tropical fish, I was finding that the tank gravel was getting VERY dirty and spongy with waste product. I ordered the under-gravel filters (4 large ones) to help mitigate this problem.
The filters were easy to put together, but I must say the construction was rather flimsy. Also the carbon charcoal chambers at the tops of the bubble tubes were so small, they needed cleaning a little too often. The flat bases sit on the bottom of the tank, the bubble tubes stick up through the gravel towards the top of the tank. You simply lay your aquarium gravel over the bases and plug your air lines into your compressor.
THE GOOD-
The fact that the gravel was elevated on a base made it SUPER EASY to use a manual siphon to vacuum the silt out of the gravel. The gravel It was also easy to re-level the gravel back onto the bases.
THE BAD-
This product appeared flimsy. The bayonet style attachments of the bubble tubes were prone to breaking during installation and maintenance. The "cleaning action" of the tubes and base was just so-so. Not bad, but not great.
The final impression-
The idea of moving the aquarium gavel onto raised bases such as this is actually excellent. It really has reduced my routine maintenance duration. However, I don't think the electricity ($$$) it takes to power this unit is worth the cleaning power. I have since continued to use the bases, but NOT run the air compressor pump to run the bubble tubes. If there was a way to buy just the gravel bases, now THAT would likely be a 5 STAR purchase review at a MUCH lower cost and MUCH better value!!
i think that the slits in the bottom are to thin, also they are 4 individual peices, water does not flow from one side of the tank to the other undr this filter. i had to cut the sides off each square. would not buy again, but i have it and made it work.
Buy Lee's 40/55 Original Undergravel Filter, 12-Inch by 48-Inch Now
It came as described and in undamaged condition. It took a bit of effort to put it together but it fit the way it was described and works the way it was described. Overall, a great value!
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this was a gift for my husband, it is just as described and was in perfect condition, he loves it.
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I really like the underwater filter but the only problem I see I am gonna have is buying the replacement filters, I have to buy them online as well, none of the pet stores around my area carry the Lee's filters. If I had known this I may have purchased another type..my fault though I didn't do my homework.
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I ordered this item along a similar product, Exotic Environments Stick Up Aquarium Ornament with suction cup back "Red Sea Reef with Brain Corals". Please note that the product featured on this page has a flat side that is intended to snug up against a wall or flat surface. Nice color and the suction cups seems to be pretty strong...it stuck on the wall of my tank without slipping even before the water was added. Keep in mind that these pieces are kind of chunky...almost as thick as they are wide. Wish they were a little larger and maybe flatter to cover more of the surface of my overflow box without sticking so far into the tank. Even so, they are a neat accent piece and I will probably be looking for a few more like it to decorate the back wall of my tank.
