PROS: Large capacity in a small space Sleek design Has internal power filter (preferable to an undergravel filter, which the listing title says) Filter is silent CONS: Can't fill tank completely due to poor filter design Poor filter cartridge design Light is not as bright as pictured I bought this tank to upgrade from a fishbowl on a small (12"x12" surface) end table in my living room. I wanted the largest capacity tank I could fit on the end table with room to spare, and this one fit the bill. It is proportioned differently than the similarly-shaped, more common bowfront style tanks; it takes up less horizontal space per capacity (3.5 gallon and it only takes up about 9"x11"). It has a nice aesthetic design. I like the sunken feeding tube, it kind of forms into a downward tube (don't worry, you can't see it, it doesn't go below the bottom lip of the lid) that keeps water from splashing out and you also don't have to worry about any little feeding doors that break over time like has happened to me on similar small tanks. The filter is okay, it is an internal power filter not an undergravel like the listing title says. The filter is very quiet, in fact I can't say I have ever heard any sound from it at all, unless the water level gets too low in which case I hear some splashing from the water pouring into the tank. That being said, if I didn't have such a small space to work with I would have gone with a different tank, and here's why: The lighting is really not very bright. It is not nearly as bright as the pictures. The colored light settings are fine but the white light setting is very dull, and the light only really projects a beam onto a 3" area onto the center of bottom of the tank and doesn't provide much light to the rest of the tank. I don't hardly notice the light in the tank in daytime when my apartment is bright already, The filter is basically a hang-on-back filter design made to be inside the tank, which is pretty weird to me. It is not to be completely submerged and therefore you must leave the water level about 1" below the lid of the tank. I don't think this looks very nice. Also. if the water level is too low you get the noise and tiny bubbles from the water pouring into the tank from the filter. Although there is not much evaporation with this tank as the lid covers the tank pretty well, this could potentially be a problem. My other problem with the filter is that it is made to use a single cartridge, I don't even know what kind of cartridge because I use other filter media, not the cartridges. Here is the reason I don't like cartridges, and why I think this filter may cause problems for inexperienced fishkeepers and maybe even lead to lots of fish death: Uneaten food, poop, etc break down into very toxic chemicals. The main point of a filter is to grow bacteria that eat these chemicals and turn them into much less toxic ones. It takes a whole month or more for these bacteria to grow enough to help your tank. Once you have that good bacteria after the first month, the water is much more stable and your fish will be healthier, less stressed, and you won't have to do as many water changes. Most of them time when fish die in a new tank it is because there isn't enough of the good bacteria breaking down the waste. This good bacteria grows on porous things like sponges and filter floss that are in the middle of a high water flow. In this filter, the bacteria grows on the fabric-like (floss) part of the filter cartridge. Housed inside the cartridge is carbon, which helps remove other chemicals (but not really the waste chemicals) for very short periods of time, and if it is used it needs to be changed out often, Unfortunately, there is a very big problem when you throw away this cartridge and put in a new one: Yes, there are very small amounts of this good bacteria in the water, in the gravel, etc, but not enough to really help the water in your tank, and it will take a whole new month of toxic water and stressed fish before you grow enough good bacteria on the new cartridge. This happens every time the cartridge is changed. Therefore, if you were to buy this tank and change cartridges every month you would have a lot of fish die unless you were to change the water every few days. This is not a major setback though, as you can fix this by forgetting about the cartridges and using other filter media. You can purchase cut-to-fit filter floss pads, or use small filter sponges made for other filters (I plan on using the sponges for the aquaclear 20 filter). Make sure to use at least two sponges/filter floss pads. If they get too dirty, change one out, but never change out both together, and don't throw one out too often, about every two weeks or less (this gives the bacteria a chance to grow on the new sponge). This way, you always have enough good bacteria in your filter to keep the water stable, and by only throwing out one sponge at a time you are never throwing out all your good bacteria. Don't worry if the sponge looks dirty, that's not its main purpose, again the most important thing that sponge (and the filter) is doing is growing the good bacteria. I only change my sponges out if they are so clogged and dirty that the water is not running as well through the filter. Don't worry about the carbon, you don't really need carbon in the filter, I don't even use it and have not noticed any ill effects in my 10 years of fishkeeping. The porous material with the good bacteria is much, much more important. If you currently have been running this filter with a cartridge and want to switch to sponges or filter floss, just cut the floss (fabric-like) part out of your cartridge and put it in with your new sponges/floss pads. That way you are not throwing out any good bacteria you have growing on the cartridge.
