Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This parts swap modification turns this unit from just ok into great, all but eliminating the issues people are having with the under-powered pump, slime and frothy water and sub-par filtration. The attached picture shows the setup. Hope it helps. I used the pump from my previous unit (Drinkwell platinum). I had this pump already although you can probably buy it on Amazon. The white stem coming out of the pump I cut from the tapered part of a dry-erase marker although you could use any marker. I used this one because the lettering on the plastic was easy to remove and there was no ink residue inside the plastic. I did away with the stock filter and pump-cup all together and replaced it with an Amazon 24 Inch By 15 Inch Dual-Density Bonded Cut To Fit Filter Pad For Fresh Water & Saltwater Aquariums, Aquaculture, Terrariums & Hydroponics! I read up on this and it seems to do a better job of filtering then any carbon filter for this purpose. The results have been amazing. This also eliminates the need to buy expensive filters as you just cut another piece of the pad when it's time to replace, but I havent had to do that yet. With the size I cut from the pad, I can replace the filter about 9-10 times before having to buy another pad. Not bad for $8. I cut a small slit with scissors in the pad to fit over the pump so the pad sits flush on the bottom. The attached picture shows how the pad fits in. I've been running this unit with these mods for several weeks now. I set the pump to about 80%. ZERO slimy water issues. The pump stays CLEAN with the pad protecting it. The pad washes off EASILY. This setup has cut the cleaning schedule IN HALF. I've used filtered water from a pitcher AND tap water with the same results. I didn't like any other pet fountains for various reasons: didnt want plastic, too big, too noisy, too expensive to maintain, too hard to clean, etc. I really wanted to make this one work. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone else out there who was looking for a pet fountain and getting sick of all the drawbacks. picture attached.