Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a beautiful, safe tank with powerful cleaning power and we love it. That is once you get past the first 48 hours of sheer panic as it whips your betta around as it swims itself near to exhaustion, hiding in his cave to escape the blast, with even that not protecting him enough as you consider returning him to the store to save him from the fluval pump. To skip the panic and the hours of internet searching for solutions and enjoy this right out of the box, Order this along with the tank: Fluval EDGE Pre-Filter Sponge. Put the sponge over the filter hose outlet in the tank (it fits perfectly see photo below) and it will calm the water jet right down and diffuse it and your betta will have peace and clean water (pictured below). As for the betta seeming to get "stuck" to the filtration system intake as some here have mentioned, that has actually become a feature of the tank I like. They can detach themselves just fine (offer him some food and you'll see) and aren't actually stuck. Years of keeping bettas has taught me they need a leaf or rock close to the top to rest on. This little bit of suction through the filter is even better than that because it is right near the surface so my betta uses the little bit of suction on the intake filter to suspend himself so he can sleep without swimming.He prefers it to his betta hammock! It holds him up without him having to move a fin. When the lights go out he goes to sleep by swimming right to it and parking himself there just below the surface so he can easily breathe without having to expend energy swimming up for air while sleeping. When I leave for work in the middle of the night, he's always up there out cold. He literally sleeps there! He's been doing this for 6 months and his fins are just fine. BUT, if you would prefer your betta not park himself there, THAT is an easy fix, too. Take one of the black bread ties that comes with the tank and thread it through the middle of the vent slots, hauling the filter sponge up to the waterline by the sponge handle. Then thread the tie through the handle too and twist, affixing it to the vent slot (see photo below). This will hoist the filter it up to the waterline, rather than letting it rest on the bottom (see photo).This will prevent your fish from parking there because it slows the suction so he can't use it. All of that takes less than 5 minutes and is well worth it to own this beautiful tank that keeps the water crystal clear and is a beautiful addition to my daughter's room. The fixes were worth it to own the tank and I'd buy it again. 3 YEARS LATER UPDATE: Can't believe this tank is still going and awesome. The motor is still running perfectly. My daughter got it 3 years ago and now my son wants a fish tank, too. Looking forward to buying a second one of these. It is the only tank I will buy. In fact, I checked to make sure the tank is still manufactured with the intake slats that reviewers below complain that bettas get "stuck" to because for bettas, that is my favorite feature of this tank. It still functions as a built in betta hammock where he loves to sleep. We are now on our second betta since the one in the picture above died happily of old age, and the newer betta goes right to the slats to sleep and uses the suction there to keep himself just below the water, just like the first fish! In addtion, this tank has proved exceedingly easy to care for with a weekly water change of about 20%. In addition to help keep it crystal clear without chemicals, buy a cheap but long turkey baster and do spot cleanings. After a few months fish debris gathers in the gravel as in every tank. Stick the baster down through the gravel to the bottom and you'll suck up a bunch of brown stuff. Spot clean from time to time and you are good to go and you'll never have an ammonia spike. Good luck!