Fluval SPEC Aquarium Kit, Aquarium with LED Lighting and 3-Stage Filtration System, 5-Gallon

I'm really impressed by this tank, which I've now had set up for a year. In fact I loved the tank so much I bought a second. The tank is well made and well finished, looking smart and modern.For me this tank has two features which set it apart: the first is the slimline depth of the tank (17 cm), though when measuring up note that the floating base is 19cm deep. This opens up possibilities for squeezing in a tank on a bookshelf or worktop. Just satisfy yourself first that your bookshelf is sturdy enough to take the weight!The second stand-out feature is the separate filter compartment with frosted glass at one end. This does a great job of keeping the life support systems out of sight which is an especially pressing problem in a tank this small. Even better (for your fish) is the large size of the filter sponge hidden within. It's so big that it has room for two cut out spaces for extra (supplied) filter media: a small bag of "biological" media where bacteria dealing with fish waste will make their home; and a sachet of activated carbon which will further polish your water. If using water additives (plant fertilisers, disease treatments etc etc) this carbon is useless as it will try to gather up whatever you are trying to add. I have removed it and used the space for more biological media or aquarium peat.The pump sits in a separate small chamber beside the sponge chamber. Handily this chamber is also big enough for a heater if wanting to keep tropical species. The Visitherm 25W heater is ideal, I've found.What can you keep in the tank? Well, for all my enthusiasm about the filtration, the tank remains small. It would be an ideal shrimp tank and I have a few cherry shrimp and Amano shrimp to keep algae under control. I am, however, at heart a fish lover rather than shrimp enthusiast so I wanted fish involved. Half a dozen ember tetra have worked well in a planted tank, as have 5 corydoras hastata and a pair of sparkling gouramis. Any microrasbora/boraras would feel at home and good fish shops now usually have a reasonable selection of species suitable for nano tanks. The tank definitely isn't big enough for a goldfish, but if you wanted an unheated tank then 5 or 6 white cloud mountain minnows would fit.I've mentioned plants so I ought to say something about the lights which come with the tank. The lighting strip is on a separate plug, which makes it easy to control them via a timer socket. The lights are LEDs rather than the traditional (and in my opinion now largely outdated) florescent tubes. They are mainly white but there are a few "moonlight" blue ones. If you want to use the blue ones there is a not entirely obvious slide switch on the side of the strip. The LED unit looks neat and fits with the overall style of the tank. With the addition of Easycarbo and an all-in-one fertiliser my java moss, microsorium and (especially) anubias have done well. I did deliberately choose plants undemanding in terms of light but I was more concerned to have slow-growing plants. In such a small tank a fast-growing "weed" will soon choke things up. I can't vouch for the lights' effectiveness if you are growing more demanding species. My gut feeling is that you could grow eleocharis but wouldn't be getting a tight carpet of glosso even though there is only 10 inches of water for the light to penetrate.Overall, this is clearly a five star product. It has been designed to look good while keeping the needs of the inhabitants firmly in mind. Well done Fluval.

Absolutely love this tank. It’s a great size for smaller fish, the light are super bright which is great for the live plants. The only thing is the air filter and pump are quite powerful even on the lowest setting so would recommend putting some filter medium over the outlet.

A lovely tank, with some well-thought-out features. The filter section is comprehensive in size and the pull-out sponge filter has two sections where different media can be placed, depending on your requirements. It comes with a bio-media sachet that can remain indefinitely with little maintenance and also a carbon sachet (which I discarded immediately in favour of another packet of bio media). The water pump has an excellent flow and is adjustable to allow a good amount of surface movement. The section where the return pipe for the filter is roomy enough to put a nano-heater if you want your tank to look clear of equipment. The longer shape of the tank allows for some nice pieces of decoration, ours fits nicely on the desktop so it is visible from both the side and end of the tank.The LED lights are ok, great for a small community tank but are a bit of a pain as you must move them out of the way to get into the tank but they seem more than adequate for most low-maintenance plants. The top has a long opening in the middle which allows for a bit more evaporation than a fully-covered tank, and the condensation on the underside of the top is a bit of a pain when moving it. The light also has a sliding switch which is not as easy to use as the touch on and off lights on many other tanks but I have put the light plug in a switched power strip which has solved that problem.Overall, it is a lovely little tank, although the corners with the metal corner strips do interfere with a clear view, but compared to our other 19l which is an Interpet Nano, it's a far better tank in the ways that matter, especially the filtration. Get at least a 50w nano-heater as the 25w in ours is struggling to keep the tank at anything above 22c.For the price, it's a nice little tank, and one we enjoy.

Amazing tank!

Brilliant tank and brilliant filtration. The pump blocked once in 8 months but that's easy to fix, just lift it out of the tank and pull any debris out. Pump housing is large enough to fit a small heater in, thus improving the look of the tank. Light is very bright and great for growing plants with. Overall, very happy. It did not however come with the water conditioner and biological enhancer that I have seen other dealers include. Comes with some ceramic media and also some carbon. I removed the carbon about 3 months after set up, found out you shouldn't keep the same carbon for much longer than 6 weeks. I decided to add another bag of ceramic media rather than carbon. JBL Micromec is what I used.

I bought this tank in May 2018 and my Betta has lived happily in it ever since. Yes, I had to make a few modifications to make it Betta friendly, but that's what fish keeping is all about. The filtration system is fantastic for such a small tank and I have never had a problem with water quality. The light is also very good and keeps my plants healthy. I did put a few holes in the tubing going from th pump to the output nozzle. This has several advantages. It slows the flow. It stops the water in the pump chamber becoming stagnant, and warm water is distributed evenly throughout the tank. The filter grill is fairly wide, and a Betta's fins could in theory be drawn into it. To solve this, I placed a small rectangular washing up sponge on top of the black filtration sponge, this then covers the grill from behind. A few simple mods and this aquarium has been perfect. I'm about to buy another, which is what brought me back here after 3 1/2 years.