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.

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.

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.

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.

Loved the tank. Easy set up and quiet motor. Carefully moved the tank yesterday and now there’s a leak... looking for new tank now. Bought in March 2019 and April 2020 I’m replacing due to leak.

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.

Modèle design par rapport à ceux vendu en animalerie. Il habille parfaitement mon salon. La pompe est ultra silencieuse et le montage facile. En plus tous les objets pompes filtres sont cachés sur le côté en verre noir. Cet achat m’a donne envie d agrandir la collection....

i love my Spec. absolutely adore it. i almost didn't buy this one because i had read it needed a lot of modifications to make it suitable for a betta. and that's correct, it does. but after doing a lot of research on tanks i decided to take the plunge. i'm so glad i did! it has been an absolute joy! what actually prompted my confidence in purchasing this tank for my betta was reading through the Amazon reviews. one review in particular, the one with purple and pink sand (or maybe just purple but i'm pretty sure it's bright purple and pink) laid out everything i needed to know. so thank you to that person for blazing the trail. i ordered this tank with the prefilter sponge, also by Fluval but you can find generic/other brand prefilter sponges. and that was basically it! the vast majority of people recommend the Hydro Theo heater, also available on Amazon for around $15...the heater is a bit finicky but you will soon discover that all aquarium heaters are finicky. that was actually the hardest part of this tank...figuring out where exactly to set the dial....for example, my heater is set on like 75 to keep the tank at 80...but this isn't a review on the tanks heater...you'll figure it out. also, i do have 2-3 small pin holes in the outflow tube....to circulate water around the heater...which, by the way, the hydro theo heater fits perfectly in there. i honestly don't see why fluval didn't design this....where else exactly would you install a heater in this tank? especially considering if you didn't keep a heater in the pump compartment....but in the main tank...the lid wouldn't close flush to the tank...the wire would prevent that. so it seems like fluval intended for users to put the tank in the pump compartment...but probably for legal reasons didn't suggest so because technically all heater manufacturers say not to let anything touch the heater....but everyone i have come across does in fact ignore this to put the heater in the pump compartment. with the prefilter sponge over the outflow...i kept the pump on high. a lot of people recommend keeping it on low but with the prefilter sponge i kept it on high and it worked out. i will say keeping the tank at an equal temperature was a challenge with the sponge. the bottom half of the tank stayed 4-5 degrees cooler than the top...a problem that really bothered me. now i have built a DIY spray bar like device over the outflow (see my picture) that works GREAT! the tank has a current...isn't too strong for my betta....more detritus makes it way to the inflow.....and the tank is the same temp all the way through. it cost about $14 bucks through ZooMed, 50% of which was shipping. i highly recommend doing this if for a betta...simply google 'fluval spec spray bar.' you will find the part numbers and a tutorial. the pump is now on low. also, if you are keeping this for a betta....and have a prefilter sponge....you must install an air stone. otherwise you are going to really reduce the flow and be prone to serious biofilm.....it goes away but it comes back. now that i have the DIY spray bar the flow is much better, still betta friendly....but i do still keep an air stone on low in there. i love this tank. and i have completely fallen in love with the aquarist hobby. also, the auxiliary slit towards the bottom of the false wall....it doesn't prevent all the flow to be redirected from the main filter....but some. i solved this problem by buying a silicone laptop USB plug designed for a macbook on eBay. it costs less than 99 cents...fits so perfect. like it was designed for that purpose. this may be an easier way to plug that hole up instead of silicone.... my betta parks himself right on the intake grate...at first it freaked me out....he enjoys that spot better than his betta hammock. even with the flow on high it was not enough to suck his fins through the slits....every morning when i turn on the light there he is, asleep. it's super cute actually. even my snail goes across the intake grate to feed on detritus and he isn't sucked in. keep in mind, this may not be the case for your inhabitants. so be careful. i do believe every betta in this tank does the same. if you're worried, take the handle on the sponge filter....lift it up and tie a bread-tie or even better the black one that are wrapped around the pumps cord from the packaging to hoist it up over the slits. i didnt bother... this tank does require modification....which i stated earlier almost deterred me from purchasing it. however, i think you'll find that every tank is going to be far superior to some DIY modifications. there is so much information regarding this tank online you should have absolutely no problem making it work for you. this tank is a bit more expensive...but you will be glad you got this one. it is high, high quality....the Cadillac of nano tanks so to speak. fluval is also amazing for customer service...i accidentally ripped my outflow tube trying to get the elbow off of it...they shipped me out another one for free, no questions asked, for warranty...they didn't even ask for proof of purchase.... i love this tank. i truly do. and i can't wait to get another Fluval, this time the Fluval Flex 15 gallon. also, ordering a tank online comes with risk of damage in the process of shipping. i was worried. this arrived very well insulated...and it's $20 cheaper than at PetCo or Petsmart. everything you need to get this tank up off the ground and running smoothly is right here on Amazon....don't waste more money than you need to at a major pet store. please get yourself this tank! don't be afraid of the modifications.....DO IT! UPDATE 8 October 2018: my aquarium sprung a very small leak....it has been leaking water out from under the base....i assume this leak is on the seals holding the bottom glass into the tank. i contacted Hagen Fluval, sent them pictures, explained my situation and they have shipped me out a new tank/glass only portion of the Spec V. They had absolutely lovely customer service.

Reçu très bien emballé, en bon état de fonctionnement. La personne est très contente de son cadeau

Es un acuario con una buena estética y calidad de materiales, solo ten en cuenta al utilizarlo para un betta, tienes que regular el flujo de la bomba ya que es muy fuerte para un betta de hay en más no tengo más que pedirle a este acuario

It's been a month with this tank and I am very satisfied. I love this tidy looks compared to others. And very very quiet!! My betta enjoys so much in it. Only down side is that getting annoying that you have to take out of the lid every time you cleaning. But I am thinking to use other light to solve this problem. I still highly recommend for your first time tank, or single betta owner, or small room owner who looking for tank. Oh, other cons, since i own this tank I became want to buy bigger tank like 10 gallon or up because this 5 gallon tank is very limited. So if you have betta and looking for tank mate with it, go bigger because you will end up buy bigger anyways.