Marineland Portrait Glass LED Aquarium Kit, 5 Gallons, Hidden Filtration,Black

Some pros and cons, as with all things: Pros: The design is gorgeous. The images don't give the effect of the glass when it is filled enough credit. It's a sleek and pretty design that looks good anywhere. It's easy to set up and spacious for both tall plants and small fish. Cons: The tank only comes with a very simple filter pad and a water pump to pull. Heater and airstone not included, though this total package combo rarely comes with everything. Customizing equipment choices is necessary sometimes. The biggest issue is that the filter isn't adequate, even for low-bioload animals and the tank size. It'll work as long as you clean it near weekly. I'd just get a small sponge filter that could be hidden in the back compartment or behind some plants. Other: The light isn't too dim or bright, but it will take some time to see what effectiveness it has as a plant-grower. It has two modes toggled from a simple switch; full white and blue, or blue. Pump strength can be adjusted on the submerged pump face, great for setting a good comfort flow for sensitive fish. This pump runs up a clear pipe, which can easily be hijacked to add a raised waterfall moss wall (or other aquatic decoration) and routing through an inline filter. Overall an excellent choice, especially if you aren't too familiar with the hobby, and it looks great alongside other tanks as well. The price is great for a well-built rounded glass tank. Just pick up some extras (even a small charcoal bag would help filtration) and customize to your animals' needs.

I'm so pleased with this aquarium. It's beautiful and affordable. I replaced the light with a more expensive one and instead of the filter cartridge/housing I filled the back with ceramic filter media. The only thing that's less than ideal is that the little plastic part at the back of the lid doesn't stay on very well but it doesn't matter. I like that you can change the intensity and direct of the flow which is surprisingly powerful. Easily my favorite aquarium I have right now.

This is a really attractive aquarium and perfect if you need a small footprint. The portrait orientation, rounded corners and black background for the rear wall are especially pleasing. The black plastic stand adds to the sleek look and the glass cover is very nice. It is also a necessity if you have a betta since they are jumpers. There are, however, some concerns. 1) It wasn't until I bought the tank that I was able to determine the TRUE dimension. The specifications as presented by the manufacturer do not reflect the actual USABLE tank area. When you subtract the space used by back compartment that houses the filtration system the measurements are 9.5 inches (left to right), 7.5 inches front to back (front glass to front of back partition) and 13.75 inches in height equaling just 4.24 gallons in volume. In that area you must also house your substrate, plants, decorations and heater. Since I used 1.75 inches of substrate that reduces the volume to 3.7 gallons. Deduct a modest 10% for decor and heater and your fish has 3.3 gallons to enjoy. Consider this when adding decorations - many will simply be too large. To be fair the total area including the back compartment technically gives you a 5-gallon tank. 2) There is a flimsy cover for the back compartment. It is cheap looking plastic and does not fit properly - mine is bowed. Seems needlessly cheap on an otherwise relatively good quality system. I simply tossed it and replaced it with a piece of sponge foam I cut to fit. Looks 100 times better, it fits perfectly and even provides a modicum of sound dampening for any noise from the filter pump. 3) The light - Seems adequate but isn't particularly the best quality. A negative for me: an inline dimmer will not work for the LED lights on this model (I got this information firsthand in a phone call to Marineland). I plan to replace it with one more suited to my needs. 4) Speaking of replacements: While the documentation that comes with the kit gives actual part numbers for the pump and light and canopy if you go to their website to buy a replacement you will find them "Unavailable". My research discovered that not only are the not available they have NEVER been. Apparently, they are only used for building new kits and not for retail sale. Good luck with that since neither the pump (which is the most likely part of the filter system to fail) nor the light have any kind of identification information on them. In other words you will be on your own determining the appropriate GPH for the replacement pump and watts, spectrum etc. for the lamp when replacing them. 5) The “Setup Guide” that comes with the kit explicitly states: “If adding a heater (not included) do NOT place it in the filter box since the water level can drop causing the device to over-heat. Place it in the main tank…”. This suggests that the water level in the filter compartment can be lower than in the main area of the tank? I didn't study Physics but doesn't Pascal's Principle say "water seeks its own level"? I have seen several videos documenting setting up this same Marineland 5 Gallon Portrait Aquarium and they have clearly recommended putting the heater in the filter compartment since there is plenty of room. If low water level is truly the issue perhaps purchasing a heater with a low water shut off safety feature would resolve that. Bottom Line: I'm happy with the tank (the positives outweigh the negatives) but I would have liked to have had this information prior to buying so I could have made a more informed decision.

I bought this for my male long finned betta. He uses all the vertical space in the tank, which is unusual, or I would not have bought a tank with this small a surface area. The tank has have 1 male betta and 6(+??) cherry shrimp for around 8 months now with no losses, and consistent water quality. I would not recommend it it for anything other than shrimp and betta fish. And if you have a betta, it should not a high energy fish (female, short finned etc). I modified it to suit my fish. Cut out the inbuilt filter and instead use a sponge filter. This gave him gentler flow and more swimming space. I changed the light to something better able to penetrate the tank depths. I made sure when I put decorations in the tank that he has mid and top level resting places. My boy is pretty lazy. He has been in larger tanks in the past (more than double) and does not seem any less active or happy than he is in this tank.

Pump blew within minutes, as others have noted. Not suitable to be sold in the UK. Very disappointed

Soy principiante, es mi primer acuario y vaya que es muy hermoso. Prácticamente no hay mucho que hacer para dejarlo listo, en mi caso preferí cambiar el filtro de carbón activado y la esponja, coloque una esponja más grande, Matrix y Purigen y todo cabe perfectamente. En el sump aproveche y puse el calentador y una piedra difusora para el oxígeno, de esta manera todo queda oculto. La lámpara es muy práctica pero la reemplazaré por una Hygger con modo 24/7. La salida del agua es potente para un pez Betta pero imprimiendo un baffler en 3D (Thingiverse 3424456) se elimina esto.

Ive had this for 1 year. I waited to review. We've always had HUGE tanks so i know tanks. This is a perfect tank for a betta fish. No leaks after a year. Filter and lights still work like new. My betta has no problem with filter flow. I just turned it down as its adjustable. Got on sale. Very happy with this tank. My betta loves it. Perfect for my 6 year old daughter to watch her fish swim. Great value!!!

I was looking forward to having this nano tank, but I did not expect something thats turned out to be TOTALLY UNRELIABLE. the first thing to fail was the LIGHT after about 6 MINUTES and then the WATER PUMP the following day BURNED OUT, , what seems to be a nice bit of kit has turned out to be TOTALY UN RELIABLE but I am not returning the item as I have a spare PUMP and LIGHT, If you are prepared for this well go ahead and buy one, otherwise dont bother.