Fluval Spec V Aquarium Kit (16 gal.)

I've had the five gallon version of this tank for years and was excited to see the 16 gallon on here. I've had the tank set up for a little over two months now and I love it. I did add some aquarium sponge inside both of the intake grills. (I did this on the five gallon too.) The sponge was cheap and makes the tank safe for my shrimp and smaller fish. I plan to eventually add a betta as well and didn't want him getting stuck.Algae does like to grow along the walls, but my otocinclus' and snail keep it in check for the most part. I also wish the pop outs on the chamber lid matched on both sides, but unfortunately for me, the large pop out is on the front so I wont be using it. I haven't had any issues with the tank getting too hot or anything. Once all of my plants grow in, I plan on keeping this tank minorly overstocked and super planted.

The filter section of this aquarium is easily accessible to small fish which then become entrapped in the filter sections. This is a real pain in the you know where. Major flaw. Everyone complains about the hood and it’s light too. I’m having buyers remorse. Fluval needs to provide replacement filter grates with smaller slats and something to go over the other hole in the center chamber of this filter design.

Like other fluval spec tanks, this one is easy to set up and to use. It looks great. I especially like that the tank sits on a rim that is small than the tank, so it looks like the tank is floating. There's plenty of room in the pump chamber to add a heater, and there's another separate empty chamber to put in whatever you like (I have filter floss in it). The drawbacks:1. The lid design is clumsy. It's separated into two parts: one lid over the tank and one over the filter chambers. They connect in such a way that you can't take the tank lid off without taking the chamber lid off, too. And both lids collect a lot of condensation. I have to remove the tank lid and tip it so the excess water runs back into the tank. And the light just sits in the lid unconnected. So when tipping the lid, you have to hold the light into place or it'll fall out. And speaking of lights....2. The light sucks. It's a touch light, so you turn it on and change settings via a light touch. However, you can't use it with a timer. The timer will turn it off, but without someone there to touch it, the light will not come back on. I contacted Hagen multiple times and was told that the light should come back on to the setting it turned off at. They sent me another one. It didn't work either, but I did swap it with the original light because it started overheating. I need to contact Hagen yet again, but I don't want to deal with it atm. As to plants, my tank is full of low light plants. The light is adequate on that front.3. The black plastic wall separating the tank from the equipment chambers is very hard to keep clean. Algae really sticks to it. I've planted tall plants to try to disguise it.4. I have 7 Harlequin Rasporas and shrimp in the tank. The shrimp will get stuck in the equipment chambers. I saw a couple go exploring and swim in there. Some swam right back out; some didn't. I put a sponge filter and filter floss behind the openings, and that has kept the shrimp out of there.5. The black honeycomb around the top of the tank hides the water level and mineral deposits nicely, but it makes it hard to see surface eating fish feed. I don't mind it, but you should know about it.I really like the tank. I have several smaller specs, too, but there are some problems you should be aware of.

I should have gone with my gut when I bought this 2 years and 5 months ago. I had misgivings about the base - with the overhanging edge of glass tank on top of a non-functional useless black plastic rectangle (we'll get back to this).But it served me pretty well for its time and was attractive with functioning parts and the hidden filter compartment which is great. A snail, small frog and small fish definitely got stuck or made their way through the infamous filter hole which I tried to keep plugged with a piece of algae sponge. The lid is absolutely obnoxious - every time I had to get into the main compartment the 3 pieces would be a hassle to keep from dropping on the floor or into the tank. The LED lights were painfully bright until I put squares of electrical tape on several of the white bulbs.Then this afternoon, 5 months after the warranty ended, I rounded the corner into my living room to the sound of water splashing onto the floor. The tank had cracked on the bottom from front to back right at the edge of where it cantilevers off the little black base and was rapidly emptying onto the floor. Fish rescued. Huge mess sopped up. If I wasn't home when it happened I'd be looking at much worse.I do like Fluval products in general - but don't recommend this particular tank.

Love this tank. Want another one.

Expensive and difficult to manage , the three filters which are separated, do not function in an optimal manner. The light promotes algae growth.

One of the reasons I bought the tank is because it’s an all-on-one. I’ve had it cycling and finally went to move the fish in from their old tank.The water was considerably warmer than in the original fish tank, and the only difference was the lighting. The stock lights that come with it raised the temperature by at least 4-6 degrees Fahrenheit above room temperature. Which is ridiculous. I’ve had to use my old hygger light from the old tank so that the fluval light doesn’t cook my cherry barbs.Very poor design. I paid quite a bit of money on the ability to have a self-contained system, and frankly I’m disappointed.