Features:

  • Stylish aquarium kit with rail light
  • Daylight and moonlight LED settings
  • Easy to use
  • Hidden 3-step filtration with adjustable flow filter pump and one RITE-SIZE Z filter cartridge
  • Holds up to thee gallons
Excellent Starter or Upgrade Tank

This is a great starter aquarium. I first purchased the 3 gallon version and realized it was not a big enough upgrade to my 1.5 gal tank. I was able to quickly return it through Amazon and ordered this larger version. Here are a the pros and cons: Pros: *Curved glass has a really nice appeal and makes the tank look great *LED lighting is actually pretty good. Some reviews complained it was not bright enough, but I found it to be adequate *LED has two settings (not three unless you consider off a setting). Blue for night time and white with blue for day time. The blue light added to the white gives the tank a professional look. (See images) *The lid is also glass which allows for a full view of the tank from any angle. The glass slides back about an inch to allow for feeding (see image) *The black background allows you to decorate the tank and gives everything a pop of color *The base is not attached which allows you to place the tank either directly on the table or raised with the base. *Pump is very quiet (barely even notice it is on) and it is also adjustable *The entire circumference, top and bottom of the tank is glass. The back (black area) is actually a sort of metallic tape over the glass covering the pump area. *Sufficient space in the back of the tank to continue upgrading the pump, filter, etc Cons *The 3 stage filtration which consists of large particle sponge, a fine particle filter, and a carbon filter is not water tight so unfiltered water is able to get around the filters and pumped back into the tank. (Will update my review in a about a month to see if the filters truly work) *The back of the tank is part of the 5 gallons which houses the pump and filters, so actual swimming space is more like 4 gallons. *The pump, although quiet does not seem strong enough to suction debris (will update the review after some months have passed) *Although the LED lights are adequate they are plastic and somewhat flimsy and cheap feeling unlike the rest of the tank. Summary Overall the tank looks great, offers plenty of room for small fish, and has an upgraded feel. This is a great product if you are upgrading from a smaller tank. The 3 gallon model is nice, but the 5 gallon model provides additional swimming space without compromising additional desk space. The pumps and filters are hidden behind the tank and are very quiet. I am a light sleeper and could easily have this tank in my room without the pump bothering me. It is also nice to have a tank already have lighting that is both energy efficient with LEDs but also allows you the option to vary the lighting from day to night. In any light the tank looks amazing and professional. After looking through many different tanks, I am very satisfied with this version and know it will last a long time. If the pump or filter happen to fail, there is plenty of room to upgrade and replace.

Gorgeous tank. Looks much bigger than it is.

I noticed, when researching tanks I wanted to buy, that the 3 and the 5 gallon reviews and Q&As are totally mixed together, so I want to state right out that this is a review of the 5 gallon tank. This is a beautiful tank. I was looking for a glass tank after totally destroying more than one acrylic hex tank trying to get algae off the sides of the glass. While you have to be careful handling it when you set it up, glass is SO much easier to clean. Being a glass worker, I have to say I'm really impressed with the curved edges on this tank. It isn't an easy or inexpensive thing to do. I actually questioned whether this was real glass or plastic because of it. But it is real glass and it is curved without distortions that might happen when you bend glass. It gives it a lovely, graceful and expensive look. I like a naturally planted tank and was concerned about the amount of light I'd get from the LED strip. It looks like it will be fine for low light aquarium plants, like ferns and anubias. I will update this if the plants don't thrive. Even if they don't, attaching an additional light strip to this tank will be very easy and will not detract from the beauty of the tank. The light strip contains both clear lights and blue lights. When the clear lights are on, the blue lights are also on. It really enhances the colors in the tank. You can run the blue lights independently of the clear lights for a nighttime effect. This isn't important if you have a freshwater tank, but would be very important if you have a saltwater tank. I did overestimate the amount of gravel needed for this tank because the tank is divided differently than other tanks I've had and I thought I'd need more. When I clean the tank, I'll pull some gravel out of it. I'm a little torn about that because I have Dwarf African Frogs in there and they swim to the top to gulp air. My excess gravel shortens that distance for them to swim. There have been a ton of questions asking about the dimensions of the tank. The answers are all over the board. So here are the real dimensions: The overall dimensions of the tank, including the back area where the filtration is but without the stand or the light bar are: 9 5/8" square by 14" tall. The stand adds an additional 1 1/4" in height. The light bar adds yet another 3 7/8" in height. With everything attached, the height is 19 3/8". The glass is 3/16" thick and is not tempered (since people were asking. BTW, the only thing tempering does is keeps the glass from breaking into large pieces when it breaks. It does NOT make glass less breakable.) The filtration box is 2 1/4" deep. This reduces the dimensions where your fish will swim to 9 5/8" wide by 7 3/8" deep. Having said that, it really doesn't fell that small, for some reason. It should feel narrow, like a show tank, but it doesn't. Maybe it's because the back is black and gives the illusion of depth. I don't know. I wanted to put a betta in this tank, so I was concerned with water flow from the pump since bettas don't really like a lot of current to swim against. The instructions said to start the pump at its maximum setting, which I did. Wow!!!! WAY too much current. If you have any really fat fish that you want to put on an exercise program, put them in this tank with the pump set at max!!! I turned it way down to minimum. There is current, but not much and the betta is very happy and swimming around happily. Now I need to see if it's enough to keep the tank clean! I might have to gradually increase the flow to find that ideal meeting ground between clean tank and happy betta. I will update this if I need to increase the flow because a lot of people want to keep bettas in this tank. Also, there is a sliding glass canopy over the glass part of the tank. Since I have a betta, I am keeping it slid backwards about an inch so that fresh air can get in. I am a little afraid that if I keep it slid closed, the betta won't be able to get quality air to breathe when it goes to the surface to take a breath. I'm really happy I have that option without having to mess with the look of the tank. One thing that people have been saying in answered questions and in reviews is that they have been putting heaters in the filtration area. The instructions clearly state not to do this. The filtration area is plastic. NOT a good idea to put a heater in there. I got the heater that was recommended with the tank, the Tetra 26447 Submersible Aquarium Heater, 50-Watt. It's black and, when put into the tank against the black background, horizontally the way Marineland illustrates in their directions, it is virtually invisible. There is a notch between the main tank and the filtration area for the cord to sit in flat. The literature with the heater says it keeps the temperature at 78 degrees. There is no place to adjust this. Checking the water a day later, the water is exactly 78 degrees. I like my water a little warmer, but 78 will keep them happy, so I'm not going to change it. Finally, the filtration system. There is a carrier that holds a filter cartridge, labeled as a "Z" cartridge and a black bio sponge. The "z" cartridge looks exactly the same as their Hex 5 cartridge. (This is a good thing since I had just purchased 15 new Hex 5 cartridges!) If you want or need more filtration, there is enough room to put another type of filtration medium in there. The back area is very tight. I am a small woman with small hands (stop laughing now). It's tight even for me. For big guys, you're going to have problems if you want to reach down in there. It shouldn't be a problem because the filter carrier is pulled up for changing without needing to put your hands in there, but I just wanted to warn you. Eventually, you will want to break the tank down for thorough cleaning and you'd better have the long sponges ready because you sure aren't going to have your hands in there. I almost took a star off because of this, but I like the tank so much, and this is not a major thing, so I'm not going to do it. An additional inch would have been helpful, though. All in all, I am really happy with this tank. It has SO much going for it. I'm glad I didn't get the 3 gallon tank because some of the things that are different, such as a transformer for the lights vs no transformer, larger pump, etc. I highly recommend your getting it if you are looking for a beautiful tank with a small footprint. UPDATE: I just downgraded this by a star. I've had this tank for a month and the filter pump is failing. It's pushing out very little current, no matter what setting I put it on. I called what they call "customer service" this morning. NOT a pleasant experience. A person answered and I told him that I had the 5 gallon Marineland Contour Glass Aquarium kit for 3 weeks and that the filter pump was failing. He proceeded to tell me that there was no filter pump. I was looking at the instruction pamphlet that came with the tank and it was clearly labeled "filter pump". He asked what kind of filter it took. I told him it took a z cartridge, but it wasn't the filter that had failed..it was the pump. He kept on arguing with me that there wasn't a filter pump. I asked him if he was at all familiar with the unit I was talking about. He then told me that he had no idea what model I had. So I again told him what tank I had. He asked again how many gallons it was. He asked again how long I had it. I have a problem with a customer service agent who is given all that information at the beginning of the call and it was never listened to. And then, he sat there and argued with me that there wasn't a pump when he didn't even know what tank I had!!! I finally told him that what failed was the part that moved the water that was plugged into the wall. I didn't care WHAT he called it. Then he asked how many gallons the tank was again. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!! He asked my name and he immediately found my order on his computer. It would have been so simple if he had done that in the first place..then he would have had ALL his questions answered in front of him. But then, he wouldn't have had a chance to argue with me. Any way, he told me that they'd ship out a new pump in about 4 days. I asked him if he thought the fish would last in a tank with no flow for a week. He said they'd be fine if I changed 20% of the water every other day. Gee thanks. I asked if he could expedite the shipping and he said no. So, I thought I'd pass this along to you so you'd be prepared if you need to call about your tank. Take a tranquilizer before you call. UPDATE #2: I received a phone call from Marineland this morning. They were very apologetic and wanted to make it right. They listened to everything and said they would be speaking with that representative. They are sending me some filters as an apology, even though I told them it wasn't necessary. I'm happy to see they still care.

but they are just as happy once every other week

we have three of these... 2 small ones, one tall one. first off, if you use sand instead of gravel, you never get poop and uneaten food trapped below/poluting the water. makes a healthier environment. the included light is enough for low light plants. ours have been thriving over a year. our tanks include 2 snails, 6 dwarf cory cats and a betta in each tank. water change... i scoop out 1/2 gallon twice a week, once a week or once every two weeks. i aim for twice a week since i never syphon. but they are just as happy once every other week. the water is clear, no algea issues, no slime, parameters always test stable no matter if i skack and dont change water for 2 weeks. but its a half gallon change, only takes a few moments to do twice a week. simple enough for a young child to do. only issue we have is the filter tubes pop off if you bump them during a water change. we prefer the small tank over the tall one. they seem to do a better job filtering

Beauitufl upgrade for Mr. Sparkles

The box arrived perfectly with no issues. Once I got it put together I noticed the pump was a bit strong for a betta. Luckily, marineland replied super fast to Amazon questions as well as previous customers. Super helpful And much appreciated! I love this tank. It's perfect for small spaces and my children love their fish. I cleaned his previous tank weekly, so the filter should help a bit with over all maintenance. The led lights are beautiful and really bring out the colors of his accessories and his color. He's quite spoiled. I also purchased add on accessories, heater and thermometer. I was worried that he would get too cold during winter months when we keep our house at 71. I'm going to get him am aerator and a snail. Also, will add a bit of filter to the waterfall to slow down the flow slightly. Thank you to the customer who suggested it and added pictures. That is awesome.

Wonderful tank!

I looked at nearly every tank on Amazon and read so many reviews. The good reviews for this product are spot on! I got the cube, 3 gallon size and it fits perfectly on my desk. The curved glass is so nice looking. I don't have problems with the lights being too dim, they are plenty bright. I've had to change the angle a few times because fishy sees his reflection sometimes and flares at it. I am planning to get some floating plants to help with the glare of the white light. I love watching my betta swim around happily while I work at my desk! The current of the pump can be strong, even on the lowest setting. I pointed the flow directing thing upward a little bit just at the surface and I also pulled the triangle piece off, stuffed a small piece of filter floss (polyfill) in there, and popped the triangle piece back on. Now the flow is at the perfect speed and betta has no problems swimming right below it. He started building a bubble nest on the third day and I'm thrilled that he's happy! You can see his little bubble nest in my pic :) I will say that he seems to like to rest against the intake vent on the upper right corner of the back. It alarmed me a lot at first but it seems he deliberately places himself there and can easily swim away when he wants to. I have been watching him closely and he has no tears anywhere so I am not planning to try to cover it, he seems to enjoy hanging out there. Bottom line, this is a great tank! I highly recommend.

Awesome

After one week, I'm still in awe of this little tank. Everything arrived working perfectly. The glass is crystal clear and with the lights it's just beautiful. The black plastic piece that covers the "engine compartment" is a little flimsy, as other reviews have remarked, but so what? Little Bettafish Sir Lancelot loves his new home and is not at all bothered by it. Visitors don't notice it, and it doesn't cause me any trouble. I dropped a Marine 25-watt heater into the back compartment next to the pump. I just plunked it in, no suction cups. It fits just right and works just right. There is the problem of the cord being too thick, but again, who cares? Nobody notices it. I use a tiny digital thermometer with the sensor up high under the lid, all the way in back fastened with the suction cup. It's entirely invisible. I used two thermometers at first to make sure the digital one was working properly. Some have remarked, and rightly so, that the current is a little strong for a Betta, even with the pump on the lowest setting. I took the directional piece off the outflow nozzle and put on a fluval pre-filter sponge. To keep the sponge from coming off, I put a clear plastic clip - the one that comes with the natural-leaf betta hammocks, right up against the end of the sponge to hold it in place. Then I put the leaf in the clip so Lancelot has his hammock and I have the sponge secured to the outflow nozzle. You could probably use one of the green betta hammocks as well. The sponge is black, all the way at the back up against the black back wall and is 100% invisible. You have to remove the glass cover to see it. You could probably cut an inch or two off the sponge with no problem, but I did not because I thought it better not to mess with success. Below is a photo of the pump compartment with heater, the pre-filter sponge inside the tank, and the hammock holding the sponge in place. It's a nice set-up. The second photo is the front of the tank showing Lancelot (yes, he's a baby) happily at home with his furnishings and his invisible pre-filter sponge at the top left corner. I'm going to wait a while, but it's going to be hard to resist buying another one of these. (Sorry, but I can't figure out how to get the photos right-side up.)

Beautiful aquarium for my Betta!

This aquarium is gorgeous, and perfect for my single male Betta. He loves swimming around and exploring, especially since I baffled the output water flow. Even on the lowest pump setting, the flow was too much for Fishy, so I secured a plastic baggie around the outflow nozzle with a zip tie, and cut a few slits around the baggie with some tiny scissors. The flow is now much gentler for Fishy, yet still circulates the water well enough that it stays clean and beautiful. The LED lights are lovely, and the blue light setting is especially pretty at night (but too bright for my husband to tolerate being left on for bedtime). As you can see, I put a variety of sizes of Marimo moss balls in there, and they’re thriving. I just roll them around to a different side about once a week. I spot clean the water by siphoning the visible fish waste with a new turkey baster, enabling me to do weekly partial water changes (20-25 %). My houseplants love the fish water, so nothing goes to waste! Another note, although I placed some tall artificial plants in the back of the aquarium to prevent Fishy from getting too close to the intake, he still purposely goes back there and allows himself to be plastered to the vent of the intake! Alarmed at first, I got his attention by showing him his food canister. He easily disengaged himself from the vent, so I realized he just likes to rest against it. He chooses this spot despite the Betta leaf hammock I have provided for him! Sometimes if I awaken during the night, I use a tiny flashlight to check on Fishy without disturbing him, and sure enough, he’s placed himself against the intake vent to sleep. I would like to eventually buy another of these beautiful aquariums to put a few neon tetras in with some live plants and mosses.

Updated with Tips and Photos - Love this Tank!

Updated Tips and Photos 1. This is a great tank, I made some modifications to make it even better. You may not need to do these but wanted to share them and let you know if I can do it, so can you. 2. You need to add a heater, get one with a thermostat that you can set to the temperature you fish need. This way if your house is cold it will stay heated at the proper temperature. I made the mistake of buying a little betta heater it did not have a thermostat, and since we don't heat our house the tank would never get warm enough. My heater also has the thermometer, so no need to buy one. 3. It is a good idea to put your tank together dry, without the water and decorations to see how things will work and if you need to make and slight changes. 4. There is notch on the back wall in front of the pump section in back of the tank, it is on the left side.. The notch was not large enough for my heater cord and I wanted to feed the heater cord towards the middle of the tank so it would come out between the where the light attaches. I drilled a hole in the middle of the back wall and in the middle of the flimsy back piece of plastic, this is the black piece that goes on the top back of the tank. I needed these holes to properly feed the heater cord through the back wall, and the heater and pump cord through the back of the tank via the black flimsy plastic piece. 5. I bought some black duct tape and placed the black flimsy piece on the top in the back and I taped town the left and right side. This works like a hinge and allows the glass top piece to slide back as the flimsy piece opens up, then when you slide the glass top back the flimsy black pieces lays back down. This was super easy and it works like a champ. This flimsy black piece of plastic in the back would not lay flat on the tank due the cords or stay put when you slide the glass top. 6. Make sure you rotate the dial on the pump all the way, mine was a stuck but then rotated nicely to a low setting. I also used a little piece of a glass tank cleaner sponge in the filter piece that sticks out into the tank where the water flows on the top left side. I have a betta and was told they don't like a strong current. My fish does not seem to mind either way and there is no issue with getting sucked into the intake or swimming the current. The idea with the sponge is not to totally block the flow just restrict it a bit. This is an easy fix. I have attached some photos that will show you what I did, if you can drill a hole and cut duct tape you can make the changes I did. This is a very nice little aquarium and most people will really like it. I would recommend getting the five gallon tank over the smaller ones, even if you only plan on getting a betta, they will love the space. It was easy to put together and I love the lights. If you are not trying to have live plants the lights are fantastic, the blue light setting makes things kind of glow. The pump is strong but can be turned down, I was able to rotate the dial all the way around and the setting went down quite low for my betta. I have a female betta, three pink danio's (they glow with the blue lights) and a snail, two plants, a sponge bob house and gary (sponge bob's snail), I also included a Marimo ball. Everything fits great with plenty of room I really like this tank and did not replace the lights or the pump. I did get a five gallon heater, you should too. Have fun I think you will really enjoy this great little set up.

This aquarium is great! I have 1 Betta in it

This aquarium is great! I have 1 Betta in it, and it is absolutely perfect. The size and shape are great, very visually appealing and a perfect size, and the small pedestal that it comes with makes a nice base. The black background makes both my plants and fish pop. The LED light looks great, the blue LED lights make any blue on your fish POP! However, this came crooked, but just called the company and they sent me a replacement part, no problem. The filter is good as well. It was a little loud on the max setting, however, on the lowest setting, which is best for Bettas, it is very quiet. The water intake area is not too strong, my Betta can sit right by it and his fins do not get sucked in as well. The water output made too strong of a current for my Betta even on the lowest setting, and he had trouble swimming, however the fix is easy. Take the shoot off the end of it (where the water comes out) and the water trickles back into the tank instead of being shot under pressure. My Betta can now swim perfectly fine. The lid is very secure, however it does form condensation on the top constantly, but it is not a big deal. It is a bit difficult to take off, so I feed my Betta his small pellets through the small spaces in the corner, this works very well. Altogether, perfect tank and Betta conducive for sure, with a few modifications. I would purchase this tank for my guppies when there 10+ year old Marineland Eclipse tank breaks (however, Marineland products last forever, so who knows if that will ever happen!) Definitely recommend this product and love this company, a must buy!

Sweet bachelor pad for your betta

I have a few nano tanks for bettas (Aqueon BettaBow, Tetra 3 gal cube, TopFin 2 gal Fish Eye), and so far this is my favorite. Sleek design means you won't be embarrassed to put it in the living room, and small enough that you can tuck anywhere for a beautiful splash of color and interest. It's a 3 gal cube, but because of the filter compartment (which makes it more attractive), the habitable space is probably more like 2.7 gal. This is plenty of volume to create a beautiful and interesting environment for your fish, and they really enjoy themselves in here. Filter set at lowest volume is quiet and effective and does not bother the bettas. I also put decor in front of the output for extra protection against the modest current, altho I don't think it's necessary. The black filter partition also makes for a great backdrop to show off your beautiful betta and decor--much more attractive than a clear background where you can see all the equipment and cords. In Van Halen's tank (red/blue/black betta): - Vibran-Sea Amazon silk plant (from a 3-pack) - Coral rock decor by Rock Garden (from PetCo) - highly recommend! great chill spot, and fun to watch your betta love up his man cave In Fishbone's tank (silver blue betta) - Vibran-Sea Amazon silk plant (from a 3-pack)

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