Marina Power Filter

This filter is 98% perfection. I have a delta tail male Betta fish and I needed an affordable, effective, sightly, and adjustable filter for his new tank. I have a 5 gallon tank and this filter fits perfectly and you can barely see it. It's slim and you can see when it needs cleaning or filter cartridge replacements. The adjustability is very handy for when I need it to be strong or weak depending on the conditions of my fish and my tank. My only complaints are very minimal and don't affect my opinion on whether or not people should buy this filter at all.1. It does vibrate a bit. You can feel it when you touch the tank and sometimes the lid of the filter, the cord, or the lid of the tank will rattle if they sit against each other occasionally. It's easy to fix and adjust ad necessary, it's not incredibly loud (not silent either but not noticeably so), and it does NOT affect the fish. My fish is in perfect health and has had zero health issues at all since I've started using this filter (it's been months now).2. It's not the strongest of filters even at the highest setting and doesn't have the fastest flow or the best spreading of water. However, this also means it doesn't throw my fish around the tank, which is what my concerns were with buying a filter. This issue really doesn't affect my fish, but if you have a fish that poops a ton and you feed flaky or messy food, this might be a little problematic for you.This filter really is the absolute best for beginners and it's designed very well. Very worth the price, very effective, exactly what I was looking for. This is the ideal filter for a 5 gallon tank. I wouldn't go bigger than 15 gallons for this filter though.

In just the past year, I have had no less than 6 aquariums set up at any one time. I have two 29-gallon tanks, one 40-gallon breeder tank, one 37-gallon tank, one 56-gallon tank, one 10-gallon tank, and two 5-gallon tanks. Whew!! I also have a few smaller "betta" tanks. The smaller tanks I use as quarantine or as hospital tanks when needed.In all of my tanks, except one 29-gallon, I have 2 filter systems running. None of my tanks have 2 of the same brand running together in a tank. I have Tetra "Whisper" internal filters, Tetra "Whisper" EX filters (two of these I got on clearance at Wal-Mart for $7.00 a piece, so I couldn't pass them up!). I have the AquaClear power filter, and I also have or have used the Wal-Mart brand, Aqua-Tech, filter system, as well as the Top Fin brand (Petsmart) system. And finally, I have 2 of these Marina S20 filter systems running. I am not fond of the Tetra brand because they seem to die suddenly and very prematurely, so I only use them as the 2nd or backup filter on my tanks. It's very helpful to have extra biological filtration media, or even the entire filter system itself, to use in setting up a new tank, or in an emergency if another tank's "good" bacteria get wiped out somehow. My best friend set up a new tank with some of my filter media and she was cycled nearly instantly.I generally don't use the brand filter cartridges once I've used the one that came with the system (unless I can find a good deal on them). I use filter floss/pads with no carbon or additives. I do regular water changes and vacuuming, etc. to keep my tanks clean. When I think about the chore of having to clean tanks, check filters, rinse filters, etc. during maintenance, I can truly say that the one filter system that I don't have to "worry" about or dread dealing with is the Marina S20. The reason is this: the Marina S20 is EASY EASY EASY to set up, maintain, and clean. When I plug it back in after tank cleaning, it primes right up and needs NO extra help from me to get it started. The Top-Fin brand system is the worst about not priming and having to help it along. And, surprisingly (or not), the AquaClear filter absolutely does not prime itself. The Marina S20, however, has no problem starting up. It is easy to disassemble, and it's also thoughtfully designed so that smaller fish or fry (I have Mollies so I know all about fry, and they are the main reason I have so many tanks, LOL!) are not sucked up into the filter. The Marina fits easily onto the back of the aquarium and it is not noisy. It also has an adjustable flow rate, from barely a trickle, to a moderate flow.In all, if I had to start over and only choose ONE system, at this time, I would choose the Marina filter system. Sorry about the dissertation on aquarium filters...hopefully will be helpful to someone starting out. For the price offered here on Amazon, you can't really go wrong.

This filter is so awful. The motor rattles so badly and vibrates the whole intake pipe and makes such a loud racket, it is unbearable. I wanted a hang on back type filter and this is the 2nd brand I've tried and they make so much noise! No wonder they are so rare to find here. Also they have a european plug and come with no adapter!Update: I have received a replacement unit and it does the same thing! Not quite AS bad as the first one but still makes a hell if a racket!

On my hunt for a good and silent filter, this was my third attempt.I was first irritated that this, the second hob filter from amazon.co.uk, once again had an EU plug. I would of thought the co.uk... would help prevent this.I was impressed by the space of storage for the media, it had far more space then what I was currently using.It was easy to set up, self priming worked just fine.Unfortunately it was VERY noisy. The motor in the water was almost touching the glass and the vibration went from the motor, up the arm and it made the whole filter box vibrate.I tried to pad the motor arm where it touched the filter box with no success. Returned.

Easy fitment together.Over hangs on the side of the tank which frees up space in the tank as previous filter was internal.Triple filter and quite powerful and good for my 60l tank and I have only one fantail Goldfish so she is loving it.....Only disappointment was it came with a US plug but I had an adapter at home so one star knocked off that....It's replacing an smaller size Marina filter.It's provided to be a reliable make and quality