Fluval SPEC Freshwater Aquarium Kit, Aquarium with LED Lighting and 3-Stage Filtration, 2.6 Gallon, Black, Large Breeds

Received my Spec III this morning. First, let me say that I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that these are now shipping with a new and brighter 7000K LED light. This is huge! I bought the Spec III with the understanding that the stock light it was shipping with is not bright enough to grow two of the plants SubstrateSource Staurogyne repens "Low Grow" Potted Live Aquatic Freshwater Aquarium Plant and SubstrateSource Hemianthus callitrichoides "Dwarf Baby Tears" Live Aquatic Aquarium Plant I have on order, and have been researching aftermarket nano aquarium LED lights for a week. However, I like the sleek look of the stock LED light, and found nothing aftermarket that looked good or performed reliably. I am EXTREMELY concerned with both aesthetics and functionality.I had resigned myself to leaving the stock light on and buying a tall swing arm desk lamp and a CFL grow bulb and directing the light down into the aquarium. The aquarium is going on my desk at work, so this wouldn't have looked bad. However, I no longer have to do this as the new LED is the correct color temperature (7000K) and claims to be high-output. Not sure what the wattage is, but it's bright. So long as it's reliable, I am very happy. It mounts ridiculously easy and is very simple and sturdy in its construction - consisting of not much more than a one-piece aluminum arm and shade, and the LED light board. I was also very pleasantly surprised when I realized that the black square on top the light is a three-way touch switch (1. full-strength, 2. just the four blue lights, and 3. off).The Spec III's design is modern and clean (if Ikea designed an aquarium, it would look like this) and the filtration system is hidden well in the reservoir at the rear of the tank. I love the fact that none of the aquarium's filtration components (with the exception of the small, angle-adjustable outlet nozzle) are in the aquarium itself. In fact, there is room in the filtration reservoir for a small heater and I have a Neo-Therm Heater, 25 watt on order. The only thing I would change are the aluminum trim pieces at the corners. I would prefer rounded glass edges (at least on the front) like those on the Penn Plax Vertex Shrimp Tank, 2.7-Gallon by Penn Plax, INC..Finally, the Spec III's dimensions make the aquarium look deceptively larger than it is. At the moment, it sits next to my Penn Plax Vertex Shrimp Tank, 2.7-Gallon by Penn Plax, INC., and while the Penn-Plax is a tenth of a gallon larger, the Spec III looks to be significantly larger. I am very impressed with this aquarium, and think it's a bargain at this price.Update: 17 July 2016.So far, I think that the 7000K light that the Spec III is now shipping with will be adequate to grow any plants that I choose, and I finally pulled the trigger and installed a DIY CO2 Aquarium Plant System. This system is designed to use two 2-liter soda bottles with baking soda and citric acid. However, I like to keep things as simple and inexpensive as possible, so I went with one 2-liter bottle and a mix of: 1/2 tsp of yeast (that my wife already had in the fridge), 1 tsp of baking soda (again, my wife already had this on hand), 2 cups of sugar (again, well you know), and 1 and 3/4-liters of lukewarm water. Check out the following link for full instructions.http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/09/diy-co2-recipe-duration-vs-intensity.htmlThis setup should provide a steady stream of CO2 for two to three weeks and I am astounded at the amount of CO2 that a 1/2 tsp of yeast can produce!Removing the filter sponge, I ran the tubing from the yeast bottle so that the end is pressed flat toward the bottom of the power head, and reinstalled the filter media holding the tubing securely in place. You have to fiddle with it a bit to get the power head to suck the CO2 bubbles in. Again, the end of the tube must be situated flat against the lower portion of the power head, or the bubbles won't get sucked in.The power head does an excellent job of dissolving the CO2 into the water as its impeller rips the CO2 bubble into hundreds of tiny bubbles and spits them into the aquarium. The key to efficient CO2 dissolution into the water column is increasing the amount of time that the CO2 bubble is submerged. With this setup, the CO2 bubbles are submerged for a long time. First, they spend some time in the power head and the tube connecting the power head to the outlet nozzle. Then, due to their very small size, they spend a lengthy amount of time in the aquarium's water column circulating around the entire aquarium. Be sure to angle the adjustable outlet nozzle down to minimize surface water agitation and to blow the bubbles down to increase their submersion time. Another key to keeping CO2 in the water column is minimal water surface agitation.I am no expert, and this is my first CO2 system, however, this setup is working ridiculously well. I am getting a CO2 bubble approximately every two seconds, and the outlet nozzle pushes the CO2 bubbles down to the substrate. At any given moment, there are hundreds of tiny bubbles floating around in the water column and sticking to the plants, especially under the leaves. In the photos below, it looks as though the water is filled with floating debris, however, the water is crystal clear - what look like debris are all bubbles. The aquarium is literally brimming with CO2.Again, I am no expert and don't have a test kit, however, I think there may be too much CO2 in the water to keep fish. But, at the moment my concern is the plants. I've read that SubstrateSource Staurogyne repens "Low Grow" Potted Live Aquatic Freshwater Aquarium Plant and SubstrateSource Hemianthus callitrichoides "Dwarf Baby Tears" Live Aquatic Aquarium Plant do best in a very high-light and CO2 environment. This being my first serious attempt at aquatic plants, I want to do everything (within reason) to succeed! So far, so good - I think.Update: 23 July 2016.I received the rest of my plants yesterday and executed my first attempt at a planted aquarium. At this point I have, 4 SubstrateSource Staurogyne repens "Low Grow" Potted Live Aquatic Freshwater Aquarium Plant, 4 SubstrateSource Hemianthus callitrichoides "Dwarf Baby Tears" Live Aquatic Aquarium Plant, and 2 SubstrateSource Anubias barteri "Petite" Live Aquatic Aquarium Plant. Still waiting for the water to clear, but I am happy with the results thus far.UPS is due to deliver my Rhinox Glass Drop Checker - 3 Seconds to Read CO2 levels: 3 Minutes to Setup: Fastest way to ensure sufficient CO2 in Planted Aquarium today, so I should have a good idea as to the water's CO2 content shortly thereafter.More to come.

I bought this tank to house dwarf shrimp and micro-crabs. This tank is perfect for micro/nano environments. Do not house fish that produce large amounts of waste.6 inches front to back glass, 7 1/2 inches for the base front to back. 11 1/2 inches bottom with base to top of lid, about 13 1/2 top of light bar. 19 1/2 inches from side to side glass. 20 1/2 inches side to side base. The glass side to side measure may be off 1/2 inch because there are metal sleeves over each corner, looks to be the same material as the light bar. The sleeves are capped with small plastic clips that also have the grooves for the lid pegs.I actually like the metal sleeves on the corners, I have never been a huge fan of looking at silicone joints.The base is slightly tapered so I measured the widest points at the very bottom.I did not try to take the base off because I liked it, but it looks like it can be removed if you are very careful.The silicone work was beautiful. very clean, no smearing. It looks like machine silicone work, very precise.The pump is very small, but powerful enough to move water in the entire tank with a decent current. The pump itself fits easily one way, but that puts the intake against the glass. Fitting the pump to face the filter to get maximum intake was a very snug fit.I had to use a long bbq skewer to push the pump to the bottom of the well. Do not expect to use your hands, the well is only a fraction larger than the pump.Unfortunately, to remove the pump you will have to pull it up by the power cord. Big no-no in my book but no other options unless you put a retrieval line on it before pushing it into the tank. Fishing string would work fine.The pump outflow is on the wrong side, but the flexible hose to the nozzle still fits and did not have any issues being on the far side of the well. I highly recommend the pump be installed this way, the intake will be severely crippled if you put the pump in any other direction. I did not receive any instructions for installation of the pump.The filter was self explanatory. Just remove the plastic bags, rinse the packets, put them back where you found them in the filter sponge, the handle faces up(obvious). The carbon will run out after a week or two, but I run a different system and will eventually replace it with more material for bio-colonies. The carbon is good for starting the tank but useless once the tank is established.I have the tank 1ft from my head and the only time I hear the pump is when the room is dead silent, even then it is hardly a hum and it gets completely lost in the background. If you fill the water above the nozzle you will not hear water movement either..On that note, you cannot fill this tank to the top. The separator between the pump well and the filter compartment is shorter than the rest of the tank walls about 1/2 inch. Raising the water above this will prevent the water from being filtered. I currently have the water about 3/4 inch from the glass top edge. Just above the nozzle and just below the pump wall.I turned the nozzle to point along the glass and down toward the far corner. It creates a large amount of water movement but leaves a very big area in the center and on the filter wall side that is calm enough not to bother the tiny shrimps.Sensitive fish like Betta would be happy in the current if it was properly angled out of the nozzle away from the center of the tank.The filter is a nice large size which will allow the tank to run for a long time with a big bio-system. The majority of the water flows into the filter through a grate at the top, this is fine for a very light waste load, but with heavier waste the bottom will need to be vacuumed occasionally.This grate is wide enough for babies to swim through, the filter foam does not reach the top. I recommend adding an extra piece of foam snug against the grate if you plan to have anything giving birth in this tank.The filter housing has a small slit opening into the tank a few inches from the bottom, I suspect this has something to do with making sure the pump doesn't burn out if the water somehow dropped really low. This is fine for adult size fish, but babies and the micro-crabs can crawl through the slit and become residents of the filter housing, or sucked into the pump.I recommend filling the slit with a small piece of foam. The slit itself is very small, i would say half an inch long and maybe wide enough for a stick of spaghetti to fit in. Normally not an issue, but in my case from a breeder/nano standpoint the tiny hole can be a big problem.The black part of the filter housing outside the tank is not solid black, It is a honeycomb pattern on tinted glass. Dark enough to not notice the inner guts from normal distances, but transparent enough up close that you can see the pump in case it gets clogged, and you can tell if the filter needs to be rinsed. My tank sits where light can pass through here, but I don't notice it because it is such a small area. Putting this tank with the pump against the wall will shadow it enough that you should not be able to see through it.The tank itself is roomier than the picture suggests. In the pic it looks very slim. I was happy to find the floor space front to back was not as slim. I have 5 fist-sized mossballs, a 6 inch crystal cluster, a 10 inch mopani wood, a 6 inch petrified stone, a 3-tube stack shrimp house and about 20 micro-plants. Also have 2x 12 inch strands of red ludwigia. All said the tank still looks very open and spacious. I used a 3lb bag of aragonite sand and it covered the entire floor about 1 1/2 inches deep. Perfect for micro plants and deep enough to look nice.The light bar is very slim, very lightweight. It feels like aluminum, but I didn't check the manufacturer. The lights are tiny squares with a silicone type gel poured on top of them. looks like they will be waterproof for about a thousand years.The lights are bright enough to make the tank stand out, but not so bright that it is glaring. I put my tank in a window for the live plants because the light itself is not sufficient for high-light plants. Any low-light plants should be more than happy.The light puts out a very small amount of heat which is mostly dissipated by the movement of air in the room. I only had the tank warm up on me once when the house itself got too warm and I forgot to turn off the light while the sun was blaring on the tank. Even then it took all day to go from 68 to 80.I would not trust the light bar to stand up to a cat landing on it, it may bend at the elbow... it is strong enough for its purpose, but it is a little springy to the touch.The switch for the light is a small square touch-pad sensor on top of the bar. 1 touch for all lights, 2 for blue lights(1 blue light at each end of the bar.) 3 to turn it off.The lid is a thin but stiff clear plastic. It looks much nicer than the traditional big plastic hoods. It rests on top of the tank with little peg legs to line it up to grooves in the corners. The lid also has a long hole in the center below the light that is just a bit wider than the light. This makes adding food or fishing around with plant tools easier, but if you really need to get in there the lid is super easy to put on and take off, even in a tight space with limited clearance.The light and pump are on separate cords. Both are only a couple feet long. The light has a small box on the plug end like a cell phone. Cord length is fine for a short distance from an outlet, otherwise I have to use a multi-outlet extension to reach the plug from the shelf.The light has a safety cord, so it came in 2 pieces. I suspect this is also to replace the outlet box without replacing the entire light bar. I like that option!So far this tank has exceeded my expectations. With a proper biological system I feel this tank could run for months with limited maintenance. With nothing but my filter compartment and live plants the water is crystal clear and the chemical parameters stay constant. I have not had to use any sort of additives or treatments.I do not know how the filter would function in a non-planted tank with a heavy fish load. The filter is larger than you find in most tanks this size. A small school of nano-fish, maybe 15-20 cardinal tetras or something in that range, would fair well in my planted tank, but not sure about a non-planted tank.I would probably not house more than 4-5 nano-fish until the system had been running for at least 6 months and the bio-colonies had fully established throughout the tank. I am not one to do the constant water changes, chemical treatments, etc. This tank has worked very well for my form of fish keeping.I will be buying a couple more of these in the future for my nano tanks. I included a couple pictures to show how much space this tank has.

I wasn’t sure if this tank would perform as I thought I was mainly buying for its streamline modern looks and esthetic but turns out the heavy price tag holds up as it’s pump and filtration works great. I bought tube heater that also fit inside the pump area and there’s enough room for the additional cord to come out. My cat hasn’t been able to get his paws through the opening at the top of the lid when the light is attached (that was a concern) and the filter is working great, pump is almost silent! I did a river bottom all natural aquascape in my 5gall and the light is so far keeping plants alive along with plant food. I have 2 aquatic frogs, 3 neon tetras, and a cherry shrimp. Everyone is happy! This is the most modern and beautiful tank I’ve ever had with all the ugly cord and accessory stuff hidden to the side and I can look through both sides from my kitchen and living room and have it look great from either side! Nothing blocking in the way.Only Cons: Obviously price but I found it worth it. Also, the bottom of the tank is plastic flimsy and when filled, if you try to move/slide the tank it could break! Also scratches anything you put the tank on! There is no way to put felt pads or protectors unless you put the whole tank on a towel which just deafens the purpose of having a beautiful clean looking set up. So I wish the bottom was more sturdy and scratch proof and I could adjust the tank to move it more. My console is scratched from the plastic base that can’t hold the weight of the tank properly.