PENN-PLAX Small World Aquarium Air Pump and Filter Kit – Comes with a Disposable Media Cartridge (Bio Sponge, Carbon, and Zeolite Crystals), Multicolor, 1 LB

Filter water

I love this filter and pump set! It’s perfect for my bettas it’s not too strong but it does the job without moving the water too fast for the betta.

So I read a lot of reviews people complaining about noise, which if u buy the kit with the air pump it is super quiet. Then people complained about not being able to take the thing apart to clean. I mean for $7 a month I can replace the cartridge. The power is controllable which is nice as it doesn't suck my betta fish in like most filters do. People complained about it making there tank cloudy but I rinsed it really well and ran it for 15 minutes in just a bowl of water to get any excess gunk out and it worked just fine. Didn't make my water cloudy at all. And with in a half hour of running I could tell the water clarity was getting better. I think this is a great filter for my tank which is 1.6 gallons and didn't come with a filter. Very small doesn't take up to much room in his tank. Also filter replacement is very easy. You just pop it out and stick a new one in.

The media could not be loaded. I won 2 goldfish at the fair and set up this little 2.5 gal nano tank for them. Goldfish dirty their tanks quickly so I needed something small to help filter the ammonia and nitrates from the water. This little filter works great! The suction cups hold it in place well and it keeps the water clear for about 2 weeks before it needs a water change and a month in between a complete cleaning as long as you don't overfeed the fish. So far the cartridges are lasting 4 weeks before needing to be changed out which is a simple matter of popping the old one out and popping a new one in. The only thing I've found it doesn't do that well is filter physical particles from the water such as excess food and fish excrement so it looses 1 star for that, but overall I'm very happy with it and so are my goldfish.

I have been using this filter for months and it has been great. Now the company says the filter inserts are "No Longer Available ". But the filter set is available.I feel like they are just trying to get me to buy a whole new filter. I don't need a new filter. Shady!

The only way to replace the cartridge is to buy an entirely new cartridge. That is a lot of plastic waste. The should make these so you can just refill the media. They work great in a five gallon tank but I can't get past all the plastic waste.

I did alot of research for slow flow betta filters and seen this one highly recommended and for the cost I ordered two sets for both my bettas. When I first hooked it up, the flow was crazy fast and I was so sad.. didn't even set up the second one because I was ready to return. I didn't see the part that you can add to the tubing to adjust the flow. Once I found that part when I set up the second one, I was AMAZED. Bettas don't like fast flows, almost no movement is their preference because more can stress and tear them up. This filter works amazing. I can slow it down to barely a bubble just enough and my bettas are so happy! I would definitely recommend these over any expensive pet store filter!!

This filter is awesome! It is one of the best filters out there for small aquariums less than 10 gallons, esp. since it is a bubble filter which produces very little friction to the water surface if you add a flow control valve between the tubing. Another top option for small aquariums is to use those very small sponge filters or corner filter made by Xin You brand.1/19/16: My 1st review posted December 28, 2015 is shown above & gave it 5 stars. Now I have here my 2nd review on it, I'm giving it 1 star. I originally thought it was an awesome filter for small aquariums less than 10 gallons. After just about a month of use I had to clean it and then found out something about it that really made me mad- you cannot take out the foam to rinse it! This makes it incredibly hard to fully clean to re-use which is why they sell replacement cartridges. However, I think throwing away the cartridges is extremely wasteful since they don't look cheap and will cost you a fortune if you throw them away after each month. I would instead maybe buy 2 or more extra cartridges and cycle through them. Would have to find a more effective way of cleaning the filter sponge inside other than swishing it around in a small bucket. Anyone have any suggestions? Anyway, from now on I'm going to stick more to miniature sponge filters for my smallest tanks.