# Tetra Color Change Bubbling 1 Gallon Hex kit.



## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Big name, small package.
First off be sure if you're thinking of getting this that there are no hairline fractures in the plastic. I inspected one at the store and missed a hairline and just the handling to get it out of the box cracked it.

But even without the tank this kit is a great deal...


This is precisely the contents of the box, minus the quick guide and the packaging.
You can see the plastic is nice and clear, it IS thin so be careful where you put it and don't handle it filled with water.

This whole kit was $20 at Walmart. 
$12.00 air pump, $10.00 filter, $2.00 of hose and pressure valves and probably a $6.00 under-gravel color change lights and air stone feature.

Even ignoring the little plastic tank this is a solid deal matching even the best online prices you can get the rest for without even worrying about shipping.

The 3i is a newer one with a deeper out-put lip trough and a better hinge on the lid. It uses a more sloped air pipe positioned a little further back and there is now room to slide a cut piece of sponge down in front of the little "S" size cartridges for bio and flow slowing.

Yes, just one gallon. I'm going to include a Fluval pre-sponge on the whisper to make it safe when I set it up.

My concerns with this tank for betta are the 3i's intake and the power of the air pump they included. Any old split open sponge bit over the intake will solve the first but I'm thinking I'll have to do a bleed and trim arrangement on the airlines where I regulate the overall pressure by adding in another T and venting then balance the pressure between the filter and feature with one line straight and the other valved.

Overall I'd say this thing is absolutely excellent as a ready packaged hospital/isolation tank and is probably the best kit of parts I have ever seen for a small aquarium setup. 

Keep in mind that an air pump this size will generate some heat into the water AND the LED will also add heat to the water.

I'll be setting up this unit later today (sunday) for Bubbles to sit at my fingertips. He's too relaxed and the tetra are treating his beautiful fins as a sushi buffet.

So before I manage to get to that has anybody had actual experience with these kits that resulted in problems or negative experience? (_Please describe the issues._)


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## idolsandanchors (May 16, 2011)

I actually had this tank when I first got my betta as it was pretty cheap and looked good. It really is a good buy the only thing I didn't like is that the air pump was a little noisy because I had to turn down the airflow to the air stone definitely because it made way too much current for the little guy. He did okay with the filter. I keep it at a decent speed and it kept the water clean. I kept this tank just incase I found one I wanted to rescue. haha My little guy now has the 5-gallon eclipse hex and he absolutely loves it.


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