NICREW Internal Aquarium Filter for Fish Tank up to 20 Gallons, 100 GPH

I was unsure at first because it wasn’t a name brand. However, I am glad I didn’t sway me away because after several years this filter is still reliable. I upgraded my filter size from the MiniMagi to this one because I just have a lot in my tank right now. It’s easy to clean and isn’t loud. I also love that it’s not bulky and fits entirely in the tank. There is also no way for a fish to get stuck inside the filter which is great.

For me, noise-level was the most important factor. I was nervous when I first bought this because I've purchased filters that promise to be quiet and they aren't. The NICREW filter is great. Works as promised. It's not super-dooper-uber quiet - but certainly a heck of a lot better than those Tetra 'Whisper' filters. Absolutely the quietest in this price-range. While I recommend this product and gave it 5-stars just know a few things: 1) While the replacement filters aren't expensive - you're going to have to get them from the manufacture / Amazon. (You can make your own ... but I'm gonna guess most people buying this are new to the hobby.) 2) If you place the filter to deep in the tank, the air-flow will suffer since it will take more work for the engine to draw in the air. For the record: I have a 20 gallon tank.

Good filter. Not noisy, really strong for a 15 gallon except it's not baby fish proof. It sucked up a baby guppy. I recommend adding many filter floss so baby fish can't get up in. Poor little guy has seen better days.

...then it's good enough for me! After setting up an initial planted tank, the "internal" filter I originally purchased was not working for me. This filter is MUCH smaller than the one I replaced, however it is just as powerful and with a more customizable and direct stream of flow. Before this filter, I had almost zero surface agitation and flow throughout the tank and always had a bio film. Now, I have the spray bar pointed up at the water surface from below, and I have very nice surface agitation and a gentle circulation throughout. My fish are not struggling with the flow, and all of my plants have slight movement at each location within the tank. It's smaller size is a plus to me as it takes less physical and visual space. The caveat, is that there is less overall filtration capacity. That being said, it is customizable to place biomedia or filter media as you wish. I ditched the included carbon bag, and used the plastic compartment to place ceramic rings for bio as the last stage. I also cut the foam in half and placed a fine filter floss as the second stage, and the remaining half sponge for the first stage mechanical filtration. It is very quite during normal operation, if it is making any sounds it's either time for a clean or something is broken. Maintenance is simple; simply remove the filter during a water change and via the bottom compartment remove the sponges and was in the old tank water. As mentioned above, you may be doing this weekly due to the overall capacity of filtration media volume.

Update: I gave up on this. It gets clogged up so easily, I was having to clean it every day or it would stop working right. I've got 8 tanks, I'm not inexperienced but I struggled to make this filter work correctly. I went back to a sponge filter and my tank is so clear now! I should have kept it running instead of this filter. ________ I've never had so much trouble with a filter before. I was using an internal sponge filter and switched to this filter because the tank is in my bedroom and the bubbling was annoying. The pieces aren't great. I wanted an elbow piece to attach to the spray bar so the spray bar was vertical with the filter but the pieces don't fit together to make this. *Edit: if you use enough elbow pieces you can do this but the spray bar is very long I keep having to clean this filter out, things keep getting stuck to the slits on the side where it pulls in water. You would think that's a good thing but it blocks the filter and then the air tube and regulator stops working and doesn't produce bubbles anymore. If you have the air tube and regulator on it helps to turn the tubing inlet so it is horizontal, it seems to keep the water from going into the tubing, th water stops air from coming out when this happens. It's also very loud. I don't know if it's the regulator that is bad or what but the bubbles are really fine and they crackle as they come out. You can close the regulator almost all the way and it is still loud, sometimes it sends the air out in short loud bursts. Ramshorn snails keep getting stuck in the part of the filter where different arts connect, they are getting their bodies stuck in crevices then they can't get back out and they die. I learned this the hard way when I went to pull one off the filter and I pulled it's insides out of its shell. As of right now I definitely wouldn't recommend this filter