Water Wonders Fish Tank Review

I’ve been using the Tetra Water Wonders 1.5 gallon aquarium for a single Betta for almost a month now. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase. I paid around $23 for it at Target, but it’s available at other retailers as well.

I’ll cover the annoying stuff first.

Dislikes/Considerations:

• Part of the promised goods were missing. The box says the kit comes with water conditioner and fish food. Those two things were missing from mine. I contacted Tetra and they sent the food and water conditioner. However, I was deceived by the photo on the box. I thought I would get a bottle of water conditioner, but it’s merely a paper sample in the shape of a bottle. The tropical flakes that come with this kit are also not ideal for Betta fish.
• The small size of the tank means that standard gravel cleaners are too big. I had to cut down one to fit inside the tank and get the siphon going for water changes. Of course, you can just use airline tubing and not worry about having to cut down the larger part that goes into the gravel.
• Since the tank isn’t made of glass, it can get scratched easily. It’s also not fully cat-proof, though that’s not a claim that Tetra makes anyway!
• The air pump for the filter can be a tiny bit loud if you don’t put a cloth under it. I also feel that the kit should come with a check-valve to prevent the water from siphoning into the air pump in case of power failure. Without the use of a check-valve, you must put the air pump on a shelf higher than the aquarium.
• It’s not really a complete start-up kit. You still need to buy gravel or rocks, check-valve, heater, thermometer, gravel cleaner, plus additional water conditioner and food. It can be difficult to find a heater small enough for this tank, but I ended up going with the Tetra heater 2-15, which has worked fine. Yet, you’re likely to experience a bit of condensation above the water line.

Having gotten the grumbling out of my system, there are several things I like about this tank for a Betta. It’s too small for many other fish though.

Likes:

• It has a sleek, modern look.
• The adjustable light is too cute for words. It reminds me of a desk lamp for fish, and it illuminates the tank well at night.
• The filter is wonderful. I wasn’t expecting something as powerful, however the current produced doesn’t seem to bother my fish. I especially like that I don’t have to fiddle with it to get it going again after water changes like I did with larger filters that required adding water back into the housing.
• The kit comes with two filter cartridges, which is nice. Refills seem readily available and affordable.
• I love the two included decorative plants that anchor into the flooring of the tank. You don’t have to worry about them coming “uprooted.”
• The slide-out drawer in the bottom is perfect for storing food and additional filters. You likely need to find another place for your water conditioner though.
• The cover does a good job of keeping my cat out, but I did have to tape up the feeding hole since kitty was dipping into it.

If you’ve used this aquarium, was everything promised inside? Did you buy it because of the cover to keep cats out?

(Images by Peggy Rowland)