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I have been contemplating getting a 2-5 gallon tank for my dorm room for the fall. I have been looking at different kits on the internet, and would possibly like to know the opinions of others. As of right now, I've been looking at Eclipse and Minibow tanks mainly. Petsmart also has a 5 gallon Aquaview tank which has a Whisper Power filter instead of an UGF like the smaller sizes do, which I kinda prefer over the UGF although I have them on other tanks.

The Aquaview as well as the different MiniBows and Eclipses all look pretty good, but I was wondering which brand seems to offer the best setup, and is prefered more. The tank will most likely be a Betta tank but may also house a few other small fish if I would happen to get a 5 gallon. I will be buying a heater either way.

I also have been thinking of looking at plain tanks in the store to see if I would prefer getting everything on my own, but that would depend on what the end cost would be.

Please give me your opinion on which tank you think is the better choice to go with.

I have a 5 gallon Eclipse Hex tank. Very good tank! A betta and a couple of ADFs would do well in it.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

We got the Petsmart 5 gal kit, I don't remember if it said aquaview, but it is put out by their Top Fin brand. It has an internal Whisper filter that seems to work pretty well. The filter has 3 or 4 settings, the highest setting actually makes a decent current in the tank, but a lower setting would probably be fine for a betta. We got a little heater to go with it, but if it's the same tank, you should make sure you get a heater that is submersible (don't know if they make them that small) or hangs off the edge. We got one that uses suction cups and it doesn't quite sit right so our water level's a little lower than it should be.
Should be great for a dorm room, we got ours because we live in a little tiny studio that is about the size of a dorm. I had a little 1 gal betta tank w/ugf when I lived in a dorm, and I like this much better - feels more like a real tank.
Oh, here's a link to some pics of it set up (don't worry about the fish you might see it, that's all going to change in a little bit):
http://photos.yahoo.com/skeletaljosh

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-22 13:08][/span]

I have the minibow 2.5 and enjoy it a lot. Besides the fact that it comes in a lot of colors, its easy to maintain and if you got the five gallon one it would be great for bettas and adfs. I dont have a heater on mine b/c the light on it raises it a couple of degrees when necessary. The Whisper filter works great and its also very quiet making it ideal for a dorm.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I loved my Minibow 5, and it was a big dorm hit because of the color - buuuut, it's acrylic. Good side: light enough to carry easily. Bad side: eventually you're going to scratch it, no matter how careful you are. The Minibow 7, on the other hand, is just as cool (although only in black) but glass and therefore unscratchable. And it has pretty good light (14 watts, ergo 2 wpg, although it's in a small tank so really pretty low light), and enough space for something a little more interesting - I'm breeding WC N. similis in one of mine. (See, it's such a great tank I own two!)

I've also owned the Eclipse 5 corner, which is an okay tank but has the flaw most Eclipse set-ups do: little flow through the media. Same complaint on the Eclipse 6, and of course they're both acrylic. Although OTOH, the 6 comes with a whole host of stuff these days - a PC screw-in bulb, two silk plants, big things of food, water conditioner, etc. And the 6 is a cute tank in its own way, and not so curved in front that it's hard to get good photos of your fish if you're into that, particularly since the acrylic doesn't warp the view as much.

But mostly, if you have the space, I cast my vote for the 7 Minibow. Great tank all around.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

I have a Minibow 5 and an Eclipse 6, I like them both. The Eclipse was actually my first planted tank. It came with a flourescent bulb so I did have to add a heater. The Minibow has a regular (incandescent ?) bulb and even without a heater the tank stays at 78-79. This thread]http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=42049&page=1[/link] has pics of my Minibow. Yes acrylic scratches and I also find these tanks difficult to photograph :%) I bought my oldest son a Minibow 2.5 for his birthday, [link=hereis a pic of his (remember he's 11 ) I like both tanks, Eclipse has a bio-wheel if that makes any difference to you.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I purchased my five gallon minibow over a month ago and have been happy with it since. Or, well, happy with it once I returned the damaged one and got an undamaged one.

It has served as an emergency home for my guppies (ten gallon started to leak) and is currently a QT tank for a new female betta (before she moves to the 20 gallon community tank). It will eventually become a home to a pair of betta imbellis *excited*. Right now, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

It's less expensive than the exclipse tanks (which I looked at too) and I personally love the look of it. I've always loved the bowfronts, and this is a perfect way to see if I like it enough to eventually get a bigger version. I do wish it came in black (the "goldfish" version of the tank does, but it's more expensive). I looked at the minibow 7 and really liked it, but it's quite a bit more expensive and doesn't come with anything.

The internal Whisper filter is really quite nice, nearly silent. The only complaint I have is that the bulb I wanted to put in the hood wouldn't fit because of the splash panel around the bulb... it was just a bit too snug. *sigh* I'll have to see if I can find a slightly smaller screw in fluorescent.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I happened to check Walmart real quick today and they carry Minibows to my surprise. The 5 gallon Minibow was only $35 and the 2.5 only $25, so it's not a bad price compared to what I've seen online. I think I may go with the Minibow and I've used a Whisper Powerfilter before on my 10 gallon so I'm used to them. I just need to decide on what size I should go with. The 2.5 would suffice holding just a Betta, but I would have more options with a 5 gallon. Either I could give the Betta double the tank space or I could consider a few small cories possibly for the tank if I went with the 5. I know cories like larger groups but I think a group of 3 of one of the smaller species could probably work in the 5 gallon with a Betta as long as the Betta tended to not be agressive with them. They are my favorite fish so that is why I would pick them to be in the tank.

Yep, that's where I got my minibow 5. Advice: make sure you open the box before you buy it... I saw one or two cracked ones (the base the tank sits on was beyond repair) before I got mine. I had to return one because I didn't realize it was broken before I got it home. Yay for shipping casualties.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Uh uh, cories can't go in a 5 gallon. They are schooling, and there isn't enough space in the bio-load for a school. Also, they just wouldn't have enough room. There are other choices for small tanks if you want a clean-up crew, such as shrimp and snails.

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.