Slim Aquarium Filter, Quiet Fish Tank HOB Filters for up to 5 Gallon Aquariums, Adjustable Flow, 42 GPH, 3W

This filter works perfect for a little Top Fin 3 gallon tank. I have a small tank set up for Corydora fry and needed a decent filter with an intake pipe. The filter that came with the aqaurium was trash, and I did not like it. It pulled from the bottom and kept sucking fry up. The first replacement filter that I got did not have a place for carbon or any type of sponge. This one is seriously perfect. It has a carbon cartridge with a sponge and also a sponge filter for the intake. It helps pre-filter AND keeps from sucking anyone up. The replacement cartridges are not expensive (6 for $9.99 or 12 for $14.99). It is very easy to clean and does not make any splashing sounds. It has a big enough area to add your own media, if needed. The carbon keeps everything circulating to avoid any funky smells. *I just put it in before taking photos, so the tank is not the cleanest.

This will be my go to HOB for 1-5 gallon and my first choice for a 10 gallon betta set up. I have two top fin 5 gallon tanks that I bought in an emergency situation. The filters they came with were intrusive, they hung inside the tank, and were garbage at their intended function. After about 6 months of dealing with them I searched for a replacement that would fit and work. The lids that came on the top fin tanks had a cut out for the filters so I needed something that would allow the lid to fit because we have a cat. After a couple hours of research and with cost in mind I chose these. And I’m extremely happy. They are very quiet, do the job they are suppose to and look good doing it. The flow adjustment is responsive and the design of the flow knob is easily serviceable. In my opinion with weekly water changes they are perfect for heavily stocked 1-5 gallons and may even be used for something like a 10 gallon planted betta home with light flow.

Not the easiest/quickest to prime. I'd recommend replacing pre-filter. I modified the cartridge filter to use as a hold back for a custom bag filter. Very easy to clean!! Small size and limited water flow. Works well in my 4 gallon tank though.

Hands down best filter for a 5 gallon Very quiet Very easy to put together and take apart for cleanings Great prices

Nice and compact for a small aquarium. The pump is pretty quiet.

This is hard to clean most of the parts come apart to clean but not all and we have had issues with build up. I had to use a toothbrush to try to remove gunk. The spinning part has stopped working twice and took a lot of work to fix. The low flow has been good for our beta.

Quiet and working really well for it size and cost.

This is a strong, well-built little filter. For most tanks, I think it would be well worth the money. I have a very shallow watercress tank with a sand substrate and soil underneath, and this filter worked well at first. In fact, I bought the first one on March 10, 2026, and liked it so much that I bought a second one for my other watercress tank on March 19, 2026. Unfortunately, they both eventually started clogging daily because of the sand. I put a bit of slate over the sand to act as a baffle, under the intake and outflow, which helped them keep chugging along for another week. I think that these would be great if I had pebbles on top of the sand, or even gravel, but then that would impede my watercresses' ability to spread and turn into a delicious mat of salady goodness. RIP NICREW, you were great while you lasted.

satisfait de ce petit filtre, semble tres bien fonctionné, parfait pour ma petite aquarium de 3 gallons, tres silencieux et sa puissance est surprenante, fait un bon débit d'eau dans l'aquarium. donc, tres bon rapport qualité-prix, Ecellent!

Extremely quiet and discreet design, very conveniently sized. Run it on my shrimp-only 20l tank and bought it mostly for surface agitation but surprised at how good the filtration actually is for such a compact device. Well priced too! Will definitely use again.

Stopped working within 24hrs. Noticed my thermostat temperature creeping up, was set at 27 and ended up at 30 which means this pump over heated and affected the tank water temperature also! And I bought 2 for 2 tanks both exactly same and stopped working.

This product is one of the worst products I have bought. If you need my evaluation, I will give it a bad evaluation because it broke down in the first week and when I started using the product, it was very hot. I do not advise people to buy it and I advise them to buy any other product.

Der Filter nimmt, besonders in sehr kleinen Aquarien, kaum Platz weg, da man ja nur ein Röhrchen im Becken hat. Bei mir läuft er in einem 12l Garnelenbecken. Er ist recht leise, wenn er richtig sitzt. Das ist aber problemlos hinzubekommen und ich höre den Filter nicht. Die Reinigung ist auch recht schnell erledigt und nicht sehr oft nötig. Zudem kann man alles gut auseinander nehmen. Nur das Antriebsrad ist recht schwer zu erreichen. Zum Start und nach dem Auswaschen der Filtermedien muss Wasser in den Filter eingefüllt werden. Darauf wird extra hingewiesen. Dann ist er kurz laut, was sich aber innerhalb von einer Minute gibt. Auf einen ausreichend hohen Wasserstand im Becken sollte geachtet werden, besonders wenn Katzen das Becken gern als Trinkbrunnen nutzen. ;-) Lediglich der Vorfilterschwamm am Ansaugrohr scheint mir für frischgeschlüpften Garnelen-Nachwuchs etwas zu grob. Ich bin da allerdings auch sehr vorsichtig. (Für ausgewachsene Zwerggarnelenen ist er völlig ok.) Hier kann man sich aber auch mit einem Stück Feinstrumpf behelfen oder schneidet sich einen feineren Schwamm zu recht, zumindest wenn Nachwuchs in Sicht ist und da sind meine Garnelen gerade besonders fleißig. Der Stromverbrauch ist gering. Das Filtermedium auf einem Plastikteil läuft bei mir seit fast 2 Monaten. Einen monatlichen Wechsel halte ich für etwas übertrieben, besonders wenn man ihn regelmäßig auswäscht. Ich plane diesen durch Filterschwamm und Filterwatte künftig zu ersetzen, da ich es nicht mag ständig Filterkartuschen kaufen zu müssen. Obwohl der Preis für 5 Stück bei derzeit 9,99 liegt, was dann hier für ein Jahr reichen würde. Dass das Wasser in einem breiten Mini-Wasserfall zurück ins Becken geht, finde ich hübsch und nützlich, um das Wasser mit Sauerstoff anzureichern. Alles in allem bin ich mit dem Filter sehr zufrieden und empfehle ihn für kleine Becken gern weiter.