MarineLand Portrait Glass LED Aquarium Kit, 5 Gallons

This is a great rimless glass aquarium priced at half of what I have seen similar tanks go for. Not including the pedestal, the tank is 14″ high and roughly 9-10/16″ wide and long. The pedestal adds another 1-1/4″ of height without increasing the footprint. There is plastic divider siliconed across the back of the tank creating a separate rear 2” compartment. A sheet of glass lays over the front compartment of the tank with a small gap at the front which permits air flow with the outside room. The rear compartment has a somewhat flimsy plastic piece covering it (more on this later). Overall, the aquarium is well protected from the outside and there is no risk of fish jumping out or cats jumping in.

The filter caddy and pump are nicely hidden in the rear compartment and there is just enough room to squeeze a small submersible heater as well (not included). The rear compartment is a really nice feature in that it hides all of the wires and accessories from the viewing area of the tank – a very clean and minimalist look. The current from the filter is strong as other reviewers have noted, but it can be dialed down or redirected away from the surface as needed. I personally like the strong current because it evenly distributes the nutrients I add for my plants throughout the tall aquarium without creating dead spots.

The filter is actually a pretty nice design. It has an inlet on the lower right of the divider as well as a surface skimmer at the top right. A 3″ wide filter caddy sits in the rear compartment and reroutes flow from the inlet to the pump on the left side. The pump recirculates the water into the main tank compartment through a spout in the top left of the divider. As I mentioned above, there is room in the rear compartment between the pump and filter caddy that can accommodate a smaller heater, just make sure to put it low because the rear compartment tends to have a lower water level than the front compartment.

The aquarium came with an LED light source that includes a day and night toggle switch. The light is fairly bright but insufficient for growing any decent live plants. I replaced it with a Finnex Planted+ Cliplight and have been very happy with the illumination and growth rates of this tallish tank.

I have only two complaints about the build of this tank, but neither are deal breakers.

1) The rear compartment provides plenty of room for a multi-stage filtration system but is instead restricted to standard carbon cartridges. I would have liked to see a basket system where sponges, floss, bio media, Purigen, etc. could be used. I ended up remodeling the filter caddy with a 1/8” acrylic sheet and some acrylic cement and now I can use whichever medias I choose.

2) The plastic cover for the rear compartment is flimsy and ill-fitting. It’s raised at the edges and just looks bad. I had some extra acrylic from my filter modification so I ended up replacing this too. Considering the quality of the rest of the tank, I’m not sure why they would cut corners here.

Despite these two minor complaints, the aquarium is very high quality overall and definitely worth the price. With my filter modification and some heavy planting, I’ve been able to keep a male Betta, three Otos, several ghost shrimp, and a couple Nerite snails without issue. I think it’s a great looking tank and I would definitely recommend it to others.

I bought this for my male long finned betta. He uses all the vertical space in the tank, which is unusual, or I would not have bought a tank with this small a surface area. The tank has have 1 male betta and 6(+??) cherry shrimp for around 8 months now with no losses, and consistent water quality. I would not recommend it it for anything other than shrimp and betta fish. And if you have a betta, it should not a high energy fish (female, short finned etc).

I modified it to suit my fish. Cut out the inbuilt filter and instead use a sponge filter. This gave him gentler flow and more swimming space. I changed the light to something better able to penetrate the tank depths. I made sure when I put decorations in the tank that he has mid and top level resting places.

My boy is pretty lazy. He has been in larger tanks in the past (more than double) and does not seem any less active or happy than he is in this tank.

This is such a beautiful tank. I love that everything is pretty much hidden, except for my heater. The instructions that came with the box did say not to put it in the filter compartment, but I have read about many people doing this, I am just too scared to do so lol. There is a notch for your heater cord, so that it does not interfere with the lid design, which is nice. It is super quiet, so quiet that sometimes I have to look and make sure the pump is still working. This tank sits on my dresser next to my bed, so it is nice that it does not make a lot of noise. I have had it set up for about 2 months now, and the light that came with is has been sufficient for the plants I have, they seem to be growing very well. I have seen other people adding more lights to theirs, there is plenty of room on the light attachment to add additional LED strips, and there are little channels that you can run that additional wire thru so that it’s hidden. I have not done this myself, but I have seen where others have.

Probably my favorite thing about this tank (other than its appearance, because lets be honest, it’s a pretty good looking aquarium!) is the lid. It is a very thick piece of glass that slides back about an inch to an inch and a half for feeding. To remove, simply pick it up and let the condensation fall back into the aquarium and set the lid off to the side. I have even accidentally sat/stepped on it… I think you’d have to really do a number on it for it to break. It fits very snugly leaving no room for snails to escape. There is also a lid that covers the filter compartment that is a little annoying because it just precariously sits there and can easily be knocked off when you try to slide the glass lid back, but you can make some “hinges” for it by simply putting a piece of tape on either side and attaching it to the back of the aquarium.

IF YOU’RE USING THIS FOR A BETTA: The filter comes cranked up all the way on high. Before you even fill this thing with water, take the pump out and turn it down as far as it will go. I also made a baffle for the output nozzle out of part of a water bottle. It’s not the greatest, simply because I don’t have it attached in any way so when I take the lids off for cleaning the baffle comes loose and floats away, but I have plans to remedy this, I just haven’t done it yet. I took the output nozzle and turned it upside down and pointed it up a little so that it is sort of like a waterfall, then placed the baffle over it. I still have good water flow throughout the aquarium, but it is a very gentle flow and I do not find it to bother my betta at all.

I did hot rod the filter box by adding some additional biosponge, there is PUH-LENTY of room back there to stash all sorts of bio-media. If you look you youtube, Aquarium Co-op has a very informative video on how to maximize your filter for this tank. Just search for Aquarium Co-op Marineland 5 Gallon and it should be the first one to pop up.

Overall, this is my favorite aquarium that I own because it looks great, it’s quiet, maintaining it is super easy, and it is well made. I just ordered another one that arrived a few minutes ago… unfortunately, I accidentally ordered the 3 gallon (in the older model with the different light bar) because the 5 gallon is no longer available for the moment, and I did not realize when I purchased it that there was even a 3 gallon option. Whoops! My bad for not looking closely enough, because I was wanting to also upgrade him to a 5 gallon. But nevertheless, I am keeping it for my betta at work because the tank he has (halfmoon plastic tank) is cheap, flimsy, and just overall a pain in the rear to deal with, it will be my new “hospital” tank.

Es una pecera elegante, de buena calidad, que ocupa poco espacio por su diseño vertical. Enumero mis recomendaciones/comentarios:
1) El cartucho (filtro) que incluye la pecera tiene carbón en su interior y el fabricante recomienda cambiarlo cada mes. No creo que sea buena idea hacerlo a menos que estés aplicando medicamento. Recomiendo usar un poco de agua del mismo acuario para enjuagarlo cuando veas que el nivel de agua del tanque principal es superior al del compartimiento posterior.
2) Detrás del cartucho hay espacio para poner una esponja más y mejorar la filtración. Puedes comprar cualquier esponja y cortarla a la medida usando el cartucho como referencia.
3) El fabricante no recomienda poner el calentador (termostato) en el compartimiento posterior debido a que se puede evaporar el agua y bajar el nivel. En mi experiencia esto no es cierto y se puede colocar sin problemas; solo asegúrate de que el calentador es el indicado para el tamaño de la pecera (25 watts), funciona a la perfección y de que no tiene filtraciones antes de ponerlo allí, ya que no podrás verlo funcionar. Con un termómetro podrás verificar su funcionamiento.
4) El diseño vertical de la pecera complica un poco su mantenimiento, ya que hay que sumergir considerablemente el brazo para alcanzar el fondo. Nada del otro mundo, solo lávate bien las manos y antebrazos para evitar contaminación y baja un poco el nivel del agua para evitar derrames.
5) La bomba es muy silenciosa, pero eventualmente empezará a hacer más ruido de lo normal. Solucionar esto es muy sencillo y te llevará un minuto hacerlo; solo desconéctala de la corriente, retírala con cuidado y desármala (en el manual viene una ilustración de sus partes). Quitas la tapa principal, otra tapa que regula el flujo y extraes la propela con los dedos o una pinza pequeña. La propela se mantiene en su sitio con un imán, así que no tengas miedo de jalarla. Con un cotonete limpias el barril de la propela y la parte interior de la bomba ya que el ruido lo ocasiona alguna pequeña partícula que se metió al compartimiento de la propela. No conectes la bomba si no está totalmente sumergida al agua.