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http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=906

I've been using this filter since I bought my terrarium in September. It uses two medium sized tetra filter bags, that you can buy at wal-mart preassembled for about 4.50 (3 per box). The filter stands about 12 inches high, and fits snuggly into the corner of any aquarium/terrarium. It has several itnake holes throughout the bottom of the pump which are small enough to not be noticible upon first glance.

How the filter works is simple. A pump sits in the middle of the enclosure, and on the left and right of the pump are a slot for the medium sized filters to be slid into place. The pump pulls the water through the filters, and it exits out the top of the pump, by trickling down over the side. A very neat effect.

Since I have owned this filter, I have realized how quickly the filter medium gets dirty with debree. It is my opinion that this system is not adiquate to properly maintain a clean environment for one turtle. The medium filter bags are for 10 gallons of water per bag, so two bags means it is suitible (in theory) for 20 gallons of water. It's my guess that they mean for fish not turtles.

The piece is visibly appealing and with a fashonable eye you could construct a nice habitat with it. My turtle has used it for basking, and since I moved his basking spot, he likes to climb up the side and jump off the top.

If I had to do it over again, I would not have bought this system.

I'm writing this now, because I finally got fed up and bought a second filter to assist this filter in keeping the water clear of debrie and any kind of film that may float on the surface of the water.

Thanks for the heads up! I hope people read this and go for a good canister/power filter the first time. Is this one of those "fully submersible" filters?

The one I linked is the correct filter. It may say it's for up to 55 gallons however, the type of filter cartridge it uses it rated for 10 gallons and it uses two of them; that's how I came to 20 gallons.

Here's a pic.


It cannot be fully submersed or the water would rush over the filters and it would become less efficant than it already is.

You can still have use for that filter,maybe you should just unplug it,fill the water up all the way and use the filter as a decoration? lol

Still have the problem of the tank being a terrarium and not an aquarium. It's not built to be filled. In the pic, the water is filled as high as I can let it go. Everyday I fill it to max capacity just to make sure it's always it's fullest. It's been a good tank, but if I could do it over again, I would have got something completely different.

I'm also learning alot about products and their quality.
From poorest to greatest (imo)

Tetra, Exo-Terra, Zoo Med.

The only nice thing about Tetra stuff, is that they sell the filters in Walmart, and my Walmart is open 24/7 so I can buy them anytime. That's the reason the second filter I bought was a Tetra.

Oh and since adding the second filter, which is the Whisper in Tank 40i, the water is much better. So two poor filters are better than one!

If anyone is interested this site has a pic of the inside. Just click on "other views" on the right of the page...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 2006&Nty=1

After glancing over the specs, it definitely doesn't seem adequate in anyway.

Thanks for the report on this decorative filter, velvet alley. I was wondering how effective it was. I originally didn't buy this filter due to it's cost......it is not a cheap system!