A couple of years ago, we bought our daughter her first goldfish. Since they quickly outgrew the original aquarium we purchased with them, we upgraded to a 10-gallon aquarium and, with that, purchased an Aquatech 5-15 gallon fish tank filter.
Last week, we replaced that filter.
I won’t say Aquatech doesn’t make good products because that would be misleading. In fact, we ended up replacing our 5-15 gallon filter with another filter from Aquatech. The only difference is the new filter is much bigger.
The issue I had with the original filtration system is this; it just did not work properly in the size tank it was supposedly designed for.
When we first started using the 5-15 gallon filter, it did an OK job keeping the fish tank clean. At the time, we had 4 medium sized common goldfish. I know that type of goldfish does make a mess of the tank quickly. But, compared to more exotic fish, they also can survive in less than perfect conditions. A couple weeks after purchasing the 5-15 gallon filter two of those fish were dead. So, right off the bat, we knew it wasn’t going to keep the tank clean enough for more than one or two fish at a time.
While the other two fish have managed to survive in the aquarium with the 5-15 gallon Aquatech filtration system, it hasn’t been without a lot of work on our part and that’s why we ended up finally giving in and buying the larger filter.
The 5-15 gallon filter did keep the tank clean, but it only managed to do so for about a week at a time. After that, the water would get a bit hazy and our fish would start acting weird because the ammonia levels were too high for them.
A major part of the problem was the 5-15 gallon filter clogs very easily. The intake on it is this narrow tube that gets gunked up in a matter of a couple days; something that is noticeable when you start seeing a small trickle of water coming out of the top rather than a steady flow. The larger filter is the same way but seems to have more suction so the waste it’s filtering out doesn’t get stuck in the tube. The 5-15 gallon filter had to be taken apart and cleaned out about once a week; something that isn’t always the easiest thing to do when everyone works. Again, I understand goldfish can be slightly messy fish. But, I have a hard time believing two of them are going to clog a filter that fast.
Again, I’m not saying Aquatech makes bad products. But, I do think the 5-15 gallon claim is stretching things a bit. If your aquarium is anything over 5 gallons, you will want the larger filter for it.
