Out of the box, I found the top of the container itself was cracked. Had to take the wheel off so that it wouldn’t leak over that. I am going to silicone the top and use it. It works pretty good as far as sucking up debris so I will keep it and maybe order another one hopefully the next one won’t be cracked on top . pretty strong pump for the price I would give it four stars if it hadn’t been broken . I like the idea of the skimmer part works very good..

First off, my first one came cracked, but Amazon made it right! I do love the design of this filter. I like the tiny bio wheel, and the fact that the two filter cartridges inside are customizable. You aren’t stuck buying pre made filter cartridges, you can cut floss or fill them with carbon. It’s a great filter at a great price!

I'm really on the fence with this pump right now, but I'm willing to give it more time since I don't have much experience with fish tanks and am not sure if my expectations are set a little too high.PROS:--The pump has a nice weight to it and looks amazing. Everything was included and it arrived undamaged.--It took a couple of tries, but I was able to get it working and it appears to be doing its job--It's incredibly quiet and almost soothing--I LOVE that you can easily set the power of the filter. It's now on max and has a pretty nice flow--There are two filters within the system that look to be easily exchanged with other brands or types if desired (you don't have to use only their brand/style.)--There are two different sized extension tubes included so you can customize the reach of the pump with your spaceCONS:--The Instructions are horrible! Especially for someone who is inexperienced with pumps. I have extra pieces I have no idea what to do with! There are two rubber rings and a small cap that don't seem to fit anywhere? And since the instructions are basically just a diagram of the pump, I have no idea what to do with them.--My pump was already assembled. I didn't have to snap the filters together as instructed, and the hole where the "tightener" disk should go was rough and too large, so I'm suspicious I may have gotten a return.--And, I've had the filter going on max for 16 hours now, and haven't seen much (if any) improvement in the clarity of the water. It's slightly cloudy from thoroughly rinsed sand I had added and instructions on the bag said it should clear within 4-6 hours with a pump. I'm willing to give it a little longer just to see, but I honestly can't tell if it's even working.So, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt right now, but will revisit this review if anything changes.

So far so good. Works as advertised.

I have three AQQA AQ-165Ms, each on a 10 gallon tank that I've divided into 2.5 gallon sections for Bettas. The tanks have only been set up for a few days, so this review represents my initial impressions only.The logical comparison for these filters is the Marineland Penguin series - both because Penguins are among the best HOB filters available and because (to my knowledge) Marineland invented and owns the patents for the Bio-Wheel system that AQQA appears to be adapting here.Physical Quality: Marineland WinsIn terms of manufacturing tolerances and material quality, the Marinelands are noticeably better than the AQQAs. While this doesn't affect the actual functionality, you can feel the difference in how the lid installs, how the siphon tube assembles, and overall construction.Additionally, there are two specific issues with the AQQA:The surface skimmers on two of mine don't trap enough air to properly float, positioning the intake too low (which both defeats the skimming purpose and poses risk to small fish fry).EDIT: This is actually not quite accurate; the float height of the skimmer is affected by flow rate; at max. flow they tend to suck the float down below the surface. At minimum it does not move enough water for the skimmer to function at all. Over about 80% of the flow range, it works as intended.The AQQA pump clips to the bottom from outside (similar to an AquaClear filter), creating a potential leak point. They include an extra o-ring (though it's quite flimsy), but this is a design weakness that Marineland properly addressed with their internal pump that cannot leak.Features: AQQA Clearly WinsThe AQQA filters offer several advantages:Surface skimmers (even if they need adjustment)Media baskets (Marineland Penguins don't have these)Adjustable siphon tube - as I recall, there's no provision to adjust the inlet height on the Marineland unitsAdjustable flow rates - a significant advantage for many setupsAdjustable support for the filter box, allowing you to level it based on your specific tank rim thickness (Marineland's support is a fixed tab molded into the bottom of the filter box)These last two features are major oversights in the Marineland design. Being able to adjust the flow rate is critical for some fish species that can't handle strong currents, and it also allows you to oversize the filter and then turn the flow down so your fish aren't blown around. I've previously had HOB filters overflow because they weren't properly leveled; while you can wedge styrofoam or similar between the Marineland filter box and the tank, this is obviously less than ideal.Ease of Installation and Maintenance: Marineland Clearly WinsThe additional features the AQQA offers bring with them increased assembly complexity. You need to assemble the surface skimmer and siphon tube, set the height where you want it (which doesn't feel smooth due to the plastic quality), and the media baskets with their plumbing can move out of alignment during maintenance.Installing and cleaning the AQQA units isn't overly difficult, but it's significantly more involved than with the Marinelands. With Penguins, you essentially take them out of the box, drop in the siphon tube, rinse the cartridge, insert it, fill and go. The AQQA units require considerably more setup and adjustment.Also, the AQQA units are prone to bio-wheel stalling if water flow is too slow and the filter is not leveled correctly (likely why Marineland doesn't offer adjustable flow rates or leveling - to prevent users from inadvertently stopping the wheel).For ongoing maintenance, the Penguin is simpler: remove the lid, rinse the cartridge in old aquarium water or dechlorinated tap water, and reinsert it. You don't even need to turn the filter off.The AQQA media basket system requires removing the basket, disassembling it, cleaning the sponges, etc. This is vaguely similar to AquaClear units with their lift-out basket, but significantly more work than Marineland filters.Important note: By default, all of my AQQA units had fine filter floss in the first chamber after the pump and a coarse sponge in the second. While they likely intended you to use the sponge as biomedia, this arrangement is backwards and unnecessary with the bio-wheel handling biological filtration. You should swap them - put the coarse sponge first to catch larger debris and extend the life of the fine filter floss.Noise: AQQA WinsThe AQQA filters are noticeably quieter. From a few feet away, they're completely inaudible, whereas I remember being able to hear the Penguin from halfway across the room. The Penguin wasn't loud, but it was noticeable while the AQQA is silent.Filtration Capacity: TieBoth filters appear equally effective at keeping aquariums clean. Since I've only had the AQQA units a short time, I can't fully assess their biological filtration yet, but realistically there's little difference between them. Neither is pressurized, so water simply overflows back into the tank if media clogs.While AQQA offers more flexibility with media baskets, you can customize either filter by removing the standard components and adding your own media, so this advantage is minimal.Tank Size Compatibility:The first rule of fishkeeping is to disregard manufacturer's filter size recommendations. Generally, you want the most media capacity and the highest comfortable flow rate for your fish. As a rule of thumb, I halve manufacturer specifications - if a filter claims it's good for 5-20 gallons, I consider it good for 2.5-10.This gives AQQA a slight advantage because of the adjustable flow rate. With Penguins, you can't put a Penguin 200 on a 10-gallon tank as most fish couldn't handle the flow. With AQQA, you can potentially use a larger filter and adjust the flow down (though not too low or the bio-wheel stops).However, Marineland filters are fairly large for their flow rate, so I'm not certain that "sizing up" with an AQQA actually gives you more filtration capacity than using the appropriate Marineland unit - this would require direct comparison.Price and Value:The AQQA filters are less expensive upfront than comparable Marineland models. Additionally, if you choose to use manufacturer cartridges, the ongoing costs for Marineland replacements are significantly higher. The AQQA obviously wins on price, but whether it represents a better value or not is subject to your own individual evaluation of its respective features and drawbacks versus the Penguins.Overall Recommendation:For feature-focused buyers: If you value adjustable flow rates, surface skimming capability, and lower cost of ownership, the AQQA filters are excellent choices despite their construction quality disadvantages.For quality-focused buyers: If superior construction, reliability, and ease of maintenance are your top priorities, and you don't mind either purchasing Marineland cartridges or creating custom media setups, the Marineland units are easily worth their higher price.In my setup, the additional features of the AQQA filters (especially flow control) outweigh the construction quality and ease-of-maintenance advantages of the Marineland units, making AQQA the better practical choice for my needs.I haven't had these long enough to fully assess durability; I'll update this review as needed. My initial impression is that they should last well with proper care, though possibly not as long as the more robustly built Marineland units.