Lee's Pet Products ALE13202 Undergravel Fishbowl Filter, 2-Gallon

I live undergravel filters and this was exactly what I needed for my 3.5 gallon cylinder betta tank. (It may be a tad undersized for my tank, but I’ve never found a larger version of this design). The filtration that came with the tank kit obscured a lot of the tank, and this system allows me to see everything. As others have stated: the plastic decor is too sharp for fish with delicate fins, and you will want to have replacement filter media (I use combo carbon/zeolite to help prevent ammonia spikes that can occur suddenly in small-volume tanks). I plan to modify the airline hookup a little bit so I can feed an air stone into the bubbler tube from underneath for finer air bubbles and (hopefully) a quieter sound. It can be pretty gurgley. That said: this is an excellent design for small bowls and circular tanks.

The negative reviews on here are all about the carbon (which is junk). But the filter itself is FANTASTIC. Seriously, you can't beat the price and will save yourself a lot of work. Just pitch the carbon and get a good quality kind to put in the cartridge. I'm super happy with it. The dimensions are 5 and 1/4" across for the bottom plate. It fits in a 2 or 3 gallon bowl no problem.The cartridge can be opened and refilled, just use a paper towel to hold it (if it's wet) and lift up one side as much as you can, then rotate it. Do it over the sink haha because you don't want black carbon everywhere. I made the mistake of trying to use the stuff it came with and like everyone says, it fogs up the water and makes a huge mess. My fish was eating carbon dust LOL.

After reading other reviews I decided to replace the carbon before using it and to be honest the amount of filter fiber they give you is just not anywhere near enough but the product itself worked fine and did it's job well after replacing the carbon and adding some extra filter fiber. Was definitely worth the money. Keep mind you do have to buy the low power air pump, air line, and backflow valve to make this complete and usable If you don't already have that stuff on hand.

I'm absolutely stunned at some people. You never considered RINSING the carbon head before installing it? Seriously? This is why my father told me that half the people are below average......Rinse the cartridge in running water a bit and this is a fantastic undergravel filter for the money.Update, I must write a mea culpa on this review and an apology to those that I said just rinse it. It rinsed fine but did slightly discolor the water over time. I just emptied the cartidge and filled it with higher quality carbon. That kind of negates the cheap factor, but not really as you need to replace the cartridge over time anyway. But yes, over time, some slight discoloration occurs.

DONT GET IT!!! I was told to try this and decided to get it. Did the typical filter prep and rinsed the actual filter/carbon part with water and made sure it ran clear for a good 3 minutes before I used it. I put it in my tank, filled it with my aquarium water and all my minerals, did a water check and everything was perfect!! Started the filter and instantly little black flakes started shooting out the top! So I redid the whole process a 2nd time. Seemed good! Until I put my fish and snails and shrimp in. My pleco bumped it and what happens? Black specks... and within minutes my tank was super black and cloudy. I pulled all my fish out but apparently not fast enough (only in there about 2 minutes while I prepped to get them out.) My pleco lasted the longest but my other fish died... the pleco made it about an hour. I took them to my aquarium store and was told they had CARBON PARTICLES in their mouths,and in their gills and stuff... they suffocated from the carbon... I attempted to try to get the filter to work in an empty tank I had and still... for a whole week with daily full changes and even 25% water changes the filter wouldnt give up!!! I'm out all the money for this, and all I have left that survived is 3 of my shrimp and 2 snails! NO fish!! PLEASE SAVE YOUR FISH AND DO NOT GET THIS FILTER!!! EVER!!! I TRIED EVERYTHING!!!!

I use this in a small round isolation tank. Works great, water is crystal clear. Would buy again.

This little filter keeps my 3.5 gallon tank clean & clear. Water continually tests within acceptable parameters. Tank contains 2 large mystery snails & one female betta. Before adding this filter, had to do frequent partial water changes. 40 years ago, everyone used undergravel filters for maintenance-free tanks. My personal opinion is they are no longer popular because they last for years & there is nothing else to buy. Highly recommended, have ug filters in all my tanks. Pet stores usually dont carry them anymore; could only find on Amazon.Fish-keeping should be a joy, not a job!

I just started using this type of filter. It was fairly simple to set up. I did change the filter media with my own media. It doesn’t seem to annoy my betta at at with the bubbles and the water is clear.