Hawkeye 5 Gallon

[lilyth88]

Does anyone have experience with these tanks?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-5-...-Pets/14660258

Pros? Cons? Give me the nitty gritty!

[Tabbie82]

Ok, well, I have 4 Hawkeye five gallon tanks! I ordered them all from Walmart and had them shipped to my home. I have had 2 of them for a year and a half. The other two are a few weeks old and have no fish in them yet. (I'm waiting on some boys I ordered on Aquabid- Picasso, Monkey and Nate. Yes, I named them already!) Anyway.

I love these tanks, but I'm also not very picky. I have live plants in the two that I've had the longest, they are low light plants and doing great. My bettas are happy in them. I love the look of them.

The feeding door on the hood does not open and close without falling off, so you have to open the whole hood to do anything. This isn't an issue to me- the hood is hinged and sits straight up, no problem while I feed or work in the tank.

The filter that it comes with is very strong. Maui hates it, Feng loves it. I baffled the one in Maui's tank and left Feng's alone. I've had no problems with the filters. I have stopped using the carbon cartridges that are typically used in these filters, but the cartridges are easy to find and cheap. You can get a 6 pack at Walmart for a good price.

These tanks are easy to clean and put together. The included light bulbs last a long time. They shipped fast and none of them have been cracked or scratched when they arrived.

I think they are a steal and this is the first tank I look at when shopping for a new one. The price is right and I love the 4 I have. They don't scratch easy, but they are acrylic. I have sand substrate in one, gravel in the other three. I use an acrylic scrubber to clean the sides and have no scratches.

I don't know if I've answered all your ponderings on the tank, but if you have any specific questions, I will be happy to answer!

Hope this helps!

[lilyth88]

Planning on getting two. They will both be natural planted tanks. We had two shrimp commit suicide by jumping out of one of our current three gallon tanks. The lid has open areas on it.


I guess that would be my next question. Are there any open areas in the lid? Could you maybe send me a picture of it looking down at it from above?

[Tabbie82]

There are not any openings, unless you cut out a spot. There are small places for the electrical wires on the filter and the heater to come out. It is a pretty solid hood. My cat likes to get right up by the tank and watch the fish. I am comfortable with that because she has no way to get into the tank. I will be happy to post a picture! Just give me a few minutes...

[mermaid77]

That's the tank I just got for my betta :) (Had him in a 1.5g for his first couple of weeks with me) and he's really loving all the extra room but he does hate the filter it came with...working on trying to baffle it. All in all it's an awesome tank for the money! The puny 1.5 cost me $23 at Petco LOL and it's no where near as nice...

[Tabbie82]

The picture quality isn't the best, but I hope you are able to see what you want to see. I took a picture of the hood from the top and the back. The raised part in the middle of the hood is where the light is. There is a cover between the light and the water. The light does not add extra heat to the water. The vertical slits on the top are vents for the light. The back of the hood does have segments that can be cut out for HOB filters, etc. They are very hard to take off the hood. I took one off on Maui's tank because I thought I needed to for his heater. Once I realized that I didn't need it taken off, I taped it back on. There's also a good three inches between the top of the water and any openings on the hood due to the way it is made. Again, happy to answer questions!

[lilyth88]

That looks like exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for all your help!

[Tabbie82]

No problem! Glad I could help.

[waterdog]

This is one I just set up for a co-worker in my office. Notice the sponge filter in the corner. The power filter that came with it was too strong.

[lilyth88]

what's the deal with sponge filters? i have never used one.