I bought this aquarium to my wife as a Christmas present. Little was I aware that this "starter kit" is just the beginning of a full new hobby! I found this to be a great starting point for someone who want to have a tropical fish tank, but be aware there are many more things you will need down the road! First, let's go over what is included: - The fish tank. Nice size, not too small or too big. - A water heater with fixed temperature. - A thermometer that sticks in the OUTSIDE of the tank. Not the greatest one, but it does the job. - A filter with one filter bag (you will need to replace this one monthly). Very quite once setup correctly - Decorative plants. Most of them are quite fake-looking and ugly, and we probably will replace then. The exception is the anemone, which is really cute. - Some small flakes that will be enough to feed your fishes for a few days. - One Tetra Safe Start dosage, used to make the tap water safe for the fishes. - A net to fish the fishes out of the tank - ColorFusion lights (in my kit). Very cool. You have to long-press the button to turn them off, then when you plug them again you need to press the button to turn them on (so I cannot use a timer in the plug). The button switches between rotating colors or "pause" in one color. So if you want to change to a specific color, you need to set it into rotate mode, and then pause on the color you want. NOTE: I was really confused since the instructions seemed to indicate that some "regular" lights were included in addition to the ColorFusion lights. That is not the case: if you get the ColorFusion kit, those are the only lights you get. Ok, now let's go to what else is not included, and you will need to get started with the aquarium: - Gravel. I bought four packages of this one:Glofish Aquarium Gravel, Black with Fluorescent Highlights, 5-Pound Bag , for a total of 20 pounds, and I found it enough. Some websites recommended 30 pounds, it depends on how many inches you want. The gravel is needed so the beneficial bacteria can live on it, so do not skip buying this! Also, I found local pet stores carry this cheaper than Amazon, probably due to the weight of the item - Fishes. I personally liked the idea of getting some GloFish, although I know some people do not like the idea of genetically modified. If you also get GloFish, try to get at least 5 so they can make a "school". Then, there are several things you will need to buy within 1-2 weeks of getting the aquarium: - Fish food. You will need to get some additional tropical flakes once you run out of the initial food. - Water conditioner. After a while, you will need to start making water changes. The new water needs to be made safe for the fishes. I got this conditioner:Tetra 16213 AquaSafe Plus Water Conditioner, 16.90-Ounce, 500-Ml for my aquarium. - More decorations. You will quickly realize that the included decorations are not enough. We bought some clams, coral and long plants to give the fishes more places to hide and explore - Water testing strips or kit. You will need this to test the quality of the water, unless you bring it to a shop to do it. I personally got a kit (API Freshwater Master Test Kit ), but if you prefer "quick and simple", some testing strips might be better Some last tips from beginner to beginner: - Make sure to flush everything you put in the tank (gravel, decorations) to avoid dirt or harmful chemicals entering the tank - Do not overfeed. This seems to be a really bad thing. Based on my internet reads, determining the right amount of food seems to be more art than science. Right now I am doing 3 flakes per fish, twice a day, which seems to work ok - After a few days, the water became a little milky. I was told this is ok, and it is due to the beneficial bacteria working on the fresh water, and also because I put too many fishes at first. It should clear by itself. After another two weeks, I see the color becoming better (less milky). Overall, this gift has been a blast, and both my wife and my kid LOVE it. You can see a picture of how it looks today, and hopefully for a while longer!
