OASEIndoor Aquatics Filtosmart Thermo 100, Black

The media could not be loaded. The Oase Thermo 100 has been a fantastic upgrade for my nano tank. Even though it’s rated for up to 30 gallons, I’m using it on a UNS 5N (4 gallons) with no issues. It delivers strong, effective filtration maybe a bit too strong at first but I paired it with a glass lily pipe spin outflow to soften the current. Now, I get gentle flow perfect for my plants and fish, without sacrificing water clarity or circulation.One of my favorite features is that it houses the heater inside the filter. This keeps everything neat and hidden, with less clutter inside the tank, which I really appreciate for maintaining a clean, minimalist look. The unit is also very quiet you can hear it sometimes not that it bothers me but some people might get annoyed to hear it, it’s not totally silence and I found it to be very compact, I thought it was going o be bigger but I’m glad it’s quite small.The filter media is easy to access and swap, and the overall build quality feels solid. If you’re running a planted nano tank and want powerful filtration, I think this is 100% worth it.

The best aspects of this filter are its noise level - pretty darn quiet, and its relatively small form factor. The best thing about it is the heater in the filter canister removing the sight-polluting heating element from the aquarium - a HUGE plus in my book. Filter is not silent. My house is very quiet, but I can hear it now as I type this review out. It is a very, very low, slight mechanical drone - not at all offensive.The not-so-great: Priming this filter is inconvenient - have to take the heater off, pour water into the little hole until it's somewhere *near* the top, but you can't fill it too much, because then when you put the heater back in, water will spill everywhere. The spraybar and intake are not pretty to look at, which brings the overall package down a notch in my view. Why build a filter to get an ugly piece of equipment out of the tank, then include a butt-ugly intake and spray bar? Something more elegant would be much more ideal. Not sure how I like the bio-media tray surrounding the heater. The space there is limited, and if you have previously colonized, larger bio media, not much of it will fit in the space there. You really have to use Oase's small bio media due to the limited size of that chamber if you want to use the middle chamber for other media types (like floss, Chemipure packets, etc).These niggles aside, this product is very well made and inspires confidence in this brand. So much so, in fact, that I just bought their little nano surface skimmer.

I've bought a lot of things from Amazon and I've never had a problem. Until Now.First of lets talk about the filter. So far, so good. It was easy to set up, and so far its working perfect. Nice and quiet. I've always used Fluval filters but I heard good things about this filter and decided to try something new.. So far I'm happy with it but we'll see how it holds up over time.Now the reason I give this a one star.The second the filter arrive I was disappointed. The box was all damage and looked like it had been taped back together. The filter was dirty on the outside and a bit scratched. I automatically assumed this filter was used and not brand new. Tubing was clean and the parts inside were sealed. Once I started to set it up I realized parts were missing. Parts for the Inflow and Outflow were missing, looks like a whole bag Lucky for me I was planning to use my glass pipes for the inflow and outflow so I was still able to use the filter with no problem. if I didn't have the glass pipes the filter would have been useless.Unfortunately I wasn't very patient and bought everything I needed at once, Filter, substrate, and plants and really couldn't return it and wait for a refund to get a new filter. I'm disappointed that I paid full price and got a used filter with missing parts. Luckily I was still able to use it. If the filter continues to work for a good couple of years I guess it would still be worth it.If you decide to get this filter, open it and make sure its new and that everything is there. If you get a complete filter, I think you will be very happy with it.

The price seemed a little steep, but the integrated heater and 3 year warranty swayed me.Setup was fairly easy as far as assembly goes. Personally, I wouldn't dump the ceramic media in loose around the heater. That seems like it would be a nightmare to clean out, and I wanted good, unobstructed water flow around the heater. I could be wrong, but the move makes sense to me. I didn't plan to use the charcoal bags anyway, so placed the ceramic in my own nylon mesh bags and put them in the bottom of the center compartment.Priming was difficult to say to the least. I pre-filled the filter with water, but that wasn't enough to get it going. I had to start and stop the motor several times before the intake finally took a small trickle of water. Another 15 minutes or so and it was running. It took several hours and through the night to clear all the air in the system. In hindsight, I would again fill the filter compartment with water, but also fill both hoses from the top. I'm confident this would've really helped.The 200W heater has been able to keep a covered 40 gallon tank at 78 degrees in a 66-70 degree house. Flow seems adequate for my plans for a planted tank. Pump is running silent.I'll say 5 stars for now. I'm pleased. So far so good.Update: Well, after 10+ days of running the pump has started to make a little noise. Pretty typical of almost any filter, no better or worse than average on noise.