10 Best Fish Tanks 2020 [Buying Guide]

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Heather
Patton

Jennifer
Trimbee

Samantha
Dewitt

How to Choose the Best Fish Tank

Having a fish tank is a great way to teach kids responsibility or to add a beautiful centerpiece to your living room or office. But you can’t just get any tank, you have to look for the best fish tanks. To help you keep your fish happy, we researched some of the top fish tanks and put together this review. Before we jump into our best picks, let’s take a look at some of the key features you need to know.

Capacity:- Tank capacity is measured in gallons. The main thing you need to keep in mind is this: the smaller the tank, the smaller the fish. Medium sized fish aren’t going to be happy in a tank less than 5 gallon.

Material: These tanks are made of either plastic or glass. Plastic tanks are generally less expensive while glass tanks are a little pricier. That said, glass tanks leak less and give you a better view or your fish.

LED Light: You don’t have to light your tank, but it looks pretty awesome if you do. A light adds more atmosphere and your fish will like it, too. Some of these kits come with really great lighting, including multiple color options and timers.

Pieces: Most of these art kits so we included a tally of how many things come in the kit. This number includes some combination of the tank, lid, light, filter, and even extras like water conditioner and fish food.

Filter: You should get a filter. You don’t necessarily need one with a small tank but, believe it or not, small tanks are harder to keep clean. Luckily, a lot of these tanks come with the filter included.

Size: Before you buy your tank, you should have some idea where you want to put it. Some of the bigger tanks have a large footprint that might not fit well on a desk or dresser. It’s good to be prepared.

Top 10 Products

Now that we covered the important features you need to know about, let’s get right into our fish tank reviews. If you’re a hurry, start with our top and budget picks. They’re the first 2 items on our list and give you a good idea of the variety that’s out there. All of these products are unique so keep reading to find the one that’s the best match for you. Alright, let’s swim right into out reviews.

Marineland Portrait Aquarium

We think our top pick is the best fish tanks for beginners. Why? Because the Marineland Portrait Aquarium is really easy to maintain. It includes an advanced 3-stage back panel filtration with an adjustable flow to make sure that the returning water isn’t too much for your fish. The LED lights really make this aquarium pop. There are 2 different colors, white and blue. White LEDs shimmer in the water and the blue LEDs create a moonlight effect. Because this aquarium has rounded corners, you get a really nice view of your fish from any angle. Another great thing about this tank is that it’s quiet and won’t disturb your day to day life. Everything you need is in this kit, including the filter, LED lights, and mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration inserts.

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Tetra Half Moon Betta Tank

When it comes to the best cheap fish tanks, you can’t beat our budget pick, the Tetra Half Moon Betta Tank. This is a small tank that’s perfect for a fish or two and a great place to start if you’ve never had a tank before. The most unique thing about it is its shape, a half-moon made of clear plastic. That means you have a full viewing window that you can see from anywhere in the room because there aren’t any corners breaking up your view. It comes with a plastic canopy with a feeding hole and has a repositionable LED light. This kit doesn’t come with a filter so make sure you look into how to care for the water to keep your pets healthy.

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Aqueon Betta Falls Kit

One of the most interesting best freshwater fish tanks is the Aqueon Betta Falls kit. It’s designed as a 3-tier cascading waterfall. Each tier is its own separate little area and there are frosted panels between them so the fish can’t see one another, which is really important with Bettas. This is a really great tank for water plants and smaller fish or crustaceans. It’s definitely a conversation starter because there aren’t made tanks like it. It includes a filter that’s really quiet and keeps the water clean and healthy. That’s not all, there’s even a really convenient fill indicator window that lets you know when you need to add more water. It comes with the filter, cartridge, and even some food and water care samples so you can get up and running right away.

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Tetra Cube Aquarium

If you’re looking for the best small fish tank, check out the Tetra Cube Aquarium. It’s small but not too small. It’s the perfect size for a kitchen, dorm, classroom, or for in your office. It’s really quiet, too, so there are no distractions. This is a 3-liter tank that is equipped with a filter to keep the water healthy and clean for your small fish. It even comes with filter media, including a small bio bag to support the growth of beneficial bacteria colonies needed to properly filter the water. There’s also an LED light so you can show off your fish and landscaping. To make feeding a little easier, the lid even has a small feeding hole so you don’t have to take the whole thing off when it’s time.

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API Aquaview 360 Kit

When it comes to beautiful fish tanks, you can’t do much better than the API Aquaview 360 Kit. It’s small, stylish, and easy to maintain. What makes it so special? It’s all about the lighting. Get this: it comes with an LED lighting that lets you choose from 7 different colors, including white, blue, green, amber, aqua, purple, and red. You can even set a timer so they come on at the same time every day and stays on for 2 or 4 hours. You can manually turn them off and on, too, for continuous lighting. This one has a pretty awesome filter that removes all the things that will keep your fish healthy. And here’s something really cool, it can run on either a power adapter or 3 AAA batteries.

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Fluval Spec V Aquarium

The Fluval Spec V Aquarium is one of the best fish tanks for sale. One of the most noticeable things about it is its narrow shape. At only 6.3 inches wide, it’s a great tank to put on a desk, dresser, or in the kitchen because it doesn’t take up too much space front to back. At 5 gallons, this is a nice size, too. The sleek overhang lighting system contains 37 powerful LED lights that illuminate your plants and fish perfectly. The powerful circulation pump has a large 3-stage filtration system. Filtration media is included, too. You get a porous foam block for mechanical filtration, activated carbon for chemical, and BioMax rings to facilitate the growth of beneficial bacteria that perform the third stage of filtration.

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Penn Plax Vertex Aquarium Kit

Another great choice for best starter fish tank kit is the Penn Plax Vertex Aquarium Kit. This tank is made of glass, not plastic like other small tanks. Better yet, it’s one piece of ⅛-inch wide glass with rounded corners that provide a frameless view for better viewing from any angle because there are no creases in the glass. The lid is plastic and opens easily for feeding. There’s more. This kit includes everything you need to get started setting up right away. In addition to the glass tank, you also get a hang on water filter, thermometer, and fish net. This is a small tank that looks really awesome and is perfect for a desk, dresser, or any other small space. It’s perfect for keeping small fish or even shrimp.

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Aqueon Fish Tank Starter Kit

Next up: the Aqueon Fish Tank Starter Kit. This is one of the more exotic fish tanks on our list because it’s large enough to support medium sized fish and a lot more plant life. The LED lighting really adds a lot to the environment, too. The included setup guide shows you exactly what you need to do to get things going right out of the box. Everything you need is included, including a heater, filter, fish food, water conditioner, a fish net, and a thermometer. One of the coolest things about this tank is the LED Pro Filter. The LED on the top of it starts to flash when it’s time to change the filter cartridge. Plus, the filter uses 5-step filtration that uses a special ammonia filter pad.

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All Glass Aquarium

For something a little more basic, check out the All Glass Aquarium. If you hadn’t guessed, it’s made of glass. The seals are really tight and won’t leak. It’s a great basic tank for anyone looking to get started with their first tank. This isn’t a kit, it’s a tank and an eco hood. It has black trim and looks very polished when put together. It even has break out sections where you can hang your filter, thermometer, or heater. If you don’t need a filter or LED lights, this is the way to go. Maybe you have a filter from a previous tank or that someone has given you as a hand-me-down and feel like there’s no need to buy a full kit. This tank is just what you need.

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Vepotek Fish Tank

Last up in our fish tank buying guide is the Vepote Fish Tank. This is the most modern looking tank that we found in our research. The design is really simple. It’s made out of high strength safe tempered glass. The glass is so clear and the seams are so well done that it almost looks like there aren’t any walls at all. It includes a reliable and thorough pump that’s high performance and energy saving. It sits in one of the corners and can be swiveled with 90 degrees to position it so it fits best in your decor. The light is really awesome. It’s white and attaches to the rim of the tank so it extends right over the water. There are 11 LED lights and it looks awesome, especially at night.

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About the Author

Kimberly Graf

Expert Researcher and Writer

Kimberly Graf is a researcher and writer for GeekWrapped.com. She covers kitchen, cooking, and home products.

Best Fish Tanks

Top 10 Buying Guide

Our Recommendations

Marineland Portrait Aquarium

Tetra Half Moon Betta Tank

How to Choose the Best Fish Tank

Top 10 Products

Marineland Portrait Aquarium

Tetra Half Moon Betta Tank

Aqueon Betta Falls Kit

Tetra Cube Aquarium

API Aquaview 360 Kit

Fluval Spec V Aquarium

Penn Plax Vertex Aquarium Kit

Aqueon Fish Tank Starter Kit

All Glass Aquarium

Vepotek Fish Tank

About the Author

TOP PICK

Marineland Portrait Aquarium