Lucy

Hi Everyone.

Yesterday, I bought a Mini Bow 5 kit from Walmart. I love the looks of it. It's for my frog.
It came with a Whisper filter. I haven't set it up yet, I realized I need more gravel....off to the store tomorrow.

3 questions.....

The filter is open at the top, is that normal? I recently bought one for up to 3g's and it has a lid.

I went to Petco next (btw, the 5g mini bow was almost twice as much there)
After asking the salesman to remove a dead betta in a cup and a dead frog from a the tank
He was (insert sarcasm ) more than happy to answer my questions.

I asked him what size filter was in the Mini Bow..like up to how many gallons is it good for. He had no idea.

So..question # 2. What size filter is included with this kit?

#3 Does anyone have any problems with the filter rattling?
It's not a snug fit over the lip.

Thanks so much!

MinxMermaid

um, i have a mini bow, but sorry i'm a technical idiot

that all sounds like chinese to me

maybe rick can answer

hockeyref88

Lucy................We have the mini bow 2.5. The filter for that fits inside the tank and DOES not have a top on it. I just looked up the mini bow 5 and it looks like it has the same filter. It seemed overly strong for the 2.5 and it did fit real funky. The top also fit funky because of it..............But overall I think it is a good little filter. Jacq thinks it is to strong for the 2.5.........Hope this helps.

lilsoccakid

i have the minibow 5, and the filter is up to 10 gallon tanks, and mine came with a lid. also, it is completly silent, and fits perfectly, i would take it back and swap it.

ps. i just replaced the light in mine with a 23 watt compact flouresent, which are very cheap, and gives you 4.6 WPG! that many watts per gallon can support almost any plant, which is going to make a very fun project for me

jdhef

I have a 5 gallon TopFin that came with a Wisper filter that hangs on the back on the inside of the tank. Mine is open on the top also. It has a suction cup towards the botton, so it doesn't vibrate. It also has a sliding switch on the back of the motor that slows down or speeds up the flow.

Lucy

Allie, do you mean your filter has a lid? How come you got one? lol
The tank came with a lid and light.

Thanks everyone.

steveangela1

we have had a minibow 5 for about 6 years now and its a great tank. our filter did have a lid, and I have no problems with the filter at all, in fact I still have the same filter on it.

COBettaCouple

I've only gotten the 2.5g minibows and the filter should be similiar on the 5g. It intakes on the bottom and flows out on top. They filter fine, but I replaced them with small Azoo HOB palm filters to give more swimming room in the tank.

mlinden84

I have a few of those 5 gallon mini bows. Mine all came with the hob power filters WITH a top on the filter. I haven't had any problem with them being overly loud.
I also would recommend upgrading the light... they look amazing with the higher wattage and are great for live plants!

Lucy

Thanks everyone for your input.

I went to the store today (I needed more gravel) and compared the Whisper 10 to the filter that comes with mini bow, it appears smaller, but that's ok, I was really just curious anyway.

When I got home, I found out that if I kept that extra lip off, the filter and hood fit just fine.

I've got it running and I can't hear it at all.

Thanks melinda, I'd love to try real plants soon and I'll take your advise.

I think I'm going to be very pleased it the mini bow and so will my frog.