Background: got the green light from the wife to start a tank, so I rushed into it and bought a kit (didn't want the offer to expire!).

The good stuff: the LED hood is great if you aren't going to heavily plant your tank. It is a very clean white which can be switched to a cool deep blue for nighttime viewing. The LED array itself is very durable, lightweight and doesn't generate heat (vs incandescent or fluorescent). The Penguin 150 is a reputable filter. Heater works but can't speak to it's quality because it's only been in use for four months.

Pretty much everything else is bad:
- The tank itself is a 20 gallon tall. Looking back I wish I would have gotten a long instead.
- The thermometer is the exterior sticker type which I never bothered to even install. I bought a several submersible thermometer.
- Samples were pretty worthless and were throwaways

While this is a starter kit, it did not include substrate.

If you are looking for a quick start and don't care much about specific components, then this may be right for you. But for me, it was a hasty decision. If afforded the time, I would have researched each component separately and gone with a 20 gallon long as mentioned before. I've had to swap out the filter for a submersible because the 150, as good and quiet as it is, wasn't quiet enough and was keeping my baby up at night. So pretty much I now have a tank that I don't like the dimensions of and a decent filter that I don't use. Most of the other things I don't use. The only thing going for it right now is the LEDs.

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The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese.

I forgot to mention, the net's handle isn't even long enough to reach the bottom of the tank by a long shot.

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The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese.