Comments: I've now had the mini 30 for 6 months and I am very happy with it. It looks great and is relatively easy to maintain. There are two caveats (hence minus 1 star): 1) the black aquarium stand is not well constructed (cheap thin particle board sides held together by tiny dowels), and the paint bubbles off when it gets wet; and 2) [this is a MAJOR frustration!] the plastic filter baskets (x2) in the back are very, Very, VERY poorly designed. It is virtually -impossible- to get the plastic backs properly slid back on once you've removed them and added your media. One would be extremely hard-pressed to come up with a more ill-conceived and poorly executed design for the plastic filter baskets - the backs are supposed to slide back on but do not fit correctly, not even close. I have mine banded together with rubber bands since I have been completely unable to get the backs reattached. In any event, I have a Fluval 305 running since the Nuvo filter baskets only provide minimal (passive) water filtration to begin with.
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<br />In summary, except for the embarrassingly poor filter basket design, I am very happy with the Nuvo 30 aquarium.
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