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Review on 🐠 H2Show Aquarium Ornament Kit by Hydor: Enhance Your Aquarium Experience by Jennifer Clark

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Hydor H2Show Volcano

I bought this for my aquarium and other people aren't kidding. This thing looks great. Photos cannot convey it properly. It fits nicely in a 10 gallon tank. 20 liters would be nice. Once you get over it, it will start looking a little small. I wouldn't put it in a 5 gallon tank, it will be too big and the bubble flow too strong. It looks so neat you can pop it in a 2-5 gallon tank by itself and some gravel and use it as a new light. (This assumes no fish and is used only as decoration, not aquarium decoration/vent as above.) The entire block is molded from clear material and then painted to look like a volcano. Some parts have been left unpainted to give it a "lava flow" look. It would look even more realistic if the top was left unpainted and mixed in with some other clear parts to give the appearance of "flowing" from top to bottom. But since the plastic is transparent, it looks weird when the light is off. The device emits a low hum. I can hear it in my tank but it's no louder than a regular outdoor air pump. In fact, it's quieter and can be mistaken for the sound of a quiet filter. The air valve at the end of the plastic hose can be adjusted from a gentle gurgling sound to a whooshing giant jet of bubbles. It looks best on low to medium settings. However, keep in mind that if this is your only aeration and you don't have a powerful filter that breaks up the water surface, this probably isn't enough to properly aerate your aquarium. When set to the lowest level, the bubbles are microbubbles with occasional normal sized bubbles. A higher setting increases the speed. At the maximum value, the vesicles become larger, comprising many more normal sized vesicles. You need to clean the bubble generator and LED every few months. Algae accumulate on them, blocking the flow of bubbles and reducing the level of light. A toothbrush designed specifically for cleaning an aquarium works well. Just lift the volcano and gently clean the bubble generator and LED lens. The cables for this thing are tough. It will be difficult to position them correctly, especially when you have to rotate them around decorations and other things. It's best to start with a tank that has nothing in it, not even gravel. The air pump can be fully buried to the bottom of the vents (actually the manual says so) and the plumbing can be routed under the gravel. There are three pipelines from the unit. One for the air pump, one for the air pump and one for the LED. It would be nice if Hydor could combine the air pump and LED power leads into one, but I think if one burns out you'll need to replace both. I didn't use the silicone hose that came with it. I used regular clear aquarium tube so the lines running down the back of the tank are less visible.

Pros
  • Few competitors
Cons
  • unreliable