Vertrox

That helped a lot thanks! I think im still just surprised at how simple they are and so cheap. I just couldn't understand why everyone recommends them really because I've always had a "more expensive is usually better" mindset for my pets haha

I honestly have no idea about C02, I have never used or know much about it. I usually keep my tank about 79-80⁰F. I used to get constant staghorn algae before I got a siamese algae eater than cleaned everything spotless! I use Seachem Flourish and it has almost every micro element I would say, but I dont believe it has any micros. Currently all that's in the tank is 6 gold tetras, 4 guppies, an oto, an albino bristlenose pleco and a siamese algae eater. Since my discus moved tanks the levels in this tank have been so easy to control im just confused about it. The light that I have has a 24 hour cycle but is off for probably 5 hours or so, but it has a very slow sunset and sunrise. I have another light of the same size and brand, just a little less fancy so I have to have it on a timer, but while it is on it is 100% brightness. I also have always used RO water and have recently heard of remineralizing only recently and wonder if not doing that could also be causing me problems? I originally had my extra lighting to grow some guppy grass crazy fast, but I thought Val was able to handle a wide variety of light conditions. I am also honestly bad on being consistent with my fertilizing, but since I just got the val and have only dosed once with it, I don't know if my fertilizer melted it or was totally unrelated. I try to clean up extra food pretty quickly also since the tank is a little understocked currently and will vacuum up all the poop my pleco leaves if I notice any buildup fairly fast.

Hello! I can't seem to find a definitive answer to my question. I don't seem to fully understand how a sponge filter could be strong enough to filter an aquarium well but everyone loves them? I bought a large and medium to stack on that I bought from aquarium Co-op for my 60g tall since I heard they were so great but im still confused on how they actually filter well? I just wanted to get rid of my canister and hang on back filters since they mess up my plants so bad haha.

Hello! I received my jungle val in a kind of browned condition but was advised to still plant it. I had a new sprout in just 3 days and saw new growth on the big leaves! Now all my Val is shrinking though after about a week and a half in the tank and I can't seem to figure out why. They are getting brown spots all across their leaves and are fairly thin, is this still the melting process? I do frequent water changes and check my parameters to make sure my levels are good 1-2 times a week and everything seems fine. Could the 3 hours of extra light I add from another light bar a day for my other plants be too much and causing it to wither away maybe? I currently have the extra light off to test if that's the problem. I also use a seachem all around fertilizer about once a week or less.