Jeff

I haven't heard, nor used. But, for the price - could there really be that much of a difference from an FX? Generally, you get what you pay for in quality...but $500 for a filter seems quite high. What are you looking for it to do, that an FX6 can't? What sized tank would you put it on?

+1 to gluing them. Not sure if flow affects them. But I have them in little > no flow; and mine are thriving.

Adding some floating plants can help as well. I was in a situation very similiar. Frogbit is a good one. It doesn't care if the tops of it are wet. It'll help with sucking up the nutrients that algae like. You would have to ramp up your light again, if you were to do this, to have enough light for the plants in the substrate.

So happy that you're starting at an early age. You're already on the right path of researching before you do things. I'm sure you know, BUT - stay on this path: keep researching, stay patient and you should have success. This is not a race, let nature take it's course. Best of luck, and I look forward to conversating with you on here, and seeing your progress!

I have from Aqua Huna and Aquatic Arts. Both are great. Cory is in connection with Dan's - so you can't go wrong there. Wet Spot is a favorite of Steenfot Aquatics (good friend of Cory) - I would guess the same...another good place.

The Wet Spot, Aqua Huna, Aquatic Arts, and Dan's Fish are some of the better online places to buy fish, imo. Orange Laser Corys would be a great bottom feeding crew, imo. I'll let others chime in on other fish to add.

@daggaz I think the OP was asking if an additional non-natural filter (HOB) was needed on top of going full sponge filter in the tank, due to having said plants. Plants are filters, but can only do so much. @TomO me personally, I would run two sponges in a 55g, since that's what you want to go to. But, I would get the second sponge seasoned (wait a couple of months with the new additional sponge), before removing the HOB.

Cory explains 6 months as - your tank should be rock solid from the last change you made. He also did say he was looking forward to 6 months after he recently moved his 800g....aka the tank should be able to handle most things by then. With that said, you don't need to wait 6 months after setting up an aquarium. It doesn't take that long to start seeing growth in plants and algae. 6 months is a good baseline if someone was curious; and wanted an amount of time. What's the secret sauce? Every tank is different, and you can skin a cat a million diff ways in this hobby. Just take things slowly, and you should have success. You DO have to know what the nitrogen cycle is...and base things off of that. There's no way around it. It's the foundation of every fish tank - saltwater and fresh. By the same token, I don't understand the rush to hurry up and put fish in. This hobby is a marathon, why rush things from the start? But, that's just me.

I would guess that it's because Cory doesn't really subscribe to cycling. And if they put a guide to it, more people would try it. He always promotes algae and plant growth. There's a Co-Op video about it.

That's what happened to me too. The air supply drastically changed after I cleaned them.

Aquarium Co-Op dual output

Pads are brand new. It's a 55g tank. Too high of a tank, apparently. Turns out, the air pump needed to be above the tank, and the sponge needed to be closer to the pump....sigh.

My sponge filters stopped producing bubbles. They were working fine. When I take the Ziss air stone out of the sponge, and hold it sideways with the tubing connected, it produces bubbles. But, the second I put it back in the sponge filter, straight up and down - nothing. Sponges have been recently serviced, cleaned out - nothing in any parts of the sponge chambers (snails) Any thoughts?

The only plants that are having pin hole issues in my 20g long tank are Dwarf Aquarium Lily, and Tiger Lotus. Other plants are: Dwarf Hairgrass, Java Fern, Pennywort, Rotundifolia Watermelon, Crypts, Pogo Octopus. Easy Green dosed 2x / week. Easy Root Tabs dosed 1x / month. Is this sufficient enough for Easy Potassium? Lights: Co-Op Easy LED. Lights on are from 12P - 7P, daily. Tank DOB: 4/9/20 Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 Nitrates 50 Gh 150 Kh 40 Ph 7 CL 0

I'm understanding this as 'good first time set ups' Either a 20g long, or a 40g breeder. Both are relatively small-ish...and provide good options for fish varieties and plenty of room to scape