My journey into the hobby began unexpectedly when my granddaughter won a goldfish at a fair in February and I inherited the fish. What started as a simple attempt to keep a goldfish alive quickly turned into a deep dive into the world of aquariums.

Fortunately, my son had an unused 10-gallon starter kit sitting in his garage, so I jumped in and began learning. The past three and a half months have been both enjoyable and challenging, filled with plenty of mistakes, lessons, and discoveries.

Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve learned is that many so-called experts rely heavily on anecdote, repetition, and marketing rather than evidence. Your science-based approach has been a refreshing contrast. The articles on this site have helped me separate fact from opinion and make better decisions for my aquarium.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and for providing a resource that encourages critical thinking and evidence-based fishkeeping.

In reply to Brian ……… The white and the dark charcoal pads that come with the FX series should never be replaced . Rather just use them as they are cut.

In reply to Fiona ………. Sure looks and acts like a Vorticella. In any case it is harmless and there is no safe treatment. Do look at your feeding. Much like hydra, Vorticella tend to occur in overfed aquariums.

Follow up – The white foam pads on the outer ring are 30ppi but replacing the pot scrubbers will still help? And top basket would be better I assume? I could probably cut the gray circular foam that came with the filter into a smaller size and put that in the middle of the top basket and still surround it with some pot scrubbers…but fluid mechanics…maybe that wouldnt work because the path of least resistance would be the surrounding scrubbers?

In reply to Brian ………. Quite normal. You can either let it sort itself out over the next few months or replace some of the pot scrubbers with 30 ppi foam.

In reply to StephaneL ……….. I do list the author and title of hundreds of citations throughout the articles. I just don’t list complete citations. With search services like Google Scholar complete citations aren’t necessary.

Some people really cannot accept being wrong or differing opinions, when you’ve been keeping difficult fish for decades and clearly provide facts.
Wish you well.

In reply to Brian ……….. You’ve got it exactly correct.