Aquaclear HOB for water polishing, Nitrate factory?

[fishface]

when i was keeping freshwater planted tanks i would use quilting material, just have to make sure it's got nothing added for hypoallergenic reasons or whatever. it's super cheap and works just as well if not better and you can feel free to change out at will. also about nitrates, if everything is pretty stable, just test once a week or whatever and monitor the situation, that should give you a pretty good idea as to when you'll need to think about changing, give or take.