Should I improve my filtration ? please advise

I don't use carbon because I have plants and use fertilizers and such. If I ever had to medicate my tank I suppose I would end up using some on a short term basis to remove the meds.

You can usually find filter sponge at your LFS. I know Big Al's sells some as well. I use the "rack" that came with my Penguins, but ripped out the blue wooly filter foam that had the activated carbon in it, got all of the carbon out, and then just used rubber bands to hold on some Marineland bonded Filter foam that the LFS sells.
 
Harlock - why did you recommend taking out the charcoal filter?
 
Because carbon just isn't necessary for everyday use in a filter. All it does is cost you money and keep you running back to the LFS to buy more of an expensive product that you don't need. Don't get me wrong, it is great for remoing medicine from a tank or some specific purpose like that (smells come to mind as well), but it does nothing the right mechanical filtration cannot do for common, day-to-day use. In addition it is generally only good for a fwe says to a week or two before it stops working. Plus, as I said, I do add things to my water as I have live plants. I dose both Flourish and Flourish Excel. I wouldn't want the carbon taking those things out of my tank as I have a specific purpose for them. If you use the search function of the forums and look for activated carbon, you can find some very decent debates on it.
 
Update on my filter situation...

Thanks to all of your advice, I went out last night and picked up two AquaClear 30's and took out the carbon and bio stones or whatever those things were in both and then placed 2 foam pads in each.

I opted for the 2 AquaClear’s instead of just adding 1 smaller Penguin mostly for aesthetics, but also because the filtration on my 20g was insufficient and I figured the 170 would be a nice upgrade on it.

Thanks again
 
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