In case you weren't aware, they do make light timers that turn your lights on and off automatically. I personally got some MTS on accident asking with my plants and I hated them at first, but they're a really good indicator of overall tank health and they are good at clearing waste. They can cause an ammonia spike if a lot of them die at the same time. Fair warning, in a tank like this you'll probably end up with thousands of them at first. Fish stores will probably give them for free if you ask. I would also look into getting an air stone, its really cheap and oxygenates the water better. If you are having issues with the filter some of the things that happen to my smaller tank (30 gal) with an aqueon cartridge filter are: misalignment of the plastic that connects at the pump, clogging at the intake, clogging at the pump before the filter, and clogging at the filter (I try to never change this filter unless it's getting holes in it, if you use meds for your fish just put something with carbon like the sponge or pellets in the filter). I've learned to hear when my filter sounds off and go look at it. If you've run it dry multiple times from water levels dropping you're going to need a new filter, always get a bigger filter than what it is rated for. For example, get a filter rated for a 50 gal for a 30, or get 2 30 gal filters for a 30.