Old Eheim canister filter media arrangement

[grandweapon]

I bought a 2nd-hand Eheim 2026 to supplement my existing Fluval C4 HOB on my 3ft tank. This is my first canister, and I did some reading on it and found that the suggested filter media is similar to this image (except the 2026 has only 2 trays instead of 3)



The water goes down through the inlet tube all the way to the bottom before getting pushed back up through the different layers of media to the top. My question is, shouldn't the coarse filter pad and fine filter pad be in the bottom of the lower tray so that the debris can be filtered out before reaching the biological media and clogging them?

My plan for this canister is as follows:

	Media
Upper Tray	Seachem Purigen Seachem Matrix
Lower Tray	Biohome Ultimate Fine Sponge Pad Coarse Sponge Pad

Will this configuration work? Or is there a good reason why the original suggested layout is the way it is?

Thank you.

[armageddon]

bottom layer is a Mechanical filter. the efimech is use to trap larger particals while the sponge will do the finer job.
this will prolong the lifespan of the filteration. before anything reaches the bio.

[Urban Aquaria]

Shift the fine sponge pad to the upper tray, place it after the matrix, but before the purigen. This reduces the rate at which the fine sponge pad clog up early. The filtration path should be coarse -> medium -> fine.