Sponge/foam in canister filter

[xander]

I have various canister filters and the manuals for the ancient Fluvals have me put the sponge at the top. The ECCO has the sponge on the bottom. Does it really matter where they go? I have three ECCOs, two old Fluvals and two Eheim Pros. I don't think any one has an identical configuration as any other one. Does it matter? Will a certain order in media prevent premature clogging? What order of media is your favorite?

[BigJim]

I'm not really familiar with canisters, but the water should flow through the filter media in decreasing order of coarseness with the coarsest media first and the finest media last.

[mfdrookie516]

Im not sure if the older fluvals are set up like the newer ones or not, but my 305 and 405 have a sponge holder that holds 4 sponges on the left side of the can where the water travels through it, then over to my media trays where my bio-rings are. Like BigJim said, you generally want to have the water flow through the course stuff first, then through the finer stuff...

[spoonman]

My canisters flow through course sponge, then the ceramic rings, then the finer sponge/fiberfil. Seems to work for me.

[eatsomepopcorn]

Sponge should be the first thing the water hits.

[warlock4x4]

The old fluvals had the sponge in the first or top section then your carbon and finally the bios. The water is pulled from around the sides and the intake is in the middle. IIRC!