Canister Course filter pad

[bogart]

I just purchased a replacement set of filter pads for my SunSun Canister filter. It came with a Course filter pad. Where should I place the course filter pad, at the bottom or top of the canister? I plan to only replace one pad per month so as to not lose the cycle.

 

[1998golfer]

Place the coarse one at the bottom, as the water flows from down up. The mechanical filter pads themselves do not hold much of your bacteria, the is the biological media's job. Every two weeks or so I clean all of my filter pads in my sunsun canister, in tap water. However, the biological media I quickly put in a separate container of dechlorinated water, to save the bacteria we need to convert ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate that we spend so long getting established.