Very Very confused about canister filters

You can load your baskets any way you want to. I have sponges in the bottom and middle baskets, and bio chem stars and floss on the top one. It works for me. In my XP2, I have sponges on the bottom basket, and ceramic noodles and bio balls plus floss on the top. You can rinse your sponges in old tank water, but mine don't rinse very well. I was replacing each time with new ones, but now I just put them in the washing machine by themselves and wash them a complete cycle with hot water. I have enough to be able to replace the dirty sponges with clean ones, and I just wash the dirty ones when I get ready. It hasn't affected the biological filter in my tank to do this because I still have the bio media in the top basket. Sorry, I don't have the instructions for you.

this may help

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=3602



"Requires FilStar Foam, Micro-Filtration Pad, and Bio-Chem Zorb."



here is some for the filstar xp series


http://www.aquariumpharm.com/filstar.html
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/filstardirections.html
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/filterfaqs.html
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/filtermaint.html
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/equipindex.html
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/pdf/equipment/XPparts.pdf

heres a list of stuff you can use for the compartments

http://www.aquariumpharm.com/aqeqfilter.html



I knew this stuff cause I too am going to order a XP3 for my 40gal soon

i would recomend this... i wouldn't use much besides activated carbon and biological media. this will work fine as long as the volume of carbin is great enough. using white dimond (the marineland ammonia-reducing carbon like substance) is alright i guess. and thats depending on the type of fish and size of aquarium. oscars need it more than tetras and barbs. (do you mind posting the specs?) But adding anything else really isn't good. my reasoning is this... other substances will clean the water yes but will change the osmotic (i don't know how to spell that word ) preasure. this can prove fatal to some fish. remeber: the biological filter is the best filter.
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First mechanical filtration, generally larger pores, either large celled sponge or (better) something like eheim noodles (efimech). The point is to first catch the big crap and leaves and such. ideally the media will also spread out the flow so it is even across the cross sectionas it flows into the second stage.

Second, biomedia, that would be efistrat, sintered glass, lava, or bioballs, generally a home for bacteria. The point here is that the big crap has been filtered out alread, so now the ammonia and nitrite is attacked by bacteria, so this is where basically clear water flows over bacteria laced media.

Finally, water polishing. Filter floss, a fine white sponge, or something similar. The point here is to catch the dead bacteria that naturally sluff off the the biomedia. You can use carbon or other chemicals here if you think it necessary. But it probably isn't necssary, just change the fine media frequently.

I often just open the canister and replace that top floss or pad. If the water has bits of junk that you can see, change the pad, maybe clean the rest of the canister or just dump the nasty water if it is a mess when you open it, but at a minimum change the pad at the top. You can do this very quickly so don't think you need to postpone it until you have the time to do a full canister cleaning. Just keep one pad handy to pop in. I use a roll of filter padding that I cut to fit each different filter I own. One pad stays in each cabinet so I can use whenever it is needed.

The final media, the pad or floss, is fine and so it will clog faster than anything else in the filter. Also, if the filter slows down, or if you hear it where it was silent before, that may be the cause.