I have got to be doing something wrong with my XP3s

[Angler]

On my 125, I have 2 XP3s and 2 Emperor 400s. I just went the longest period of time without taking my XP3s down and cleaning them, which was 4 weeks. Everytime I take them down to clean them, whether it is 2 weeks or 4 weeks, I find all the gunk floating on top of all the baskets. I have them set up basically the way that Rena suggests. Pads on the bottom, Seachem Matrix in the middle, and a fine pad on the top. The gunk never gets caught in the bottom pads. They are virtually clean, even after 4 weeks. What am I doing wrong? I would think if the XP3s were running right, I wouldn't get all the debris floating on top of all the baskets; the pads on the bottom should be where most of the debris is located, right?

Help!

 

[bigspizz]

Put all "pads" on the bottom trays...Bio is the top most....I go with floss on the bottom(pillow stuffing) with two "pads" on top of it. Matrix in the other two....Works flawless...

 

[IKeepPacu]

i always seem to have that gunk in my filstars too. however, all my tanks are sparkling clean, and the filters seem to do their job. my 55g convict/jack tank is filtered exclusively by an xp3, and the tank is pristine. its also

my filters are filled with the rena pads in the bottom tray, then the rest with bio-max.