For the sponges that come with them, cut out the middle section that divides the media and make it so the water can more easily flow to the media (at least that was my thought when I had the evo 13.5 which has the same sponge). You can put some bio media by the pump such as marine pure balls. The sponge tends to hold a lot of bacteria so keep that in mind when you clean it (I recommend using old tank water to clean it when doing a water change once a week. I'd recommend a bag of chemipure elite or maybe some phosphate media on one side and high quality carbon on the other. What filter media you need all depends on the situation. I think the best thing when starting a new tank is getting some biodiversity in there be that live phyto, bacteria such as eco balance or waste away, the necessary nitrogen cycle bacteria, pns probio, etc. Most algae problems from a new tank come from not testing phosphates (for some reason new reefers just ignore that idk why) and having not much to compete with the algae. Also make sure to get dry rock (with live sand if you can) and do the cycling yourself. Pests from live rock (and not dipping corals) can be extremely frustrating to new reefers
