Biomedia not fully submerged

Hey I started cycling another tank and noticed that in my aquaclear 70 that the biomedia is not complely submerged in the water, i added an small extra media bag of stuff from a used canister filter below it, do i need to remove something or is it going to be fine?

in total i have 1 layer of a filter pad at the bottom, followed by the sponge, then carbon, then a media bag that i filled with stuff from a used canister filter, then the aquaclear biomax things at the top

 

Whatever is sticking out of the water won’t be useful for holding beneficial bacteria, however if most of the bag is submerged I imagine it would be fine.

 

Whatever is sticking out of the water won’t be useful for holding beneficial bacteria, however if most of the bag is submerged I imagine it would be fine.

the layers not very thick, its w/e pack came with it at least.
i went ahead and removed the carbon bag and replaced it with some filter floss in a sleeve instead and placed 2 small rocks from my other tank to help and theyre all submerged now.

prior to removing the carbon i also noticed some water was bypassing the filter and coming out above the intake thats also clear now.

I dont actually need the carbon in there right?

--edit-- it's going to be planted tank as well if that matters

 

the layers not very thick, its w/e pack came with it at least.
i went ahead and removed the carbon bag and replaced it with some filter floss in a sleeve instead and placed 2 small rocks from my other tank to help and theyre all submerged now.

prior to removing the carbon i also noticed some water was bypassing the filter and coming out above the intake thats also clear now.

I dont actually need the carbon in there right?

--edit-- it's going to be planted tank as well if that matters

I have a planted twenty gallon and all my filter runs is a sponge and a bag of bio media. My Mechanical filtration is the sponge and that will clear any debris. Carbon is used for impurities in the water and the only reason I would use it is to get rid of medicine within the tank. Someone else might have a reason to use carbon but personally my tank has been fine without it.

 

I dont use carbon. Only to remove meds. It does help with smell but it wears out to fast to worry about it. You can totally get away with skipping it. All of my tanks are planted also.