First sump filter - What should I put in it?

So I've bought a second hand tank which has a sump filter.
I'm quite daunted by the size of the sump. I'm wondering what the best and most cost effective media are.

The seller included few pieces of old filter materials.
Pics here: http://imgur.com/gallery/G9hH42Y

Some of it is unfamiliar to me, particularly the 2-minute-noodle looking stuff. And the blue denser packed noodle stuff. Are these meant as biological filter or mechanical? Is it safe to reuse, or should I chuck it?

And those plastic grids, are they some kind of stand-offs to lift up the materials or something? How exactly do I use them? Do they just sit on the bottom of the sump?

He also had 2 small bags of zeolite+carbon. Should I put them in the sump or should I just keep them aside for when I want to remove meds or something?

Should I use the blue bio-filter balls, or is it worth buying ceramic rings instead? Buying enough ceramic rings to fill a chamber seems very expensive. Or is it not necessary to fill it.

I've heard of adding lava rock to the sump as well, as a cheap but effective filter. Is this something you guys would recommend?

Basically, what are your recommendations of what's worth putting into the filter that won't cost an arm and a leg.

 

What you want is mechanical filtration first, then biological filtration. You want to keep the dirt out of the sump as then it requires more frequent cleaning.

 

the white and blue noddle looking stuff is called matla mat, it is great mechanical filtration and does some bio as well.
you do not need to run sump full of media of the bat, can add as you go and bio load increases.
laval rock is normally cheapest way to full a sump, have used koi filter plastic bags, coarse gravel, and building stones in the past.

aim for 10 turn overs 6 will do, your mechanical filtration is important, more particles you can remove and the easier it is to service the better (normally a weekly thing). bio add as much you can, personally i like to do different media per chamber.