I use a BioForce 2000 Pressurized Pond Filter on my Indoor 300 Gal Rubbermaid.
I’ve had it in use for around 4 years and am very happy with it. I’ve used mine with a 950 $ 1200 GPH pump with no problems, the 1800 gph pump put too much pressure on the system…
It seems to do a wonderful job on both mechanical and bio filtration, assuming you have the intake positioned to pick up waste.
It would fit beneath a large tank in the stand…
I’ve run mine with the pump submerged in the tank as well as kept externally. Submerged makes the pump literally silent but I prefer it outside the tank. I have my pump in a 2.5 gal acrylic tank since it has very very minor leaks from time to time. The Canister itself sits directly on the carpet, it has proved I have no reason to be concerned of it leaking.
I paid $200 for mine through a friend at a LFS, I’ve seen them online for around $225, then the pump is an additional $100, the only other expense is whatever PVC and tubing you want to use. Media is (should be) included at the prices I mentioned.
The only problem I have had with my BioForce 2000 is after a few years the seal around the top started sucking air. At first I added some foam along the clamp for the lid and this sealed it up. To give a better seal (although the original fix never failed) I cut some rubber to make a gasket for the lid. Even though both techniques worked, I have more confidence in the second.
There is another brand of Pond Filters found on Ebay that are the same basic design, but with a backwash feature. If I were to buy another such filter I would try this one out to see if the backwash feature made life any easier. I honestly doubt it will as I’ve only been cleaning my BioForce about once a year.
