Here is my two cents on the topic. I personally don't like underground filters. When I had my 120 gallon tank I had an underground filter and the amount of work it took to clean the gravel every week was outrageous. Now that I have a turtle, I find that he likes a good mix of gravel and sand to burrow in. Sand and underground filters don't mix well.

Secondly, about my recommendation for a filter. Eheim canister filters are tremendously powerful and amazingly silent. They get the job done and you don't have to clean the gravel as often as you would with an underground filter. However, the largest model they make commercially will only clean a 160 gallon tank... so you would need it and maybe one of their 100 gallon filters as well. The other option is a sump filter. In our outdoor pond, we use a Berlin sump filter. It takes care of all 250 gallons of water and is fairly maintenance free. I clean it once in the spring and once in the fall and it seems to do fine. Keep in mind that we only have koi in the pond and I find that all my koi aren't nearly as messy as my turtle. However, the koi also take care of a lot of grass clippings that make it into the pond, as well as some of the leaves from the ornamental trees that surround the pond. Anyways, back on topic, I would venture to guess that the Berlin sump filter would work wonderfully for your aquarium.

www.eheim.com for the canister filters

OR

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_filters_berlin_sump.asp for the sump filter.

Happy Herping,
Jordan Worley

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