Small Internal power filter as a secondary filter

[chasgood]

Surfing the web I noticed several people use 2 filters per tank. Most have a power filter combined with either a canister or internal power filter.
Reasons given are
1. Added filtering just to be safe.
2. If one filter stops working there is still filtration in the tank.
3. Messy types of fish.

I am thinking about getting a small internal filter for reasons 1 and 2.
I figure one made to handle half my tank size will do. Don't want the current in the water to be to much for the fish.
Petsmart has there own brand called Proquatics Internal Power Filter. It uses a small pump and foam filter. It is actually made by a Italian company called Hydro I believe.
Several stores carry the Duetto Multi Filter Model DJ100 as well as the Fluval Internal Filters from Hagen. The Fuval comes in 4 sizes.
Anyone have any of these? please tell how well it works?
One review said that the 2 smaller Fluval filters are noisier than the 2 bigger ones. Other than that they are highly rated. Can't find out much on the other 2 brands.

Thanks

[TankGirl]

I like your idea of using an internal filter as a supplement. I have not used one before (I will run a small box filter in the big tank to be used in my quarrantine/hospital tank) so I can't help you with brands, but it is a great idea to have it, and if (when ) you get more tanks you can use it as a backup in the case of filter breakdown, etc.

[chasgood]

I based my idea of internal filters from looking at online stores. Yesterday I took a good look at them in a store. I was not impressed. For the size there really isn't much filter media in them. They take up to much space for the small amount of filtering they do.
I am starting to look at the simple sponge filter used with a small powerhead. A piece of plastic riser tubing, cut and shape a piece of foam and a powerhead. Guess this has turned into a [acronym:c8b908c4ea="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:c8b908c4ea] project.
For now I replaced the plastic screen on the bottom of my powerfilter tube with a piece of coarse foam. This will act as a prefilter and a place for bacteria to grow. So in the powerfilter I cut out the blue coarse fiber filter media from the cartridge and replaced it with the finer white polyfiber. Put the filter in a net bag to hold it all together.
Just overnight I could tell the water was clearer. The bonus is never having to buy a filter cartridge again. Less than a dollar for the foam, $1.50 for a net bag and $2.50 for a bag of polyfiber that will last a very long time. A cheap way to upgrade most powerfilters.