Fancy Vac.

I've tried several variations of the manual vac & pump/filter in an
interest to clean my tank a little more thorough. The best
configuration (so far) uses a whole house 30 micron filter insert
fitted to the input of a return pump in a 10gal plastic tote. The idea
was to vacuum into the tote and return the cleaned water to the tank
and allow smaller water changes. What I have works well for about 10
gallons. The filter plugs and I have to stop vacuuming. I've tried
cleaning the filter by reverse flow from the tap, with less than
spectacular results. At $5 a pair for the filters they cost too much to
replace. I thought about a sand or gravel filter but how would I clean
it? A new 30 micron filter works well for a few minutes, but leaves a
microscopic "cloud" in the water. The obvious solution would be to
use a 5 micron fine filter, but that'd plug sooner. Oh, I've also
tried using foam or paper towel as a prefilter. Any ideas?

Thanks

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