Well, after a slight mishap (for the second time :bonk
during a water change, one that found me dropping the dirty filer media into the newly cleaned tank I've taken the plunge and opted for an external filter.
The weekend will therefore be filled with cursing, panic and regrets as I undoubtedly encounter issues with the installation and question my sanity
In fairness the process looks pretty straight forward and I'll run both filters together for a fortnight or so before turning off the internal filter and removing it into storage so that it's on hand as a spare in the event of any issues.
looking forward to gaining a reasonable chunk of internal tank space, lot looking forward to losing a much larger chunk of under tank storage space