I personally recommend Eheim's Canister Filters. You can order through Petsmart.com or they are available at some aquarium supplies stores. I use them and they require miminal maintenance, and you can put a variety of media in them to support any kind of filtration you desire. The filter itself is about $140 I believe. There are varying size models at different costs. The filter comes with carbon and some other media (it's been awhile since I purchased mine). Replacement parts and media are readily available online or you can find them at your local aquarium shop. There are many threads on this forum discussing what kind of substrate is recommended for a heavily planted tank. For my planted tanks I do a layer of moss used for gardening (not sure the name of the moss), then a layer of sand, and on top of all that, a layer of small gravel. Go deep with your substrate, it seems the deeper, the better.
