Fill bucket from sink

Here's the solution I came up with to fill a bucket from a small sink.  I used 1" PVC pipe dry connected so I can take it apart after I'm done. Works great. 

Replace filter media with bulk foam

Filter media is expensive.  It usually is some foam or flossy material for mechanical filtration and some charcoal inside that for chemical filtration.

The thing is,  you can definitely get by without the charcoal and replace the media with bulk foam cut to size into one or multiple pieces and optionally weighted down with a small rock.

Foam blocks last much longer than the filter media you have been buying since you can rinse them in tank water and they don't have charcoal to make them hold toxins. Make sure you use aquarium safe foam.  You can buy it on eBay or in blocks from your fish store like this one.

When I do a partial  water change,  I rinse the bulk foam out in a bucket of tank water I removed.  I squeeze them several times in the tank water and then put them back in the filter.

Foam blocks last several months at least before they start to break down.

Picking a filter

Buy an inexpensive and simple filter that keeps the charcoal and foam separated and then-- leave out the charcoal.  You don't really need it.  You can use an external or internal filter. I really like the top fin internal filters at Petsmart .

With good quality coarse foam, you should be able to rinse and reuse it for ages.  No more buying filter cartridges and charcoal messes.  Once a week, rinse the filter in a bucket of tank water.