I bought the large sized planters at HoDeePo and built a rack for them fairly similar to a bookcase. There are three of them.
I have a small water fall weir that feeds the "system." The weir had some fiber media in it, kind of like mandala only a lot cheaper. That takes out of the ick from the pump that comes directly from the bottom of my small fish pond. The pond is both small and for the little guys.
Earlier this year I didn't think the shower worked worth a darn. It may not have but that was because it wasn't "seasoned" or didn't have the necessary bacteria built up.
I was wrong about that. It works so well it shocks me. I stuck whatever I had lying around at the moment in those filters. I had some kaldess I got from Birdman and put that in one planter box. I used fiber matt in the other two and even tried the stuff you use to put over gutters to keep leaf debris out. It has a lot of surface area and is pretty inexpensive.
What my somewhat lengthy post is saying is that they work. It seems they work with just about anything in them. You just have to decide on something and give it some time.
Have lots of water going through it. Just try it and see.
Lbeth