thank you eveyone for your thoughts helping a lot!
so for the skimmer i want to raise it how much? how big should i make a plat form? and for the skimmer out put tube where should it be exactly? above the black foam or with it ? or what?

and also would a mod help for this skimmer? if so i could get going on that!

Maybe you can try to cut down the last baffle leading to your return chamber to increase the water level. That should cut down on the noise and air in the tank.