I have a 100 gallon sump with quite a few baffles in it. I bought it used and what I would do differently is maybe not even have any baffles at all. I like having all the room in the world to do whatever I please. But I only paid $100 for it so I can't complain. It is made of acrylic so it has "euro" style cross bracing in a couple of places accross the top which limits me in what I can do as well.
In a baffle-less sump I would have the drain going into a small bucket or something with a bunch of holes in it. This would help with the bubbles and debris and sort of act like a settling chamber. If a fish goes down the overflow then it's in the bucket. I do not like having a strainer at my drain. I'd rather the fish go down the drain then for it to get gummed up and have to clean out the strainer often.
All said and done though, to me a sump is a sump - something to house all your equipment. You have the right idea by going BIG - means you can add lots later.
Hope this helps.
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