Can I see some Rubbermaid sumps
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1551665
I personally just do not like having to do avoidable work (I think its human nature but maybe I'm just lazy). Cleaning socks, pads and floss is avoidable if you design your system to not need them. I also like to leave the house from time to time and I don't like having to ask my tank sitter to do that for me. A 100gal trough is a lot of space. Unless you have a ton of flow through it the suspended particles in the water will probably just settle to the bottom where you can siphon them out whenever you do a water change. Your skimmer will also pull out a lot more to help compensate.