[mseepman]

My Bean Animal has a trickle and you would be surprised how much flow comes down the trickle. The key is that it all comes down the sides...that can be a lot (in my case it is) and yet everything is safe and dead silent. It even falls an entire floor for me. I think the above idea would be the best way to go. Full and emerg on one end, trickle and emerg on the other.
Obviously the trickle isn't going to do a lot to surface skim, but it can be greater than you think. What size are the holes?