Sump idea - Good/Bad No Can Do?

[BCReefer]

OK over the past few weeks I have spoken to a couple of fish stores regarding a sump and it seems my idea is not do able.

I wanted to have a plastic PVC pipe in the corner of my tank about 3 - 4 inches from the top of the tank. This would go down to my stand where I would have a sump.

I want to keep my heater and skimmer there.

I would then have another pipe/hose running and pushing the water back up into the tank. The people at the store said i needed to have an overflow bucket in my tank and from there i can run the pipe down. The only reason I do not want to do this is that I do not want to see the overflow in my tank, strictly a cosmetic thing.

As my tank is already set up drilling a hole in the bottom is not an option.

Is there any simple way for me to set up a sump?

Cheers,
BC