Sump help

[makana]

I never thought of running the sump without the tank, that is a good idea. I'm re-finishing the stand and was kind of waiting on that before experimenting.

How high would you recommend the filter sock tray? Would you make the tray the full size of the compartment? The sides of the sump are 3" verticle and 2" diaganol from the top of the baffle that the drip tray sits on. Would it be possible to keep the socks that high? Is there a downside to having them that high?

From what I've read bubble trap baffles should be 1" appart. I have 2" between the baffles where the spong sits. If I close in the one baffle to the bottom and cut it out around the same hight as the other one I could drop one from the top in between the two and make an actual bubble trap. Each side would be 1\16" shy of the 1". Will doing that work, or will it restrict flow too much?