re-engineering my sump

[sploke]

Alright, here's a crappy paint drawing of how my sump operates now:



The sump is a 20L tank. Pump pushes about 700 gph . The overflow drain splits with about 75% going into the left chamber for the skimmer and 25% going into the fuge. The skimmer was operating in HOB mode until it started overflowing all over the place periodically, so I fudged it around so its inside completely, so if/when it overflows again it just drains back into the sump.

I'm not happy with it for a few reasons. Its the first time I've done one like this. First problem - I'm putting way too much flow through it - like borderline my bulkhead barely keeps up with the flow. Result is a ton of microbubbles in the display. I alleviated the problem partially, but never got it fully worked out. The water just moves so fast through the thing, the bubbles don't get a chance to pop.

I'm planning on downsizing the pump to something closer to 300-350 gph and just getting more powerheads to make up for it. So what i'm thinking is making the sump just 2 chambers instead of 3, a larger fuge and then a place for the return pump. My only question is, how to do this with whats already there. My first inclination is to remove the bubble trap, put the return pump where the fuge is now, and make the other 2/3 of the tank into a fuge. I think it would be large enough to deal with 100% of the overflow. I would probably put the skimmer body in the same compartment as the return pump, but hang it over the divider. Downsides are skimmer pump is then in the fuge, and I lose the bubble trap.

If I go the other route, and keep the bubble trap, I think a smaller pump will fit in there because I don't think the one I have now would fit. I'm still left with the same skimmer issue though. So, let the brainstorming begin. Oh yeah, display tank is a standard drilled 55 with corner overflow box.