Your plan to solve the problem works fine as that happened to NE's tank before I took over. Looks like ass though.
I would think it would work just fine without it as your not going to be filling your sump to the top anyways

I remember hearing/seeing that on the NE tank too. The normal operating volume is 3/4 full. But if my return pump is shut off the sump does fill to the top. I don't really want to drop the water level to 1/2 but if I did I guess I could get away with not having it and not doing anything else. I like Craig's idea of siliconing eurobracing to the underside front and back trim. The main issue I have with patching the centre brace is that I want to continue to use a single MH pendant over top which puts everything right in the way of the light.

put some stainless steel braces in:biggrin:

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/11/24/d...ce-steel-rods/

Thats another cool idea. But I've already paid for some 1/4"x4"x46-3/4" strips to be cut by Speedy Glass so I'll be ghetto euro bracing it.

I've made some progress on the stand this weekend. It still needs a few little pieces of trim (I ran out and will need to buy more) plus I've got some brad nail holes to cover up and a little bit of touch up to do... Another day of farting around. I also had to upgrade the humidity exhaust fan for the room. For the past year I had been using a 110cfm Nutone which performed okay. Now I've got a 300cfm Nutone which is actually proving to be quieter and moves enough air that the tank no longer overheats during the day. Everything is up in the ceiling so even though it was $300 and nearly a days work, visually I don't have much to show for it. Compared to a typical bathroom fan it is a beast.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...psdxwl4ibq.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...psgc5hywrt.jpg