Ugh.... Came home to micro bubbles today.

I would turn off the return pump, empty and dry out the sump and install the baffles while in the stand. Sure it will be a pain installing baffles with the sump in place but if you have ever worked on a car it requires working in a lot more cramped conditions than that.

I don't see how the sump will be affective without baffles. Was the point just to increase water volume and store extra rock? Without baffles you can't keep macro algae down there as it will get sucked into the pump, and you can't put a skimmer down there because of the changing water level.

I have a mantis tank with a sump set up without baffles just to increase water volume and store some extra rock using a glass holes overflow. At first I had crazy bubbles but then I changed the hard PVC to flexible plastic tubing that was sloped instead of straight down. That cut the bubbles down a lot and it isn't a problem now.

 

Well don't I need to wait a few days for the acrylic to cure?

 

There really is a simple solution to all of this. Baffles simply lock in certain sections at a higher water height than the return chamber. A fix for this can be as simple as placing a Rubbermade container in your sump. Run your overflow plumbing into this. The water will then be forced to fill the container and overflow out of it into the return chamber. This will be a good stable water height for a skimmer if you so choose. You could then put live rock around the Rubbermade to kill any bubbles that overflow out of it. If you choose not to use a skimmer simply fill the Rubbermade with live rock and it should kill most the bubbles.

I run a 20H with a Rubbermade container filled with Bio-balls on my FW tank just like I described and it works just fine. I also ran this set-up on my reef tank for quite awhile with no problems. The Rubbermade I chose fit a Coralife 125 and SWC Xtreme 160 with no problems.

You are right though. Not having baffles does not make a sump less efficient. A sump is used to add water volume and space to hide equipment in. You may be limited on capabilities by not having a sump, but there are always tricks around this.