Gotta disagree, Roland... Having done so many different setups (as I'm sure we all have), far and away the
best setup I ever did was the in-sump return pump. It has more to do with powerheads falling in the display - and it certainly had nothing to do with critters getting chomped by impellors (things that actually concerned more than a few people). I actually wanted to design the most "maintenence free" system, for one. I also wanted something aesthetically pleasing (read, nothing mechanical hanging in the display).
Anyway, I found with a nice Mag, working with on massive corner overflow built in to the back (custom corner tank), using the snakes I described above, I got excellent water turn, circulation and certainly never had any bubble issues. There's a lot you can do to quiet down loud sumps, so that was never an issue. You can have it plop down into the sump, plane it out, or run it to the very bottom. Assuming you are not using a salad bowl for a sump you can eliminate the water noise because you'll have the depth to do so. The noise comes from the overflow, if you're using one.
I had no other power consumption other than a heater and lights. And running massive lights, powerheads dim in comparison anyway. I take that back - I had probes until one broke - then I yanked the whole unit. You've got me on point 2: Bigger pumps are louder. But the big Mag was not a problem - it was sitting on a rubber mat and with the sump closed there was never even a sound issue.
Anyway, I guess any contention I have is that I believe it's optimal to get your water using a single pump return system. I didn't worry about electricity. I figured I had to be SAVING, if anything, since I just had the one pump vs. a multitude in the large display. I had nozzles pointing up breaking the surface, some going down the back of the tank - some out the front middle.
About the "micro bubble" issues. I did a "sump in a sump" sort of. I used pool-filter hosing (not because I was being brilliant, just because it flexes nicely and had the wide diameter I wanted - and was cheap!) lol. I don't know if that helped cut down on bubbles, but I surely didn't have any. I also ran that into an old activated carbon jug in the sump. That kept the turbulence WAY down. I mean, it was turbulent as all heck in that cannister where the flow ran, but then it just flowed nicely up and over the sides, flooding into the sump. Just a thought - I don't know what part of that eliminated bubbles, but the only time I ever saw any was when I was a bonehead and let the sump run too low and she sucked air.
We all know every system is different, and not all the mechanics will work the same. But in every situation I would try to make one return pump do the job with a corner overflow. As long as your sump is large enough to handle the overflow if the pump goes off, you have no risk of flooding. That should be a no-brainer though. I lost power plenty of times and knew where to keep my levels.
One of the biggest factors someone else addressed up there that I "thought" I had considered was indeed that return head pressure. I feel like I could have shot water across the room until I started making it climb, and then I
did tee it off so I could get two snakes of nozzled links along each backside of the tank. By the time all this drastically simple "engineering" reached the last nozzle on each snake it was hardly what I thought it would be. The biggest problem was the little snails that took a ride in my big 'ol waterpark and ended up not fitting through the small nozzles of the return snakes. Ugh.. That actually required me to get my hands wet.
Anyhue, just a contrasting opinion.
(Insert shameless personal greeting plug here
Heya Brian! I don't want to hijack, so I'll shoot ya an email when I get a chance. Mine's
montyfc@gmail.com if you beat me to it. I'm doing decently, and here's a quick "Itinerary" of my journey: CA to KS, back to CA, then to AL and now in OH. Eyes rolling, are they? Loved it in 'Bama - I was out there with Smitty (Mike) and family, and the next division football coach is trying to get me and my and Mr. Binks back there. This would be good if he were in COLLEGE and not just a little turd. He's good, too, though. A trained 'Bama football "seeker!" LOL I'll email ya, huh? I have to email Niko, too. Uh... Dare I do one of those "general all-about-me emails that I despise?" lol Anyway, enough of the hijack, but I think this chap has it right with plenty of suggestions that work.
Monty
This guy's talking about a 30g cube, so I'd go with my preferred "one in the sump" method. FWIW, I only had that on my main display. All other tanks had the usual stuff, and to be honest, having my trigger tank with no sump was actually worry free with the two HOBs. I guess, comparing all the power usage sucked up in my household, the pump becomes a miniscule worry. When comparing the major electric sucking sound from my lighting, the last thing I ever worried about was the pump. 
