Luckily my stand was plenty tall. I would've rather had a 20g long, but the stand was already built. The good thing about the taller sump is more room above the baffles to prevent overflow.I thought about doing that but I wanted the extra length so my five section would be a little longer. I am thinking about growing Mangroves in their at some point and I was afraid the 20 tall might be too tall for that in my stand.