Wet/dry bioball advice

I'm a rookie, so sorry in advance if this question is ridiculous. I have a 29 gallon acrylic tank that I'll be housing a mantis shrimp in. It has the wet/dry bioball set up that I won't be using, I'm going to be putting 22 pounds of live rock in it instead.

I'm thinking I want to just fill up the area with water and use it to house my protien skimmer, heaters, etc. Is there any issues that can stem from this? I have supplied a pic for a visual if that helps.

http://i.imgur.com/W7mXp.jpg

 

These seems to be the way it's down by most hobbyist today with these AIO tanks. I always take out the wet/dry filter media and replace it with quality carbon/sponge/chaeto, or some combination of those. I also using the space for heaters and such.

 

So where would you put the carbon/sponge? Still use the drip system and have it fall through there?

 

Look at the InTank media basket and see if it will fit.

Carbon like Chemipure comes in a bag, you place it near any flow area or overflow area.

Personally I do sponge or floss right under the over flow to catch suspended particles. Carbon under that and sometimes I use Purigen as well.

Where does the pump go in that setting?

 

I believe on the far left side in the image. There really isn't an area to put it so I'll likely just buy a new hose that lets it sit at the bottom of that chamber.

Yeah I was thinking about putting something like a filter sock right at the overflow. Maybe the protein skimmer in the middle chamber?