dividing sump-y thing?

[Riona]

I'd rather not drain it and put baffles or the like in.  I'm lazy, and it's a pain to work on the bottom tank.  I DO need to keep the algae from just clogging the pump, though.  Could I make a little box-shaped "divider" of sorts by doing something like sewing craft mesh together with fishing line to keep the algae from getting into it, or will that just end up having all the algae suction to that and block the flow anyway?  Maybe make a smaller internal one and a larger corner so it's got more surface space? 

[seabass]

Do you have a pic?  I assume that you have macroalgae in your sump, which is in the same area as the return pump.

 

If the flow through the sump isn't very strong, a mesh divider could potentially work.  I might even decide to remove the algae altogether.