Or would I need to cover it with a finer screen? I'm trying to get away from seeing it in the tank. It is the 1" strainer and attached to a bulkhead fitting on the floor of the tank.

Water in the tank would go through the gravel into this fitting and then straight to the pump.

If I have it above the gravel then I need a sponge on it to keep plant material, snails and fry out of the pump.

If I made a little sock for it out of sheer fabric and had it under the gravel would it get stopped up? I don't want to do maintenance on it under the gravel except for just vaccuming the gravel.