Ok, and here are some shots of the finished product. Well, nearly finished. The outside is only primered; to make it match the stand it will need the marble paint spray painted on it and I don't really have a place inside to do spray paint kind of work so it might be waiting until spring to finish that off.
The reflectors are Reef Optix, and you might notice I have angled them inwards a bit to create a slight focal point in the center of the tank. This is because I don't want to encourage my ritteri anemone (which sits in the center) to want to wander closer to one of the lights, I want him to "choose" to be in the center.
The fans are Orions, AC fans which are supposed to be quiet (as recommended by Randy Holmes Farley on RC, a few months ago). While they ARE quiet (certainly no comparison to the jet turbines over my old tank), they are not quite as silent as the Icecap DC fans over my other tank. But they were $25-30 each as opposed to $75 each, and the difference is really quite negligible. So I do very heartily recommend these fans as well. If interested in info please contact me and I will dig up the relevant details.
Umm ... let's see what else can I say at this point. No light escapes through the seams where the 1x4's meet up. Although there is some slight light escape from the doors, which I hope to solve by using a weather stripping along the inside.
And I think with this, I am ready for a break from DIY for a while ... whew what a slog! (This was supposed to be finished in my two weeks of Christmas vacation ... it's now ... January 27? Ok, only a month late, could be worse. ....
)
cheers