Alright, no big updates, just some thought processes that I wanted to record for posterity.
First is the stand, I was heavily leaning towards one made from extruded aluminum (think 8020.net), seemed strong, lightweight, and a ton of fun to build. Then I basically priced it out and it's $250 just for the aluminum probably x2 when you add in all the fasteners, and while $500 isn't a lot for a stand, it is when you you can build one out of wood for 1/10th that cost. So yeah I'm kind of bummed I won't get to play with big kid erector sets, but the foot print is large enough that I don't have to worry about about saving space, so it seemed like a money waster... although I still might waste some money
Now I'm thinking about the 40G breeder that I'm going to use as the anemone tank, and whether or not I want to plumb it into the main tank. Part of me says yeah, because then that's additional equipment I don't need (sump, skimmer, heaters, maybe even no need for an additional return pump). But on the other hand I keep thinking about an anemone losing a tentacle getting chopped up and spreading out cnidocytes into the tank killing everything it touches, fyi that is what usually happens when an anemone gets chopped up by a pump and you get a major crash, it's not the bioload of a dead blob it's all the stinging cells and what they do to other critters.