We had some bad news, a friend was diagnosed with cancer. Why do the bad things always happen to the best people?!
We went to Cape Town to look for a place that sells all kinds of timber. It was not easy to find, but it is a great store, although they did not have the oregon pine I would have liked. The guy said the new oregon pine is just glorified pine. I agreed and did not buy it. Instead I bought some gum tree board that looked nice. 
On the way home we stopped at Builders to buy the reducers for the first flush system. I finally saw the full set-up that I am working on. This is how it will be, except our tank is way bigger.