Going bare-bottom!

Just to clarify, I'm talking about the tank!
I'm moving at the end of December and found a guy in Omaha wanting to downsize from his 125, so I'll be trading my 72 gallon and other things for his 125.
In my tank now I have about a 4" sand bed and I'm tired of killing corals from random accidents having to do with the sand! Off the top of my head some of them are: a powerhead came loose and blew sand that covered about 5 ricordeas a few months ago, my midas blenny keeps picking up sand and spitting it up in the air over my corals causing them to receed, my diamond goby keeps digging around corals in sand causing them to tip, my lawnmower blenny swims in the sand and kicked a bunch up on some frogspawn and killed like 3 heads last week.
*EDIT* : Any ways, the tank is 72" long by 18" deep by 24" tall and has corner overflows.
1. What's the best material to use on the bottom? Clear acrylic? Black Acrylic? Cutting board(where do I even find this?)?
2. Thickness(how thin can I go)?
3. How many separate pieces should I cut? 2? 3?
4. Anyone know the exact inside dimensions of a standard 125 gallon? This guy can measure after it's empty but I would like the exact measurement sooner.
5. What's the best way to go at this? Cardboard template?
6. Anyone done this with corner overflows?
7. Anyone have any extra black/clear acrylic/cutting board to do this?
8. For sealing, just use 100% silicone right? If i use clear acrylic, will it look funny if I put silicone underneath in the middle as well as around the edges?
9. Anyone have any leftover black silicone if I get black pieces?
10. Any tips?
That should be enough questions for now!

 

Yea I plan on building a huge refugium out of a 20 or 29 gallon tank, not sure which one I'll use. I plan on using the other for a frag tank. I want to get a 55 gallon and break one end and put in a new piece of glass so I can drill it for a sump.
I'll get you the dimensions as soon as I can, thanks Craig!
About how many pieces though...
I was thinking about cutting out the center black braces and putting in acrylic pieces because I was thinking about going with two 400w halides and don't want to loose all that light. I'd glue them and put some plastic "bolts" to keep it secure. Should I go with one piece of starboard for it all to keep it nice and clean looking? Then I can just get a piece of cardboard cut as a template for one of the overflows and borrow my dad's jig-saw to cut the corners for the overflow.

 

Hey AJ, how much of the black silicone do you have left? I'd buy some as long as I'd have enough to make it once around the whole tank. PM me an offer and I can get it at FF. Thanks

 

I'll remember that! I'll need help getting the tank off my trailer into the basement of this place. That's all I'll need at the time, but I'll probably have some friends closer that could help me quick. Maybe my new roommates will help!

 

Does anyone in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area have a 100 gallon stock tank that I could borrow/buy in late December to hold my fish and corals until I get the new tank in place? It might be up to a week, depends how smoothly everything goes on putting the starboard in and getting it leveled.