Welcome to the reef ! I run a 13.5 also and would suggest blocking off the middle hole on the backplane now before it messes you up later , and prevents your filtration from working , cheers !!!
So good to see so many other locals close to where I live! I've so far only checked out European Equatics but the LFS in Wilmington looks like it's worth checking out for sure! I'll start a build thread soon, the tank is still cycling but hoping to get some livestock in there soon.