I've always wanted to do the triple biotope design. I like Steve's ideas to make the under-shelf area a pod heaven. You could do a NPS section at the bottom of the reef wall and do a quad biotope of there were enough pods.
That being said I am also one for a challenge and believe in tackling a project to achieve the design and aesthetic you want. I agree that building the tank on-site would be the better way to go. I don't know how much free time you have or how willing you are to be innovative but I'd say just take a crack at it and stress test it to see how it holds up. I don't think you'd be blowing the glass, only the seams, so you could use use the glass if something happened. If you found some cheap glass somewhere you could try a few designs and if the seams blew, you could try again until you found something that works ( do this in the garage or yard of course). I've used thick acrylic before for joints that take a lot of stress... Not for tanks but the idea is the same. I built some equipment at work that uses 3/4" acrylic bonded to 1/2" to get a big, fat seam. It has taken 1.5 tons dropping on it almost daily for over year with no cracks or leaks. You'd only need to do this for the critical seams.
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