Thank you,There are different styles. The general idea is that the rim(and sometimes bottom of vertical panes) around the aquarium is reinforced/ attached to each other by glass/ acrylic, not just the seams. It can be 2" Strips of glass around the perimeter or it can be 1 solid piece on top. Makes the tank much stronger and contains water from splashing over the edge. A must have for large tanks.
I just started working back on it again after college applications. I would not like to talk about my parents money. There is the doors to the water heater room for the whole house right behind where I plan to put the tank. So that shouldn't be an issue. I plan to use LEDs for lights, the pumps, heaters, and filtration would be the biggest cost. That still wouldn't be too much, maybe a hundred dollars for the whole tanks electric and water. The whole point of this was just to see how much it would cost. I'm only 20% sure i want this tank right now. But for that 20% I want to try or at least see what it would take to try.What ever happened to your Parameter monitor that you were working on? I haven't seen any updates..
Regarding a tank of this size, the continuous running cost will easily be in the hundreds if not thousands per month just to maintain. Have you calculated the energy cost to run a tank that size? You would need dedicated circuits put in for the tank...and as previously mentioned the structural requirements and even getting it into the house, you would have to cut a hole in the side of the house. The initial cost for just the tank is a small portion of the total cost to do a project of this size. You can't just place a tank of that size on the first floor of a house unless the house sits on a properly reinforced slab.
As a college bound highschooler I would highly encourage you to think much smaller. Unless your parents are millionaires, I have no idea how a high school student would pay for a project like this?