What type of tank are you going to have? fish only or a full reef? If youre going reef you might be interested ion having a refugium section built in as well as a skimmer section.
No. You don't want another obstacle (there is already the return pump) that the pods have to navigate in order to reach the display.
Your LFS puts too much faith in protein skimmers. They don't clean the water that well. Your refugium will have plenty of nutrients.