Questions from a certified newbie

[navotasnewbie]

Hi everyone! i've been lurking around the threads in here for a while now and i've always dreamt of having one of my own reef tanks for years. Have some questions in mind though, that i havent completely figured out as of now. hope you guys can help me out!

Im planning on starting a FOWLR tank that im hoping to turn into a reef tank after a few years of experience. Based on my reading here and in other forums, the bulk of unecessary expenses originate from lack of planning, so im here humbly seeking your help. I am in the very early stages of planning hence i dont want to bother the site's "sponsors" with my questions on prices and equipment so if any of you know the equipment that might suit my needs, ill greatly appreciate it. anyway here's my plan.

DT: 96" L x 18" W x 24" H 180G
ST: 72" L x 10" W x 12" H 37.4G

The reason for the very narrow and small sump tank is the cabinet that im planning on using as stand, that would also house the sump tank, is made of concrete, so i wont have much room for modification on this one. i also received an old 6' tank recently used for housing an arowana It's really thin, otherwise i would have settled for it to be my DT. it's only 1/4" thick. and it's the tank im planning on being modified to be my sump.. it is currently the typical 6ft 100G tank being sold in cartimar. im thinking of having it re-cut and re-assembled to become a more narrow and lower tank, but planning on keeping the exact length to avoid losing further volume. (I've read it's easier to maintain water parameters with bigger volume of water.) In the long run, im planning on keeping corals, that would be placed within 2 feet to the left and right of the center of the aquarium. This is to avoid too much lighting and utility expense that could be very high if i am to place corals in the whole 8ft long tank that im planning.

I also have a small water refilling station that houses a commercial grade R/O unit with a constant TDS reading of 0002ppm. Havent gotten a chance to check the PH level of that water though, but im planning on using the purified water for my water top ups or changes together with whatever brand of saltmix you guys might recommend.

For the filtration, im planning on having a UV lamp (not even sure if that is neccessary), an RO skimmer, a fuge for chaeto or other macroalgae that you might recommend, and maybe 2sets of sunsun 12W wavemakers on each end of the tank. (Will this be enough?primarily in FOWLR and eventually in a reef tank that houses the corals about 3ft away from the wavemakers?)

Other things that i dont really understand is the calcium reactors and additives as well as other equipments like auto top off systems. Initially my tank will only house fishes at most anemones but eventually i would love to be able to keep corals to (sorry dont know the difference between sps and lps yet.) Has anyone tried keeping a system that has about 220G of volume and made it work with using just additives? or in this scale would a reactor be a neccessity? You need a co2 tank for the calcium reactors right? i'm so sorry for all the questions but i really dont want to mess this whole thing up, i have saved and need to save thousands more and i dont want to quit just because of some lapses in the early planning stage. since my sump/fuge will be 6ft long will it be safe to say that i can pre-allocate places to be used by the reactors needed in the future? Would it be possible to fit a RO skimmer + fuge + UV + ATO + Space for future reactors in the sump dimension that im planning to use?

Lastly the lighting, what sort of lighting could i invest in where in my FOWLR will thrive at the same time will turn out to be useful if incase i upgrade my tank to a reef in the future? Most probably any lighting i purchase for this FOWLR will be moved to the far ends of the tank if i upgrade and add lighting for corals to be placed in the middle.

Thank you so much guys for all your input that have helped me get what little knowledge i have now and i wish to express my gratitude too in advance for whatever questions that i have posted here that surely you guys will answer. God bless!