This may or may not be off topic but, in terms of providing sufficient calcium and alkalinity to the tank, many people take the following path:
1) first, just water changes are used; I would not suggest moving on from this approach until test results show your alk/calc and possibly mag are regularly getting low;
2) many people next move to kalkwasser (pickling lime) and put some in their ato water or dose by separate means. A lot of people stop right here and have amazing tanks;
3) dosing two part (one solution to supply alk, one to supply calc) with two dosing pumps, often programmed to provide many small doses of each throughout the day/night (some people dose their alk at night to keep their ph up overnight); and, finally,
4) a calcium reactor, which many people never use but, some do, often with great success. I've not used one myself, so I can't speak from personal experience. My general understanding is that they're relatively complex/expensive compared to other options but, once you get the equipment and get things dialed in, they can keep your parameters very stable for very long periods of time.
I'd suggest starting simple and adding things if/when needed, although I do think there is a huge benefit to having a sump and protein skimmer right out of the gate. Good luck and have fun.
Matt
