What next?

[sailfin tang]

Learning as I go, please help.
The tank was converted from fresh to salt about 8 months ago
What I have...
80 gallon bow front
70ish lbs of live rock
sand bed 2 to 3"
Cascade 1200 canister filter with reg. medium no carbon.
Hydor Koralia 2 powerheads (2)
Aquactinics tx5-t-5 lighting on timers
lunar strips
u.v. sterilizer
heater unplugged
1 blue damsel about 6 months in tank. (Going to a new home as I want a peaceful friendly tank)
clean up crew-been in about a week and all seems well, of course they all hide, but I check em out when the lights go out.
10 turbo snails
15 naso snails
20 mixed hermits
1 serpent star
1 brittle star
5 emerald crabs
Got a guy that checks the numbers once a week and cleans the tank.
He was here tonite and I asked him to write the numbers down.
He wrote
420 calsium
KH-196.9
Phosphate 0
Nitrate-0
Salt level is fine (ha I bet that helps)
Temp 79
He said my numbers have been great since he's been checking (for the last couple months)
What I'd like to have
1 coral banded shrimp
2 cleaner shrimp
1 Clown with a host anemonie (maybe a maroon)
1 Tang (I know my tanks not big enough for most adults)
4-5 blue reef or green chromis
1 foxface
1 flame hawkfish (add last)
corals (the "easier" kind)
feather dusters
cool colored reef things that are relatively easy to keep.
Ok question time and please excuse my ignorance
What next and how long?
What is Cheato? and do I need it?
What is a sump or refugion and do I need it?
Do I need a skimmer?
What should I have that I haven't listed?

 

[weberian]

KH = carbonate hardness - should be between 7 and 11 dH (degrees hardness).
Do you do your water changes? or the guy? how many gallons and how often?
Cheato is an algae that consumes nitrates - so far you don't appear to require that.
A protein skimmer is more important than a UV sterilizer. A skimmer provides gas exchange and filters out dissolved organic compounds.
Let's see some pictures of the tank. (please

)

 

[sailfin tang]

My guy has been doing the water changes about once per month.
I would say about a quarter, maybe 20 gallons.
So does that KH # he wrote make no sense or is it way off?

 

[weberian]

Makes no sense.

 

[jamparty]

Originally Posted by Sailfin Tang
My guy has been doing the water changes about once per month.
I would say about a quarter, maybe 20 gallons.
So does that KH # he wrote make no sense or is it way off?

there are different ways of measuring all of these...
KH is different from dKH
it just makes reference to how they are measured.
196.9 KH is equivalent to 11 dKH...so you're fine.
it's 196.9 ppm KH or 11 dKH