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I have been reading a ton of information, and i am just trying to find out what i am getting myself into financially. I would like to start with a 20 Gal long (thats as big as i could get my parents to let me have). I don't have anything really, so i made a list:

Protein Skimmer
Filter
Tank
Substrate
Live Rock or some Structural base for the tank
RO/DI system of some sort (probably one not too pricey)
Nitrite & Nitrate test kits
Hydrometer, or refractometer
One or Two Power Heads, (or some sort of thing to supply water movement)

Did i get everything?

What is really needed, and what is an estimate for this setup?

(What does the average pound of live rock cost?)

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

†Aquapickle†

A few nano tank specifics.

While skimmers are useful the ones sized for a nanos are touchy. If you want to splurge cpr aquatics makes a refugium that hangs on the tank and has a built in skimmer which people have had fairly good luck with. Costs several times more than the rest of your setup will all together though. The rest are all about 50/50 and which is most popular seems to depend on the day of the week. For every nano skimmer out there half the people seem to like them and half want to break them into tiny pieces. For that reason alot of people don't use skimmers on nanos and use more frequent water changes instead. 1-2 water changes per week of around 15-25% are common.

Cannisters are more efficient at removing waste but if not cleaned frequently can quickly cause nitrate issues in a nano. since they are also more expensive powerfilters are actually more popular in my experience. Aquaclears especially and will probably cost around $30 depending what size you use. Clean your filter media frequently no matter what you choose. Aquaclears can also be turned into refugiums to grow macroalgae if you add a light. Macro helps remove nitrates and nutrients from the water so your tank has less algae and requires less water changes. Size of powerfilter you need depends on size of filter you buy and how much water movement you want. A small water pump can cost $10 while a big powerhead can cost $60.

Nanos run best with shallow substrates(~1" ) and lots of liverock(at least 1lb per gallon). You can go against that if you want but most people find it more difficult. It takes about 1lb of sand per gallon to make 1". You can get a 50lb bag of argonite for around $10. Probably cheaper if you look around. There was a brand sold in hardware stores for just a couple dollars a large bag but I'm not sure it's still available. Play sand of especially silica type can cause issues so despite being cheap your better off sticking to argonite. It's not that costly. Liverock is $3/lb here and dry rock is $1.50/lb. More liverock you use versus dry rock the faster your tank will become stable since the dry rock will have to seed from the live. An option I used in my 20g though was to buy reef rubble. These are the chunks to small for larger tanks and so are often sold off cheap to use in refugiums and sumps. You can sometimes get it from a local store or when I set my tank up a year ago www.premiumaquatics.com was the most popular for nano rock and reef rubble.

Refractometers in my opinion are well worth the money. They are more accurate than hydrometers, most adjust for temp which hydrometers don't usually do, and they are usually much easier to read with less water. I was not upset when my hydrometer got broken. You can get a mini refractometer for around $50-$60 from premium aquatics or www.drfostersmith.com. Hydrometers are cheap though and can be had for around $20 or even much less. There's a really cheap one for $5 but I doubt it's very accurate. I just find them to be quite a pain compared to my refractometer. If your gonna be in salt for a few years it's worth the extra money as soon as you can spare it.

Cost depends on various factors like how big of filter you get, what brands, exactly how much rock from where, what type of sand... etc. My 20g has a powerhead, 30lb bag of aragalive sand, ~10lbs of live rock, and 12lbs of reef rubble for a total of around $90. Plus $52 refractometer. Then for the bulk of my filtration I spent a little extra to get a basic 6g aquafuge by cpr aquatics for $120. Use an aquaclear powerfilter instead and you'll save nearly $100 from that but I don't regret my aquafuge. It will be useful for many applications even if I don't use it on the 20g in the future. I already had the tank, glass canopy, and lights.