okay there's a big difference between ghetto and on a budget. Salt can be done on a budget, but ghetto is more suited to the indoor freshwater pond setup rather than a saltwater tank.
protein skimmer can be made there are several ways but the cheapest is going with a beckett head powered skimmer, I tired the air pump/downdraft method and you simply need too many wood air heads and powerful air pumps to make it effective. The beckett head works well and can be bought in an already working fashion.
http://coralnuggets.com/product_inf...d=138&osCsid=b795673ccb15ba377e5bb1e4d744ff59
I've seen 750$+ protein skimmers powered by the same assembly. works great and is extremely cheap. in addition to that you'll need a screw on lid 5g bucket some pvc, a smaller bucket for collection and a 4" or greater diameter pvc for the neck. put it all together with aquarium sealant and you're good to go. typical cost is ~ 30-50$ for all supplies (depending on what you have already) and then a "powerful" pump somewhere in the 1200+gph range (50$ typically) I put that in quotes because what I consider powerful is more like the 10,000gph range. lol
as for live rock, in the diy forum right now monsterberry postied on how to make your own out of cement and coral sand. worth a look, otherwise it's getting a few lbs of cultured live rock (typically 3$/lb) and some "dead" live rock that needs to be cultured (typically 1$/lb) and letting the cultured rock seed the non cultured that makes up the bulk.
for the latter method expect somwhere between 100$ and 200$
then I highly recomend an algae scrubber, see the ever growing thread in the diy section on that, it will take time to setup but will be worth it, I'm putting one in on my 450g build. prolly cost 30-50$ mainly pvc/clamp light cost.
lighting alot of people recomend t5's I say t8's, you can get the same intensity bulbs as t5's but the fixtures are way cheaper, typically 15$ for a 4' fixture at you local building supply store. (home depot, lowes, home base, ace hardware, what have you)
so I'd say 2 4' assemblies 1 for day time 1 for night/acintics 30$ plus 80$ in bulbs. go for 20k day bulbs and you standar acintics for night. if you want a timer those can be had for another 30$ (or cheaper if you want it in christmas colors lol)
powerheads are dirt cheap, go with at least 2, so 20-60$ depending on brand and flowrate.
go with a sump/fuge setup if you ahve room in your stand, you can use a smaller aquarium or get a 45 or 50g tub from your local big box store (walmart, targer, kmart, etc) 10-20$, and you'd just need pvc overflows and pipe another 30$.
primary pump go with something 900-1500gph depending on how many outlets you want typically 50$
outside of that it's all up to your stock, for a dogface puffer you'll want a smoother sand bottom so plan on 100lbs of that, typically 50$ for live sand in that amount.
total for on the cheap comes to anywhere between 480$ and 600$ noting that it will be less if you already have pvc fittings and pipe or if you buy it all at once in bulk rather than per individual need. also if you already ahve pumps/powerheads, already have a lighting fixture that will work (will still need new bulbs most likely),whether you have parts for a protein skimmer or algae scrubber laying around, and if you can make your own live rock as the thread in the diy section indicates.
but remeber go for on a budget style rather than ghetto.
edit and rember the above doesn't include the cost of salt. lol
