I need advice on saltwater Aquarium environment

Hey there I'm trying to turn my 20 gallon freshwater fish tank into a saltwater fish tank, I want some clownfish and some Anenome and ill get some coral in there also. I like having alot of live plants in my tank. The only thing is I'm not trying to spend 500$ to get the right setup

What do I absolutely NEED for this Tank??? Do I NEED a protein skimmer? Do I NEED a sump? I'm confused and have been reading contradicting things and any information you could give me would be very appreciated

Also if I need a protein skimmer or a sump Where is the cheapest place to get one at?? Thank you.

 

You need proper lighting for your corals + anemones.

That's about all that you need. Aside from the fundamentals of course - saltwater, etc.

Just fyi, corals and anemones are not plants. Knowing that will help you with your research, I am sure.

$500 is not much though. A good enough light, even on the cheap end, might already be close to half the budget. A pair of clownfish, cheap, is probably like $50. Corals + anemone would be another $150. And that's buying everything cheap/small. So not much wriggle room at all.

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore.

You do not NEED, anything you mentioned, but you need to understand what you're dealing with. (yes I wrote them, but they answer your questions)

I would suggest reading the following:

Starting A Saltwater Aquarium - Part 1 - Where To Start (research) | Saltwater Aquarium Discussion Forum

Starting A Saltwater Aquarium - Part 2 - Bringing Nature Home (researching Equipment) | Saltwater Aquarium Discussion Forum

Starting A Saltwater Aquarium - Part 3 - Designing, Setting Up And Running Your System | Saltwater Aquarium Discussion Forum

 

What kind of filter do you have now, most freshwater plants don’t live in saltwater. You’ll need live rock which isn’t cheap. And like was said before the light is as important for corals as it is for plants in a freshwater setup.

 

Lights (and flow) are important for corals, but live rock is not necessary (it's also cheap), if you have other filter media, you don't need live rock.... Live rock is just a fancy term for chemical/bio filter. That said, FW to SW are different bacteria, but same effect. You may need to convert it, but any porous suface is capable of doing so, just keep it submerged.