Please help me get started... Looking at a 29g biocube

[Ssteve]

Hi guys, I'm just starting out, and have been lurking for a while as well as spending a lot of time in and out of my local shops asking questions. I'm space, and money limited but at the moment not time limited. I would like something around the 20-35 gallon range, and something that is similar in shape to the bio cube, since I have a place on a desk that would be perfectly suited for it, and a all in one would be nice to keep everything tidy looking on my desk. For fish, I only really have my heart set on a pair of clowns, a yellow watchman hopefully paired with a shrimp, and then I would like to concentrate on growing some corals.

My initial budget is about $550-$600 for the tank and stuff to get it cycling, so a bio cube with 25lbs of live rock and sand fits in there.... But I'm wondering if I would be better off spending that money in a different direction, if possibly someone else makes a similar all in one around the $300 mark, or should I skip the all in one and get a tank and piece everything together.. And if so what do you recommend in that budget?

Additionally I would like to add a fair amount of inverts, but how soon, how many, and how often, and what kinds? I'm personally more drawn to colors and movement but want to keep the tank clean and happy first. I'd like to get a solid plan nailed down very soon so I can start ordering things.

 

[sen5241b]

I had a BC29 and it is amazing all the mods you can do with it. If I had it to do over though, I would just get a regular tank, Not that the BC29s are bad. Cleaning out the back chambers is a pain and you will have to vacuum them out once a month because they collect too much detritus. But they are cool looking. GOOGLE "biocube resouce guide".