live rock and live sand are very important so don't skimp on it. Your lfs charges alot for live rock, try j&l in BC, they have a variety of live rock, not just fiji. i personally have not found a LFS with live rock i would buy. its all been cheap fiji base rock, but it's cost $4.99-7.99, and i'm pretty sure it's the same as your lfs, do you know exactly what kind of rock it is that he's charging so much for? As for sand get arag-alive pink or white or black, just make sure it says arag ALIVE. They come in 20 lb bags so use one bag or 1 and a half would be better. Get the 29 gallon biocube to start. in time you can order a custom hood with upgraded lighting from nano customs. But for now the stock 29 biocube will do fine for fish and soft corals. if you can afford ro/di unit then get it, it was one of the first things i got and paid $300 canadian. if you insist on tap water be ready to pay a price down the line. but if tap is your choice then make sure you use a good water purifier. try and get 30 lbs of good live rock. it is going to act as your main filter and 5 lbs won't do much. in the filter chamber i would put a sapphire protein skimmer that is made just for that tank. in the other chamber you can add live rock rubble/filter floss, and in the third the heater and pump and a bag of carbon. also a test kit is needed to know when you complete the cycle. for a tank that size a pair of the smaller clowns would be fine, plus a variety of other fish, like a firefish and many different gobys are an option, plus hermit crabs and 2 cleaner shrimp and snails.
This is all pretty much what i'm doing except i got the 24 gallon aquapod as it was 100$ cheaper, so you can consider that also.
