34 gallon questions

Hello. I've been reading through the forums for a couple days now and hope I haven't missed the answers to the following questions. My apologies if I have.
I am considering starting my first reef tank with the red sea 130d which is a 34 gallon tank. Due to space limitations in my apartment, this is the largest tank I can handle at the time without selling off my furniture.
A couple questions I have are:
-How many fish max can I fit in a tank this size? I would like to have a small school of green/blue chromis, a pair of clowns and a shrimp or 2. Is that too much?
-How much time/week or month should I expect to spend maintaining a tank this size and what should I expect my monthly budget to be?
-If I have to be away for a day or 2 without planning for someone to take care of the tank, will it be OK?
I have asked these questions at my local fish store (lfs?) but I'm not sure how much I should trust them. They also told me that all of their fish/coral are quarantined before being offered for sale and that I don't need to worry about doing a fresh water dip or anything before introducing new life to the tank. Is it true that with a reputable dealer it is safe to assume that the fish are going to be clear of any disease/parasites?
Thanks in advance for any advice. You all seem very newbie friendly but I'm still nervous so please be kind if I've asked anything that I should have already found here on my own.

 

welcome to 3 reef summergirl85


general guideline in salt water is 1 inch of fish to every 4 gallons of water
allowing for maximum size fish will grow to and not the size you buy them at
there are exceptions to this rule - every tanks capacity will vary according to equipment used to run it etc, but its a great rule for when you start and to be honest I remain within that even today

so you would be overstocked with a school of chromis and a pair of clowns

time
daily - couple of mins for feeding and topping up tank due to evaporation
bi weekly - extra few mins for a scrape of the glass to clean algae off weekly - maybe 30 mins on water changing, filter cleaning etc
its time I dont quantify really as its quality time IMO

Couple of days away = no problem, if your lights are on a timer then make sure water level is correct before you leave, and they tank will not need anyone to check it for the 2 days until you get back

welcome to the hobby and to 3 reef

Steve

 

Thanks for your advice and welcome Steve. I can't wait to get started!