Lets see...
BB would be eazyer?
filter stuff that comes with aquapod carbon and some bio balls yada yada yada, what did you use krish?
Carbon I use and just hang it in a media bag in the back compartment of the nano cube. Bio-balls are evil
I tossed them, the sponge and everything that can shoot up nitrates if not cleaned regularily. Your live rock will do all the work for you (biological filtration and denitrification that is) and a small hang on skimmer will pick up the slack along with water changes which I'd suggest her get. As for bare bottom...Depending on what she wants to keep, if they don't require a sand bed, then I'd say yes...Much easier bare bottom (personal opinion of course
). I just feel there's less to clean and worry about and was the first setup for me personally that I went nitrate free. However, sand beds are not bad. You'll just have to make sure you care for it properly as having a small tank like a nano cube, you don't have as much stability as a bigger tank does so little things affect the tank much easier like allowing detritus to settle in the sand bed and rott.
Definately. The single pump that comes with the "all in one's" IMO is only good enough for "fish only" and not enough to provide sufficient flow that corals require not to mention not enough flow to keep your rocks from having any dead spots. Nothing 1 or 2 $15 maxi jets can't solve though
If you use aged water from your tank, then it will help tons, not to mention some good cured rock from your tank. If you do transfer from your tank, then you should be good to go. If starting from scratch, depending on the condition of the rock and what die-off you will experience etc, time frame will vary.