Well imahawki, you've gotten alot of good answers, let me add my 2 cents. I don't think you are going to be able to get that true saltwater look in the 29-35 gallon. Mainly the saltwater looking fish are the larger cichlids from SA and especially the Africans. The smaller cichlids would be an option but I would say with an irregular tank maintenance schedule I would stay away. I have a very understocked African cichlid 55 gallon and if I let it go a month it can get some pretty good spikes that are bad for the fish and the smaller cichlids are much more sensitive to water quality than the larger ones. Also cichlids don't go by the 1" to 1 gallon rule thus a much smaller amount of fish can be kept in an aquarium. Therefore I would suggest just staying away from the cichlid family pretty much altogether. Also stay away from clown loaches , they get too big to house in an aquarium of your size, full grown they are 12" and they need to be kept in groups of 3 so...
Here's what I would suggest
6 Cardinal Tetras---can substitute for about any type of tetra, they are just small and colorful---around 7" of fish full grown
6 dwarf platies--can substitute for regular platies, mollies or swordtails but will have to cut down on number or cut out other fish--add the bright color to the tank---around 8" of fish full grown
1 Angelfish/Gourami/Betta---Betta's can't always be housed in a community but if the betta accepts it you can add a few more smaller fish---2-5" of fish full grown
3 Yoyo loaches---can be substituted for cories---around 9" of fish full grown
That should give you a nice starting point, lots of color and a tad understocked to account for your maintenance preferences.
Also, no matter what you do, replace your standard flourescent bulb that comes in your tank lighting with one designed for freshwater to magnify color in the fish. If you do that it will make a huge difference in the color of the fish and make it look alot more colorful and
SW like.