39 gallon dwarf lion tank

[silentskream]

hi, i'm a newb to saltwater. we have a spare 39 gallon, and we were thinking about having a dwarf zebra lionfish in it.
i would prefer to do a fishless cycle (i have the ammonia already from doing fishless in freshwater tanks)
what do we need to know? do i need to buy special lights? are they ok by themselves? we were thinking about using one of those hang-on-tank canister filters by Magnum.

 

[Grins]

Are you wanting to have a FO tank? FOWLR? Reef? That will determine some of the set-up you'll need. It will do fine by itself in the tank, anything that it can fit in it's mouth would be tempting as a snack (small fish, sedentary fish, shrimp, etc.)

 

[silentskream]

i would probably do a fish only tank. maybe a little bit of live rock.. but just a little. and probably live sand.

 

[Reefscape]

Sounds cool to me....just ensure you have some good hiding spots in the tank for the lion...

Niko

 

[Grins]

In that case I'd look at:

• the stickies at the top of this page
• Beginner's Guide to Captive Reefs http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128760
• Down & Dirty Shopping Guide for Your First SW tank http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118995

 

[silentskream]

we have a monster protein skimmer (was used on a 250gal.. has a eheim 1250 pump to it) should we use that? or is it overkill? could we just hook it up in-line with our canister filter instead of using the eheim?

 

[Grins]

Although it is often said that you can't overskim I'd probably skip putting one that large on a 39g

 

[silentskream]

so you think it would be okay without a skimmer at all?

 

[Grins]

With any messy eater like a lionfish, I'd want a skimmer.

 

[silentskream]

can I hook a skimmer in line with the canister filter (instead of using the pump?)