can anyone tell me the best things to buy if i want to set a saltwater tank up for a lion fish and only a lion

Question

if you guys know anything at all it helps not worrying bout cost though

Answer 1

Here I have had salt water tanks all my life and I can tell you that all the pet shop crazies out there are just way out there. If they are not trying to sell you the most expensive fish well then it’s the lighting, live rock, skimmers, bio balls, copper and chemicals etc... Set up your tank with a bare minimum of an under gravel filter with power heads a cyclone skimmer and a regular 30 gallon tank with a lighted hood. Salt I use Instant Ocean; get a semi cheap salinity tester. Now let the tank run like this without any fish for at least 3 weeks. Leave the lights on 24/7 to help promote algae growth. Now buy a damsel one is fine. Let it do its thing, feed it daily and start shutting off the light at night. Once the damsel has pooped and fed within the tank for a couple of weeks, this promotes the biological bacteria to develop within the underground bed of your underground filter, you are ready for you lion fish. You can introduce him to the damsel which he will ultimately eat. Or take out the damsel and give it back to the pet shop which will gladly take it from you. IMPORTANT: Do not use any NO chemicals no matter what pet shops tell you and keep you water level always toped off with fresh bought 2 gallon jug water from jewel. You can do a water change once every three months. I take a two gallon empty jug that I have saved from previous water jugs and then siphon out 2 gallons and the add 1 /12 cups salt to my new water jug shake well and add this back into my tank. No problems what so ever. No Chemicals, let the algae grow (a must fish will graze it and it is vital for the marine environment) wild just scrap off the front of the tank for viewing of course and no expensive filtration nor lighting systems. Enjoy your fish and you tank!

Answer 2

You will need at least:

A 75 Gallon tank with stand (minimum)
Protein skimmer rated for your size tank
Powerheads with total rating 10x the capacity of the tank in gph.
A basic saltwater testing kitt.
Substrate and live rock
A source of RO/DI water
Instant Ocean salt mix

The best thing for you to do is to buy a book on the subject and read it from cover to cover. Make sure you understand the nitrogen cycle and basic water chemistry before you even get started.

Answer 3

I would advise you to become better informed on the care and maintenance of saltwater tanks as well as the care of whatever species you are going to raise before you get started. Not a good idea to just jump into this with minimal knowledge.