looking at saltwater

Well guys this wondeful website has me spending more money. I am looking at setting up a 40 gallon long tank for a dwarf lionfish minus the cost of the fish what else will I need. This is what I came up with

Tank
Won't need stand
Protein skimmer
2 powerheads
40 lbs of live rock
Possibly one HOB filter but wasn't planning on it
Salt mix
Salt amount reading thing. A real name for these would be nice
Conditioner
Sand
Regular lighs will not be keeping coral
Large container for making salty water
Heater
Aerator



And than small stuff decorations air stone and tubes.

so tell me what I am missing. Any kind of product reccomendations would be appreciated.


Also I was hoping for under 1000 dollars but money isn't my biggest worry
And what is your oponion on filterless tank.

 

sounds good. I don't think you will need any bubbles. I have a HOB filter on mine but I don't think its that necessary. I now have it filled with bio balls

And make sure you get a good skimmer!!! I bought a cheap skimmer and was not happy with the results and then bought a good one so I ended up wasting 100 bucks good luck!

 

What brand of skimmer do you have?

 

The salt amount reading thing is called a hydrometer.

I just set up a 55 gallon salt tank and so far have an HOB filter, and two powerheads. and that's all for filtration. Working on getting a protein skimmer next. Then later on I'll probably build a sump just to make it all more safe for the fish. But Its not completely needed. Tho highly recommended.


I'll post links of some of the best products for your set up.
All will lead to marinedepot.com
protein skimmer
powerheads (2 of these will work for your tank)


And That's all you should need help finding. Since your a fish keeper already, getting heaters and an HOB filter won't be hard for you. You also might not even need that HOB filter, the skimmer basically acts as that for you.

As for salt mix, just grab a 5 gallon pail at your local LFS or marine depot as well.

Last, I would recommend getting Dry rock. You could spend $400 for 40lbs of live rock or get 40lbs of dry rock for $70. Since you are not keeping corals it doesn't matter as much. It will just take longer for the dry rock to become live. What I did was buy 40lbs of dry rock and then 10lbs of live rock. That could be an option as well. Eventually it will all become live rock. but why spend the money for something that can happen naturally with patience.

As for lights, you prolly don't need help finding any but for I'd recommend something like these. Coralife High out-put T5.

 

The salt amount reading thing is called a hydrometer.

I just set up a 55 gallon salt tank and so far have an HOB filter, and two powerheads. and that's all for filtration. Working on getting a protein skimmer next. Then later on I'll probably build a sump just to make it all more safe for the fish. But Its not completely needed. Tho highly recommended.


I'll post links of some of the best products for your set up.
All will lead to marinedepot.com
protein skimmer
powerheads (2 of these will work for your tank)


And That's all you should need help finding. Since your a fish keeper already, getting heaters and an HOB filter won't be hard for you. You also might not even need that HOB filter, the skimmer basically acts as that for you.

As for salt mix, just grab a 5 gallon pail at your local LFS or marine depot as well.

Last, I would recommend getting Dry rock. You could spend $400 for 40lbs of live rock or get 40lbs of dry rock for $70. Since you are not keeping corals it doesn't matter as much. It will just take longer for the dry rock to become live. What I did was buy 40lbs of dry rock and then 10lbs of live rock. That could be an option as well. Eventually it will all become live rock. but why spend the money for something that can happen naturally with patience.

As for lights, you prolly don't need help finding any but for I'd recommend something like these. Coralife High out-put T5.

Making live rock would be much better than spending all that money so I will probally do that. And do I need powerful lights what do they do

 

Powerful Lights Give the fish the natural Light that they would have down at the bottom of the ocean. HOWEVER. If you don't plan on growing an corals at all then I don't know if it actually matters, cause I don't think it hurts the fish. Soooo you might be able to get away with any freshwater lights you have.

 

For FOWLR lights don't matter.

Is this a 40b or regular 40? Dwarf Lionfish get up to 7" long and need more width for his fins. I honsetly would recommend at least a 75 for a Lionfish. Even the smaller ones.

I will say that before you buy one make sure its eating pellets and at least frozen. Most don't because they go from the ocean to the distributor to the store in less than a month and they don't take the time to train them.

Mine only ate live minnows and ghost shrimp, once I got it to eat a frozen whole shrimp.

I would also recommend a reftactometer over a hydrometer as they are way more accurate. Bulk reef supply has a nice one for $36 and get a bottle of calibration fluid to keep your readings good.

Also you can get a 200 gallon box of salt for $50 online on f&s over spending $60 for 160g.


If you get dry rock you will have to cure it. You can do it in the tank but do not add any fish or inverts. Stack your rock how you want it then add a single piece of live rock from a friend or reputable dealer and put it in. If you have the proper lighting you'll get coraline algae(good algae). This is not required. But it will take some time for the dry rock to cure, usually months. You can still do water changes while this takes place.

It's not required to use RODI water if you don't plan on any corals. Just make sure you're tap water doesn't have a lot of no3 or PO4 in it. If it does you could get a gfo reactor and hook that up.

I think that's all I wanted to say.....

 

Well said Sharkdude. +1

I know nothing about lion fish so I couldn't comment about them. interesting facts.

I recently just got an RO water maker off of bulkreefsupply.com
and so far it works like a charm.

 

Yeah from the research I've done on RO units the brs one seems to be the fan favorite. It's very affordable and does what its supposed to.

 

if you are not going to do a sump this one is pretty sweet!