36 gallon bow front fowlr with dwarf lionfish

[Macenzi]

Hey all!, I am starting a new tank and I am new to the salt water hobby, have kept fresh for a long time. Decided to start relatively small and work my way up. I have current USA 30" nova extreme t5 fixture on my tank. I will have 30lbs of live sand and 30lbs of live rock. And a dwarf zebra lionfish. I will be holding the live rock in a 10 gallon with a filter running will this keep the beneficial bacteria alive? I want to quick cycle my 36 gallon next month when I start it. Could I put a coral in my tank? What else do I need? If anything ?

 

[Macenzi]

Hello???

 

[Joeganja]

You can't put coral because the lion fish will eat anything like invertebrates you want to get to clean your live reef. I recommend you get a skimmer. If you don't have a sump then a Hang on in the back will do. I had a 36 gallon bowfront and I put a uv sterilizer with a marineland emperor bio wheel filter and a hang on back skimmer. since your putting a dwarf lionfish you can get a smaller puffer. You can get a trigger like a niger or a clown but you want to start them off a little bigger than the lionfishes mouth so they don't get bit. Triggers go great with lions but don't get a queen or a Titan trigger and a niger are probably the most peaceful ones and bluethroats can be very shy at first. You can try to put a snowflake moray eel but eventually you'll have to move him out of that tank. Since your getting a lionfish you have to go with fish larger than his mouth and a little semi-aggressive to aggressive.

 

[Macenzi]

Ill definitely go with a puffer! And how about an angel? Like half black angelfish

 

[Macenzi]

And what about a starfish

 

[Joeganja]

No starfish. Lemonpeel angel. Any dwarf angel that's semiaggresive. You can get a rabbitfish. Or even a butterfly but not copperband, long nose or heniocus. You can get away with a squirrel fish. And if your wondering how many fish. With a lionfish you can add a puffer, maybe a dwarf angel be careful with angels, maybe a butterfly and a trigger so around 4-5 fish but get a skimmer. That'll help a lot. uv sterilizer can be added on if you like. It'll help with disease.

 

[fishroomlady]

I'm wondering, are you recommending all of those fish in a 30 gallon tank?

 

[Macenzi]

Okay thank you for responding! I am looking at an aquatic life protein skimmer

 

[Joeganja]

Honestly reef octopus came out with hang on back skimmers recently and I love reef octopus and they are around 150 bucks but they are worth it. I'd look in reviews with all the skimmers before I buy.

 

[tyler1503]

Lions won't eat corals, you'll be fine there. A lot angels and butterfly's will pick at corals though and those trigger suggestions need atleast a 120gal or bigger, the rabbitfish also need larger tanks.
A snowflake eel is possible for the long term, but he may get aggressive as he grows, so as mentioned above you may need to move him on.
Some starfish are doable in that size tank, but I don't know a great deal about them, so maybe someone else will chime in. Try to say away from the linkia species though.
As for your beneficial bacteria staying alive question, yes that'll work :) try adding a heater too as that will help keep any hitchhikers alive. You never know what you'll find hiding in your rocks, some will be good some will be bad. If you keep a lid on your bucket it will help keep algae under control during the cycle and stop evaporation and smell too :)
Have you considered what you'll be using for flow? That will impact your coral selection a lot.
Good luck!

 

[Macenzi]

I have 2 air heads, I don't know how powerful they are, I would want the easiest coral to take care of since I am new to the hobby, I was thinking just the dwarf zebra lionfish and a half black angel that reaches 3.5" and the chocolate chip star fish so they hang out in different zones and eat different things correct ? I don't need to do corals just if they are easy

 

[Joeganja]

If you want coral you can't put in an angel unless your doing sps and you need strong flow for those corals. Otherwise your angel will nip and kill them

 

[Macenzi]

Is there any special care needed for lion fish

 

[Joeganja]

Nope. Just make sure you don't have any fish that'll fit in his mouth and be careful he's venomous

 

[Macenzi]

Yea I'll probably just stay away from corals for now

 

[Joeganja]

Good luck post a pic when it's set up

 

[Macenzi]

Won't be till August 16th but I will! I'm buying the live rock tomorrow

 

[Joeganja]

Okay good luck. If I were you I'd make sure you wash your live rock with tap water before you add it in your tank. Just to make sure you get the hitchikers off

 

[Macenzi]

Ah the hitch hikers are bad? Will that kill the beneficial bacteria?

 

[Joeganja]

No it won't u just don't want apstasia or bristle worms in your tank