TLTGF said:
Hello again everyone, I'm very new into the hobby of fw or sw aquariums/fishkeeping.... Originally i was gonna go fw but the more i look into it, it seems that sw may be the way i should go. I've been on quite a few sw sites researching the maintainence, and cost, but i still don't really know. I definetly prefer the sw fish over fw. My favorite fish of all time is the lion fish and i'd love to own one as a pet. I guess my questions really are.... Will I be okay? I was thinking along the lines of between a 150- 180 gallon tank, but does sw need to be taller than fw?
lionfish are relatively inactive. they tend to blob around but they're not super-active swimmers. a 180 for a volitan would be great as they get pretty damn big and are hefty eaters. height is really a matter of personal choice. of course, you need enough height to accomodate the lion's long fins.
seems too squished for fish to swim... I was also reading things about FOWLR tanks and i think that is what i want but im not positive. Can someone give me a dummy definition of Live rock/ and also a fish only tank, i get a reef tank.
liverock is just rock with living organisms on it. bacteria that breaks down ammonia and other critters that help with the bio filtration.
Also, what am i looking at as far as an investment goes to start up a tank of that size, or do i need to go bigger? Any help i can get will surely be appreciated, by the way if it helps I'm 23 and in college so i'm kinda on a medium sized budget. Thanks again.
a 180g would probably be perfect for a lion. if you want to do a fowlr, you'd be looking to spend a good chunk of cash to get started. calculate that you need approximately 1lb of liverock per gallon water. (i say 1 because i assume you won't be adding tons of livestock). so about $200 for liverock. then you gotta buy sand. find out prices at your lfs, a skimmer (not necessary but helps a lot), salt, powerhead, heater, thermometer, hydrometer. i'd say expect to spend around $500. you can probably cut down on costs by shopping around, but there really is no way to have a "cheap" saltwater setup.
some people spend $500 on a 12g nanoreef, so i'm being pretty generous with the $500.