30 Gallon Lion's Den. . . FINALLY!

I have finally graduated, got a real job, a real apartment, and now it’s time to really create a tank.

My Background~
I grew up loving saltwater aquariums probably because my mom is a Bio teacher and has had a nice Marine setup in her school room as long as I could remember. I finally got my on around 16 and had a successful 30g Nano for 2 years until I went to college. Everything went downhill from there. My mom tried to take care of it but being as busy and my family is it was very difficult. My Brittle Star became a dominant hunter and started to eat all my fish when they were asleep. And an algae bloom killed all my coral so I was left with a star and live rock for two summers. Well after graduation I found a Job in Boston and now am ready to start over.

My Plan~
I have always been fascinated with Dwarf Lions and would think I would look really cool in my apparent so I think I'm going to have a single species tank with some type of Dwarf Lion (We'll see what I can find when the tank is ready for one). I know that they can potentially be finicky eaters so I will have to work with it to eat prepared food. After this I have two different directions I may want to take. I would either like to up grade to a bigger system and create a predator tank or keep the setup I currently have a add corals. I'm leaning towards keeping the system I currently have because I live on the 4th floor AND even thought I plan on living in my place for at least 2yrs I am young and maybe bouncing around in my 20's (Starting to apply to law school this fall).

So Now what~
I'm no noob by any means. I mean I have had marine aquarium information embedded in me since I was like 12. That being said I love to learn about everything and anything so I appreciate any and every comment/question/answers. Right now I'm having two debates in my head. I'm thinking of taking off the hood to my aquarium and adding a better light. I know I don’t need anything two strong right now and I would probably go the Craigslist/eBay avinue. OR I might see if I can find a new hood on eBay. The current problem is several things. One is that the fans in the hood have burnt out, the led moon light doesn't work, and there is a crack in the plastic cover. I know I probably can fix all of this with parts but I have no electrical skills what so ever and rather not burn down my apartment.

What do you guys think???? I'm trying to think of pro's and con's for both to make my decision.

Also does anyone have comments about Dwarf Lion’s outside of their eating habits?

I will have pictures up sometime tonight of my current setup (Even though it not much yet)

Thanks in advance for all of the help and the help that I have received from this site for years!!!

 

imo a 30 isn't big enough for even a fuzzy. They can still get 6-7" which would make them feel crammed up in there, even if they don't swim fast.

Also, I have heard of lionfish going blind from the lighting before. I have read that you can gradually make it brighter over time so that you can have corals but have no experience in the matter.

 

I'd keep a single fuzzy in a 30... but that would be the minimum. Get him small to grow him out. The smaller ones are more delicate but are easier to train to proven. And sadly, when we raise them in captivity, they tend to not reach full size. The fuzzy is pretty easy to convert, however so that it shouldn't be an issue.

A Fu Manchu would fit in a 30 but is a beast to train to frozen. You'd have to be prepared to feed live food for life.

Did you say something about removing the lid? I have lost two through jumping. Our now keep lids on my lion and scorp setups.

I've never heard of a lion going blind. If your tank is too bright, they'll hide in the caves.