Filtration for dwarf lion?

So I've been off the site for a while, I gave my tank to my brother because I was to busy to care for it. I recently received a 36 gal tank and I'm turning it into a dwarf lion tank. I know they create a lot of mess and require good filtration but I was wondering what would work? I've hear everything from protein skimmers to a couple HOB emperors would work. I don't have a lot of money to invest in this tank so I can't afford a lot of the good stuff. Thanks!!

 

It really depends on how you set the tank up...if you have ample, LR, all you really need is good circulation. If you run live macro in the DT, even better.

We run oversized AquaClear filters on our QT's and growout tanks for lionfish, and for a 36 gal, I'd use a AC 200 or maybe even a 300. Get the extension for the siphon tube to bring water up from deeper in the tank. If you feel the need for more surface agitation, you can drop an open-ended piece of rigid airline tubing in and run an airpump. If necessary, you can run a good HOB skimmer, but we typically don't skim our smaller setups.

Lionfish may present a decent fish mass to a system, but also realize that they're binge/fast predators, and only require feeding 3x a week or so, which means less food is actually going into the tank than if you feed a community daily...there's certainly less wasted food (none if you target feed the fish).

Here's a good lionfish primer:

Lions, and Turkeys, and Devils, Oh My! Lionfish in the Home Aquarium

HTH