I want a lionfish, sugg/opinions

I am setting up a 75g. The focus will be mostly corals. I want a Russell's Lionfish. It would be nice if I could have one other fish in there with the lion that eats green algae. Any suggestions?

 

Your best would be a fu manchu lion as they stay the smallest. Russel's will get LARGE, even if it tops out at 9" which is a few inches shy of what it CAN attain, thats still a big fish!! Plus they are not slender so that adds significant more body into the tank. Being a piscivore it will eat many smaller fish suited to graze algae, it will decimate any shrimp you have in the tank as well. Being a predator like that it will put out alot of waste which is another reason why they are not suited for "reef" tanks. We try as hard as we can to keep the nutrient levels down, a beast like that will add a huge amount everytime it needs to deficate. Its adult size would leave you with snails to eat algae or potentially a tang and I'm sure you've read enough posts about how people feel about tangs in smaller tanks.

Good luck and happy searching!

A fuzzy dwarf (D.brachypterus) is another good option.

 

75G is at the min tank size for any lionfish really. I had a volitans that was 9" and was still young. Pterois fish can grow well over 12-15" at their adult stages. Dwarf lions can grow 7-9" but are very hefty fish as Dr mentioned. You will need a good filtration system and a good skimmer to keep these fish healthy. I helped it out by manually netting out its waste with a brine shrimp net and not even letting it nitrify. But they are awesome fish to have on display, and even more when they trust you. Mine would lay its spines flat and float upsidedown during feeding times to keep his spines away from me.

 

I have a black volitin in a 250 gallon with a sgt major and a sailfin tang only real issues I've had is we can only get the lion to eat live foods he wont touch any frozen