One day I want to set up a 75 gallon with a Russellâs lionfish. I was originally planning on housing the lionfish alone, but what are your thoughts? Coral sounds complicated to keep alive, and I have trouble enough keeping plants alive, plus there are some fake coral decorations that look very lifelike. Does paint on decorations come off in salt water?
It doesnât really come off but if itâs not good quality it might bleach over time. I would make sure to get some good quality decor, maybe custom made if you want it to look really good.Â
They make some really nice looking fake corals today so iâm sure youâll find some good ones! Iâll give a few other options though just to think about alternatives if you want.Â
you could always just do a FOWLR with some nice live rock! Iâve seen some really impressive âscapes done only with live rock! you could also get some barnacles (not alive ones just theâŚ. husks? whatever theyâre called, they sell just the shell parts and they look really nice placed between some rocks. small fish love to dart inside of them but i donât think a lionfish would fit. you could also get shells or beach glass or something)
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Another option that I only found out about a couple years ago is Macro Algae!Â
You have to do some research because some of them can be as hard to take care of as some finicky corals (some are super easy tho) plus itâs a really unique look!
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some fish will eat it, which can be good or bad depending on how much you care about the macroalgae. Iâm not sure if lionfish do or not.Â
Also there are some beginner types of coral that are easier to keep alive! I donât know much about these but maybe someone on reefblr could give you some ideas.Â
