You've done yourself a great service by getting and reading Frank's book. Besides having a lot of great info in it, it's filled with great photos. In fact, several of our personal fish are featured, including the cover shot of our P. volitans (check the acknowledgements for Renee Coles-Hix, who is not only my wife, but is Cranberry here on RC).
In fact, Renee is currently "pretty-ing up" our own article on lionfish so it can "go live", but I digress...
First, I recommend either a fuzzy (Dendrochirus brachypterus) or a green/Hawaiian (D. barberi). The fuzzy would be my first choice, hands down, altho I really like D. barberi (they just aren't as pretty as adults).
Here's a blurb from the article on housing your lionfish:
Housing Your Lionfish:
Due to their sedentary nature, Lionfish can be kept in tanks from 30 gallons on up, depending on species. While it is always best to research the aquascaping requirements of a given species, a tank with a good amount of surface area as well as height is a good choice. Fu Manchus will appreciate “long” or “wide” tanks as they do little, if any, swimming. Although most lions will live in bare-bottom setups, we have had good success with #1 or #3 grade aragonite as a substrate material, and quite franky, we prefer the look of substrate. Live rock caves and overhangs are appreciated by most lions, as well as stands of macroalgae, which also aid in water quality via nutrient export. A bit of rubble here and there on the substrate will complete the setting.
Biofiltration should be robust, no matter what type of equipment you use, as lions tend to produce a pretty fair amount of waste. Also, many of the foods they eat are a bit oily, so I recommend a good skimmer and surface turbulance. Sump-based systems will boost water volume, and are my favorite option. Again, lots of live rock and macroalgae are your friends.
Generally speaking, lionfish are not very fussy about their lighting requirements. For the most part, they are crepuscular (dawn/dusk) predators, so their lighting can be simple normal output (NO) fluorescents, however, they are just as happy under brighter lighting, provided they have a dimmer spot to shelter in if they so desire. So, the rule of thumb is to light their tank with lighting suitable for their tankmates. Whatever type of lighting you use, a dawn/dusk photoperiod using actinic and daylight lamps would be a perfect lighting scheme.
Lionfish make excellent reef candidates, as they have no interest in coral, and will not harm them. Frank Marini, noted lionfish aficionado and guru, has coined the phrase that lions are “reef limiting” in that they will indeed eat ornamental shrimp, crabs, and any fish that will fit into their often cavernous mouths. One thing I do want to mention is that on rare occasions, some lionfish decide they “like” a certain coral (typically a “softy”) and will use that coral as a “perch”/resting spot. If this happens, and it seems that the coral is stressing, try moving it, although I have had a P. volitans find the same coral in its new spot and continue perching on it.
As for feeding/weaning techniques, we have an entire article dedicated to the subject:
http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingtechniques/toolsofthetrade.shtml
Sorry for the long post, but you DID ask...HTH
