Fu Manchu Lionfish Dendrochirus biocellatus

Lion - Fumanchu (Dendrochirus biocellatus) is among the more interesting and beautiful of the dwarf lionfish. It has very vibrant and contrasting colors of black brown, red and white. The Fu Manchu also has a unique feeler like tentacles at the corners of it’s mouth.

They will do perfectly fine with other fish of similar size and can be a very peaceful community fish when kept with the correct tank mates. They can be a very shy fish that will not do well with other semi-aggressive fish. However, when kept with fish that have a body size of about ½ of the lionfish’s body size; it will only be a matter of time before the Fu Manchu lionfish will try to eat it. They are among the better predators common in the hobby. Although you can keep multiple Lionfish in the same aquarium, you should use caution when doing so. You would need to ensure they are both a very similar size and added at the same time to increase your chances of success. One of the Lionfish can become very dominant and will bully the others steeling all the food when you feed the tank.
I would suggest a 36 inch long, 30 gallon aquarium would be the minimum size for the Fu Manchu lionfish based on its potential fully grown size. They need swimming space both around rocks and out in the open. They do best when provided shelf like structures which they can hang up-side from as well as cave structures they can sit in. This lionfish can be kept with corals. They have been known to eat smaller fish and shrimp (members of a tank’s cleanup crew) which cause many people not to add them to a reef aquarium..