Saltwater Fish
Red Volitan Lionfish.
The showstopping volitan lionfish — banded red, white, and black with a fan of venomous, feathery fins. Hardy and slow-moving, but it'll eat any fish or shrimp it can swallow, so choose tankmates carefully. Handle with care; those spines sting. A bold predator centerpiece.
Prices change with size and with each shipment. Call to check today's price.
Call (814) 456-9445We keep this species. What's in our tanks changes with every delivery, so call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in. We never ship live animals.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
We never ship fish, coral, or invertebrates — every animal here is one you meet in person. Each one is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it goes out into the display tanks. This is a species we keep, and what is swimming on any given day changes with the deliveries, so please call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Wants stable water and a routine you already keep.
- Temperament
- Will chase or nip if it feels crowded.
- Adult size
- 15"
- Min tank size
- 120 gallons
- Diet
- Eats meat — frozen or live, not flake alone.
- Scientific name
- Pterois volitans
Good tank mates
This is a slow but effective predator that will eat any fish or shrimp small enough to fit in its large mouth, so never house it with small tankmates, cleaner shrimp, or anything it can swallow. Suitable companions are other large, peaceful-to-semi-aggressive fish that can't be eaten and won't bully it, such as larger tangs, triggers chosen with care, eels, and big angelfish in a roomy fish-only or FOWLR (fish-only-with-live-rock) system. It is not reef-safe in the sense of fish and mobile inverts, since those become prey.
Good to know
A volitan lionfish has venomous spines along its back used purely for defense, and it hunts by slowly cornering prey with its fanned pectoral fins before striking with a sudden gulp.
What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for advice on pairing.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
- S
Snowflake Eel
A top FOWLR companion for lionfish. Grows to 24+ inches — well beyond the Volitan's maximum prey size — and its blunt, molariform teeth are adapted for crunching crustaceans, not fish.
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Foxface Rabbitfish
Venomous dorsal, pelvic, and anal spines function as active deterrents against a lionfish strike — foxface can live with lionfish and are kept with larger aggressive fish due to this venom defense. The pairing is workable in predator FOWLR setups.
- H
Harlequin Tusk Wrasse
Lionfish are ideal tankmates for Harlequin Tuskfish. Despite a formidable appearance, the Tusk is relatively mild-mannered with robust fish and neither poses a fin-nipping threat nor falls within easy prey size for the Volitan.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.