25 gal cube stock help

[Roansdad]

trying to decide on my stock list for my new cube   it will be barebottom and mixed reef   I was thinking about something a bit diff like afu Manchu lionfish or other preds   or?????   I'm open to suggestions    and looking for some help

[zhark]

I think the one pred you could keep would be a fu manchu lionfish, as other preds such as eels and other species of lionfish get well over 7inches. However, you could consider mantis shrimp as a cool critter, but you can't keep other fish with them. However, if you get a spearer you could get away with having hermits and maybe some big inverts, but with a club mantis you wouldn't be able to keep any inverts as it would smash their shells open. 

 

A full manchu requires 30 gallons, but 25 should be fine. Keep in mind their bioload is really high due to all the meaty foods they consume, so it is unlikely you can have other tank mates apart from cleanup crew, given the lionfish doesn't eat them. 

[1.0reef]

There's plenty of small predators for nanos, small waspfish, scorpionfish like leaf fish, smaller lion fish, possibly even a dwarf golden moray.