i have one in my reef with no problems, although my cleaner shrimp is about the largest i've ever seen. I would just purchase the lionfish at an appropriate size to not eat what you have and you should be ok. He never took to non-live food, but i enjoy hand feeding him live feeder shrimp ( which i feed cyclop-eeze immediately before feeding them to the lionfish ). They are really cool fish and are fast learners. I usually have to scare mine away when i put my hand in the tank to do maintenance because he always swims up to my hand.