Reef Discussion

rosechaser · Dec 8, 2011

Am thinking of getting a pair of hawkfish...any tips?

If someone out there has a hawkfish avatar they must be able to help :worship

firebird · Dec 8, 2011

great fish but may eat your inverts! also may eat smaller fish

rosechaser · Dec 8, 2011

I have a pair of CBS, but very big?....would be a game fish

jashay · Dec 8, 2011

from what I have read on them they should be fairly compatible as long as they are fed well. if the fish are fed well you shouldnt really have a prob with ya corals unless they are a main part of the fish diet.

MagicJ · Dec 8, 2011

rosechaser said:
If someone out there has a hawkfish avatar they must be able to help :worship

I guess you are pointing at me, Sven :p

I have only ever kept Flame Hawks - they would have to be my favorite fish and I don't think I would ever have a proposed fish list without one of these at the top.

Hawkfish are carnivores with a diet preference for small crustaceans, some sessile as well as motile invertebrates. It will eat feather dusters and ornamental shrimps, as well as may pick hermit crabs and snails right out of their shells! Even though fish are not a preferred food source, they may try and eat smaller fish if the opportunity arises.

I have always kept mine with medium sized Coral Banded Shrimp with no problems and have never had any problems getting them to eat standard aquarium foods. I have never experienced any of the potential issues identified in the quote above. I can't imagine that you would ever be keeping fish small enough for them to eat.

They are good jumpers and you need to ensure that they can't exit the tank.

All hawks start off as female, with one turning into a dominant male - I think they are best kept singularly in an aquarium unless you are able to source a mated pair,

jashay · Dec 8, 2011

the flame hawks are nice arent they Magic :D my wife was looking through some of my books and come across a blue/yellow flame hawk and thought it was an angel. the Hawks would be a much hardier fish wouldnt they? without the problems of the dwarf angels?

MagicJ · Dec 8, 2011

Hawks are generally pretty hardy and don't eat corals :)

Not sure what you mean by a blue/yellow flame hawk??

jashay · Dec 9, 2011

will get a pic for you

brendore · Dec 9, 2011

Have you got any species in mind Sven? Some such as the Arc-eye Hawk can get quite big and become pretty aggressive as they age, and with out something like Ken's 10 footer there's no way you'd get a pair to live happily unless there already a mated pair.. I read somewhere that Hawkfish are monogomous (I think thats the word anyway :confused:) meaning that once paired and one of them dies they will rearely take to another partner... Some others such as the Pixie have been found in groups of several individuals with a dominant pair... As said above most all are easily kept, and take prepaired foods surprisingly quickly after being introduced... If you stick to the smaller species (Flame, Pixie, Dwarf, Longnose etc) you shouldn't have a problem with medium to large CBS.. As Shane said they are usually best of kept singly, tho you can keep different species together, best ones for this are flame and pixie or dwarf.

rosechaser · Dec 9, 2011

I am getting a mated pair of flame hawks....they come next Friday....have asked for as small pair too

MagicJ · Dec 9, 2011

rosechaser said:
I am getting a mated pair of flame hawks....they come next Friday....have asked for as small pair too

Great pickup Sven - it would be great to watch a pair interact in an aquarium. Look forward to some pictures.

jashay · Dec 9, 2011

MagicJ said:
Hawks are generally pretty hardy and don't eat corals :)

Not sure what you mean by a blue/yellow flame hawk??

just did a bit of research, the book I found the blue/yellow combo of the so called flameback hawkfish they actually have made a mistake. it was supposed to be flameback angel and they stuffed the scientific name too cirrhites acanthops was the scientific name in the book, was supposed to be centropyge acanthops.

sorry for the mix up! I took the book for gospel as I didn't think there would be a mix up like that. it was a dwarf angel after all. not a "flameback hawk", as far as I researched it there is no such species.

brendore · Dec 9, 2011

Would be cool if there was a hawk with those kinds of colours tho Jamie ;)

jashay · Dec 9, 2011

brendore said:
Would be cool if there was a hawk with those kinds of colours tho Jamie ;)

yea I reckon bro! the hawks would be that bit more forgiving to i reckon. the angel is a nice one. the missus would love it, she loves a lot of the angels. dont know how a book gets that sort of thing wrong though. being published you would think they would have editors and proof readers go over everything to make sure it was all correct.

brendore · Dec 9, 2011

This is true, but how often do you see spelling mistakes etc in publications? We are all human after all, but that mistake is a bit of a doozy to name a species in the complete wrong genus.. The old sayings true, don't believe everything you read, and do your research :)

MagicJ · Dec 9, 2011

brendore said:
Would be cool if there was a hawk with those kinds of colours tho Jamie ;)

There are too may non-believers on The Reefuge ;)

rosechaser · Dec 9, 2011

nah...flame still works for me!!

rusty1 · Dec 10, 2011

rosechaser said:
I am getting a mated pair of flame hawks....they come next Friday....have asked for as small pair too

How do you know they are a "mated" pair?

You sure they arnt just getting you 2 fish and hoping?

jashay · Dec 10, 2011

MagicJ said:
There are too may non-believers on The Reefuge ;)

View attachment 1525

where did you find that Magic? thats the same/similar pic in the book that I thought made the mistake, have you got a scientific name?

rusty1 · Dec 10, 2011

jashay said:
where did you find that Magic? thats the same/similar pic in the book that I thought made the mistake, have you got a scientific name?

I think it was found in Photoshop ;)