Pygmy hawkfish and shrimp

[danskim]

I have a nearly full grown pygmy hawkfish who is about 3" long.
Do you think he'd eat my 2.5" skunk cleaner shrimp?

[Peter Schmiedel]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/reefsafe/Plectranthias_shrimp.jpg

[Monkeyfish]

LOL... there's your answer!

[Capt_Cully]

If they can't get it down, they'll tear it apart and eat what they can. Small price to pay for their beauty and personality IMO.

[danskim]

Ahahah that was awesome. That's a flame hawkfish right?
I know the pygmys can still attack, but I heard in general they get a few inches smaller (full size ~3"), and they're a little more peaceful.
Oh well, I'll be safe and not stick anything he could eat.

[Scottkelly911]

that pic is not a flame hawk, it's the exact fish you're asking about. Very secretive fish and usually will leave shrimps alone, but I'd keep it away from super small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

[kes_reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9589082#post9589082 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Peter Schmiedel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/reefsafe/Plectranthias_shrimp.jpg

Amazing..... didn't know these guys have long whiskers.

[snorvich]

They don't like to shave. Hawkfish in general are ambush predators. what that means is that your shrimp will be dinner.

[frederickk]

Would the hawkfish still eat shrimp even tough is the last one in an establish tank?

[mile sq. reefer]

The geometic pygmy hawkfish ( sp. plectranthias) is not a hawkfish. It is a perchlet related to the anthias. The one I keep, 2 1/2 inches, never bothered the cleaner shrimp, not to say it can't happen though. One of my favorite reef fish.

[JM68]

My best friend has had one in his tank for about 6 months with many shrimp of several different sizes and there has never been a problem. This is just one account though, so who knows.

[Sigmund]

Have had 2 different Geo Hawks with various shrimp of different sizes and have had no problem.

But as you know, everything is dependent on the fish you have, probability is you are probably safe, but there are no guarantees in life. Or in a shrimps life in your case! :-)

[danskim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9593469#post9593469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scottkelly911
that pic is not a flame hawk, it's the exact fish you're asking about. Very secretive fish and usually will leave shrimps alone, but I'd keep it away from super small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

Oh I think maybe I messed up the name.
After doing a search, the fish I have has a lot of "common" names like pygmy, dwarf, pixy, and falco hawkfish.
But the scientific name is Cirrhitichthys falco.

http://www.sergeyphoto.com/underwater/reeffish/allmiscreeffish/falcohawkfish1.jpg

http://www.petsolutions.com/Falco+Hawkfish-I-130350L-I-C-16229-C-.aspx

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/hawk/falco.php