Good Idea or Really Bad Idea

[Ev's Reef]

I am really intrested in adding a flame hawkfish to my reef tank. I am not worried about the compatability with my fish, it is more about my reef tank. I have softies, lps, and sps corals, I have one cleaner shrimp, and coral banded shrimp. Fish include, wrasse, mandarin goby, blue tang, clownfish, flame angel. Anyone with experience on keeping flame hawks I would really apperciate talking with you. Thanks.

[susan92368]

Ive had mine for a few months... hes a great fish to watch... his only downside is he likes to go to my lps and steal their krill... have to keep a watch on him or cover them to eat! other than that, he seems harmless!

[Wolverine]

Sometimes they will irritate your corals by perching on them. You have to be willing to give up any of your motile inverts, since they're all potential prey.

[Ev's Reef]

I am not particulary attached to the shrimp of the tank, but i do like the services that the cleaner shrimp offer to my angel and tang. how small of a hawk would i need to get, to make sure my shrimp wont get eaten.

[Wolverine]

I am not particulary attached to the shrimp of the tank, but i do like the services that the cleaner shrimp offer to my angel and tang. how small of a hawk would i need to get, to make sure my shrimp wont get eaten.

As small as possible. However, it will grow, so doing that only buys you time. It's not a given that it will take out your shrimp, you just have to be willing to take the risk.

[Ev's Reef]

too bad, they are really cool, but i think wolverine is right, i really dont want to risk my shrimp.thanks

[locust]

I keep one with a coral banded shrimp and haven't had any problems. They have been together for over 2 years. I would be more concerned with the hawk adjusting in that tank. Nearly all fish except clowns seem to like to annoy flame hawkfish and it can be a real pain in the butt because your hawk ends up hiding in the rocks all the time.The blue tang and the flame angel would be very beligerent towards a hawkfish. If you decide to get one just be prepared to catch him if they start fighting, and i can tell you, catching them is a nightmare. :rolleye1:

[Ev's Reef]

its a maroon clown, so he might even annoy the flame hawk

[susan92368]

boy, i wish my flame would eat my coral banded! :p.... he's a real trouble maker that one...

[snorvich]

Red Flame Hawkfish and shrimp are a crapshoot. If you are prepared to have them eat the shrimp, they are indeed very personable fish.

[tcmfish]

Cool fish. If you have large established shrimp and add a small hawk should be fine. If you have little shrimp and add a big one not so much. But once you have one I wouldn't add more shrimp. Also as it grows it may see it as a meal, but that is less likely if the shrimp were first. Also I would worry more about the cleaner shrimp, the coral banded should be fine.

[Sardaukar]

I would say risk it. Hawkfish, and especially Flame Hawkfish, are great fish with more personality than the vast majority of fish. They love to camp out in neat places and their eyes give them a very goofy look about them. There are 2 risks really. The first is them potentially trying to eat things that could fit in their mouth. There are ways to reduce the chances of this, like getting a small hawkfish and adding inverts before the hawkfish so they are less likely to view them as food. The second is them deciding that your favorite LPS or zoa patch is going to be their favorite perching spot.

For me its an easy answer: go for it. I know that once I get a new tank up and running, one of the only guaranteed inhabitants is going to be one of those pairs of flame hawkfish that show up on DD's on liveaquaria every now and then.

[Ev's Reef]

My coral banded shrimp is way to large for a hawkfish to kill a think, he is at least 3-4 inches, with a 5-6 six inch arm span when he is trying to scare me away from cleaning the tank. the cleaner shrimp is about a inch and a half. so i think it is a slight possibilty for him to eat it. anyone have a hawkfish that did kill there shrimp.

[tylorarm]

I have a divers den pair. They get along fine. Perch on coral but the coral doesn't seem to care. I have one cleaner shrimp, he's still hiding but alive. I've had flame hawks for years, never had one eat a cleaner shrimp. On caveat is mine cleaner shrimp have been large, especially relative to the flame hawk. Peppermint shrimp, now that's another story. They keep mysteriously disappearing. No worries, i love flame hawks, shrimp aren't that entertaining.

[Ev's Reef]

I am more concerned about the services they offer towards my fish. even though my fish have been ich free for over a year since i set up the new system, and freshened up on research about QT from reef central. As far as them perching on corals, what kind do they like to perch on.