Liking this guy - but I'm afraid he's going to have to go....
- Thread starter lmm1967
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What is he?
Looks like a freckled hawkfish. LiveAquaria has them listed as aggressive.
"It hunts crustaceans and smaller fish, and it should be the last fish introduced to a semi-aggressive to aggressive community of fish. It becomes very territorial and will harass new additions including other hawkfish and fish that are much larger than itself."
"It hunts crustaceans and smaller fish, and it should be the last fish introduced to a semi-aggressive to aggressive community of fish. It becomes very territorial and will harass new additions including other hawkfish and fish that are much larger than itself."
Yep - he was sold to us as a "Hawaiian Hawk Fish" - which I couldn't find on my phone to look up when we were purchasing him. Turns out - this guy gets large and loves to eat all his buddies. Apparently anything his size or smaller that he can catch is fair game.
He did great in the holding / quarantine tank with several other fish. Moved to display and was fine until I added 2 additional fish. Then he went berserk! I had to rescue the Goby, who is now a permanent resident of the holding tank. The Chalk Bass manages to keep far enough away from the Hawk fish for now but I have to feed the bass within a few minutes of the lights coming on while the hawkfish is still in his night time corner.
Once I realized what he really was and did my research - I decided it's only a matter of time before this guy is able to eat his tank mates. He has made it obvious that he is completely fine with anyone that was already in the tank, but will allow no newcomers.
He hasn't touched the handful of hermits in the tank yet.
Needless to say - we've committed to being 100% specific about any fish purchase prior to leaving home and will make zero impulse purchases of fish even if doing online searches while in the store. I wrongly assumed this guy could be considered the same as most of the other species of Hawkfish. I was wrong. Flame Hawkfish - max size 4" - semi aggressive. This guy - max size 9" - aggressive carnivore.
Fish trap is in the house - but not yet deployed. It will be though and I'll most likely move this guy back to our holding tank and let the Goby have another shot at the 120 gallon. If that all works out - this guy will most likely be on the adoption list.
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I have found through fishing that predator fish will at times try to eat things they can't even swallow. Spotted bass hitting a trout and holding on to it all the way to the boat. Striped bass grabbing anything running from it. I've even seen Striped bass hitting smaller stripes when released. Given the opportunity an aggressive fish will try to eat anything that runs from it.
@jennm turned me on to the book "Reef Aquarium Fishes" it's been very helpful when trying to select fish to add.
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@jennm turned me on to the book "Reef Aquarium Fishes" it's been very helpful when trying to select fish to add.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Turn of events with this guy.
For the last 3 or 4 days - my Kole Tang refuses to allow this fish to venture out of the very top left corner of the tank. Luckily for the hawkfish I have rocks piled up almost to the top of the tank in that corner.
The only time the Kole doesn't chase him back to the corner is at feeding time - and that is only because everyone is too busy eating.
The good news is the chalk bass is now out and about in the tank.
For the last 3 or 4 days - my Kole Tang refuses to allow this fish to venture out of the very top left corner of the tank. Luckily for the hawkfish I have rocks piled up almost to the top of the tank in that corner.
The only time the Kole doesn't chase him back to the corner is at feeding time - and that is only because everyone is too busy eating.
The good news is the chalk bass is now out and about in the tank.