Flame Hawkfish

I saw a Flame Hawkfish at my LFS last week and think I want to add one to my tank. I am switching over to live sand this weekend and won't add him til I'm back up and running. My question is if I add him and also cleaner shrimp, goby's, will the Hawkfish pick on or eat those other fish? Also, my LFS sells them for about $49.99. Liveaquaria.com has them on sale for $29.99. Has anyone on here ever dealt with Liveaquaria and ordering online from them?

 

More than likely he'll go after the shrimp. Flames usually rank 2nd in aggressiveness among commonly available hawkfish, losing only to the falco, so it could be risky with the other fish. there are a lot of factors to take in, for example, tank size, are there alot of hiding places in the rock, how big are the gobies, how big is the hawkfish etc. I would add the gobies first, give them time to adjust to a new tank, then add the hawkfish.

I've never purchased through liveaquaria, but from what I hear, they're one of the best for common fish and corals, and their Diver's Den section has some pretty neat fish too.

HTH

 

Live aquaria divers den is great but you'll pay more than 50.00 after shipping. My 70 dollar montipora was almost 150.00 after shipping.

 

I'll let you know next time I go to orlando if you want premium stuff for great prices

 

First post got it right. I wanted one myself, but after all I've researched, they are "Reef safe with caution", meaning, they will not pick on your corals, but, they will go after inverts. Your Cleaner shrimp will not be very safe with a flame hawkfish, IMO, but not IME. This is simply what I've found from research.

 

I absolutely love flame hawks. The only issue (as others have mentioned) is that they will tend to nibble on easily edible crustaceans.

Otherwise they are great tank mates and have a ton of personality.

As to Live Aquaria. I order a lot from Divers Den and always have good results. Pretty good results from their standard site. I use them mainly to buy hard-to-find fish. You will likely make out better price-wise by buying fish locally, however, unless you place a huge order to LA.

 

In a larger tank they do well. I have both a Flame and a Falco that I had to remove from my 125 reef. They do great with an aggressive mix, but can harass and kill docile fish. My Falco is much larger than the 2-1/2" max size listed on Live Aquaria, and would most likely kill most smaller reef fish. More like the 4"-5" range.

 

ive had flames and other hawks in the past. neat fish with alot of personality, but as others have said, they will go after your shrimp and ANY fish that will remotey fit in its mouth. I had a spotted hawk that tried to eat a small male maroon clown when I added him. there was no way he could fit, but that hawk tried to eat him. chased him into the overflows twice and he didnt make it. a trout hook and some shrimp put an end to that hawkfish in my tank.

 

Ok, I guess I will also take Hawkfish off my list of potential fish for my 125!

Good thread though; I have always wondered the same as most sites just say they should be fine except with the smaller shrimp.

 

Ive had my falco hawkfish for about a month now. No signs of aggresion towards my cleaner or coral bandit shrimp and swims right by snails and crabs. Pretty cool little guy but there is always a risk with hawkfish.