Longnose Hawkfish: What Do You Think?

I owned 2 Longnose Hawkfish before I couldn't take the losses anymore. They are insane jumpers and picky eaters. The first one I bought would eat anything meaty like mysis shrime, brine, some stuff in emerald entree but would not eat any chips or pellets. I had him for 4 months before he managed to jump out of a tiny hole in my lid where the skimmer was fed in. They seem to have a way of finding the holes and jumping through them.

Lesson one: You need a cover that completely blocks the fish from jumping out, be it a higher wall cover or complete seal / screen.

My second one I ordered, and unfortunately I made the mistake of buying the fish before it eats. It refused to eat anything, even live pods. And so after a few weeks of that it starved.

Lesson two: watch them eat in the LFS if possible.

So Hawkfish are definitely personable and beautiful fish but take care! I have to dispute what some users said above. Neither of my longnose hawkfish went after my skunk shrimp or any of my other fish at the time(Tang, 2 clowns, blenny), they seemed quite docile and they are known to be one of the least aggressive hawkfish.

 

How big were your hawkfish?

 

My experiences with hawkfish:
Mine was very docile, always liked to swim right up to you and see what was going on. Not the slightest bit aggressive towards anything either. Never bothered snails. Would eat shrimp in a heartbeat. And lastly, it would ONLY eat meat and no pellets/flake etc.
After a few months it died from (what I believe to be) an internal parasite.

My friend's is fairly aggressive and will nip at other fish that get close to it. The hawkfish will eat any food that you put in the tank though. He doesnt keep shrimp but im pretty sure that they all kill and eat shrimp.

 

Thank you for your feedback, smackrock. Very helpful info coming, first-hand. While I could make a tight-fitting lid, I am not sure if I am ready to take on a fish like that(feeding habits).

Would a wrasse be a better option? Similar coloring, and not as big, the Scarlet Pinstripe Wrasse will eat mysis and brine shrimp, as well as "other meaty foods", but will not bother shrimp. Oh, it is also "reef-safe" - a big plus.

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Scarlet Pin Stripe Wrasse

 

Thank you Dingo, as well. Similar experiences I see...

 

this is the fish that got me to set up my 26. sadly i wanted a shimp so bad, so i got one not noing about hawks eating them. im still waiting for that shimp to go a year later

 

My first longnose hawkfish was almost 3 inches long, the second was closer to 2 inches. He really had no interest in my skunk shrimp which was close to 3 inches long the body. I've put a puffer in my tank not knowing that issue and I've seen the look the fish gives a shrimp before they want a bite lol (I got that puffer out before he could tho and I saw nothing of the such from the hawkfish I owned, but it certainly could have been luck I suppose.

 

I have a hawk in in my tank with multiple shrimp. No problems.

 

My mistake, I guess it can go both ways but personally I wouldn't risk it.

 

That's OK Brennan, just looking for opinions. Any thoughts on the wrasse though?