Giant Hawkfish experience anyone?

[hammerhed7]

Hello all, I have been out of the loop for awhile and I hope everyone is doing well.
I am seeking any input anyone has with giant hawkfish, I was at my LFS today and they have a huge giant hawk that came in. I was able to negotiate a screaming deal on it. The fish was brought in by someone, and it is about 14" long and 3-4" thick. I know better than to bring this home without research, I have found conflicting information on various sites regarding compatibility and aggressiveness. So, has anyone here ever owned one? The fish has been held for pick up pending my decision.
It would be going in my 220 with the following tank mates
13" volitan lion
3.5' zebra moray
7" male blue jaw trigger
9" gulf toadfish
5-6" yellow tang
5" tomato clown
The tomato clown and tang could be removed if necessary, but I really don't worry about the clown as he is the most aggressive fish in the tank.
I would be interested in hearing your experiences with this fish.
Thanks in advance.
Jim

 

[hammerhed7]

wow, I just realized that as of today I have been here for 4 years. So to recap, fours years have passed without an original thought, and I also noticed my friends list is empty. I guess the internet can mirror reality

 

[gilbert]

Woo-hoo!!! Party time!! Four whole years, wow. Congrats!

 

[aquaknight]

The only giant hawk I ever remember being kept, was by T-T-Trigger over on R¢. He had it in with a Titan trigger, 2 undulated trigs, and a stocky hawkfish. His must have been about 14" as well.
However his tank was half your size (measly 100gal), and you obviously have less aggressive tankmates. I think that's the thing about hawkfish, they won't constantly display dominance, like say a large Emperor angel does, but if anything tries to intimidate it, they will certainly let any fish know. That said, if a 14" hawkfish wanted to kill anything in your tank, it would take a split second. The other issue, I believe T-T-T ended up selling the giant hawk because he refused to eat. It will probably take some time in a QT for him to learn how to eat, and however much the other super aggressive tankmates played a role in him not eating.
Here's one of T-T-T's vids. Skip to about 4:30'ish;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfCS51v-GE

 

[hammerhed7]

Thanks for the reply aqua, watching the vid I now do remember triple T's thread. I know this is a fish that you do not see everyday, which made me want to bring it home immediately. Fortunately I learned the pitfalls of impulse buys a long time ago. That being said,while at the store meand the owner conducted a couple of experiments since we don't know the exact history of the fish, and had not seen a hawk of this size. First he put a 2" feeder goldfish in the tank, and the hawk watched and followed it as if to inspect what it was he did not eat it. The hawk is eating frozen shrimp at the time though.

 

[aquaknight]

Originally Posted by Hammerhed7
http:///forum/post/3286737
That being said,while at the store meand the owner conducted a couple of experiments since we don't know the exact history of the fish, and had not seen a hawk of this size. First he put a 2" feeder goldfish in the tank, and the hawk watched and followed it as if to inspect what it was he did not eat it. The hawk is eating frozen shrimp at the time though.
Yea, I'd be willing to bet, it's their intelligence, and I'd put hawkfish right up there with Triggers and Large Angels, if not ahead of them. They're a sight-ambush predator, so they have good for fish vision as well, and must have the accompanying large brain to process what it sees. It's probably that same intelligence that makes them a little tricky at the same time, when seemingly, a person would normally think "A 14" Hawkfish? That thing must eat everything in the tank!"
If he's eating frozen shrimp, I would say that's a pretty significant step.

 

[mrdc]

Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3286753
I'd put hawkfish right up there with Triggers and Large Angels, if not ahead of them. They're a sight-ambush predator, so they have good for fish vision as well, and must have the accompanying large brain to process what it sees.
I don't have a giant one but the intelligence thing seems to still apply to my smaller one. Mine like to saty in hiding and ambushes what he feels needs to be ambused.

 

[hammerhed7]

You right Aqua, they are intelligent and that is what makes them unpredictable. This fish is completely aware of it's surroundings and responds to any movement. It will dart out of it's hiding space as soon as anyone moves the magfloat on the glass and it watches everyone that passes by. That could be a concern, with an active swimmer like my tang and trigger because the constant movement from them may irritate the hawk to the point of attacking or sampling them and with the teeth on that fish it would certainly cause major damage.
Of course there have been many people interested in the fish, but they have been turned away either due to improper tank size etc. As far as doing a species tank I have a 110 that is currently freshwater, but I am not really committed to doing another salt tank as I am currently trying minimize the number of tanks I maintain. I am down to 3 at the time and that is more than enough to keep me busy. My neighbor also just drained his 125 and offered it to me so that could be a possibility. I guess I could justify it due to me breaking down 2 tanks and replacing it with one. (funny how one trip to the store can derail your downsizing plans

)
I am heading back to the store today to pick a few things up, I will try to grab a few pics.

 

[ladyreefseeker]

I did not know they get that big. Your tank mates sound compatible to me though. Especially if it is trained on a frozen diet and didn't eat the goldfish.

 

[hammerhed7]

took some pics today, for scale he is in a 75 gallon tank by himself.

 

[noah's nemo]

That thing is awesome..I do have a question though ,how old do you think it is,and how much longer will it live?
Also ,what the sold tank for?

 

[hammerhed7]

It's hard to estimate the age of the fish, in the wild they can reach 22" but that is probably not realistic in captivity. I would guess the owner had this fish for some time as they are not widely available I doubt it was collected at this size. I don't know about the lifespan but the fish is definitely healthy.