Why is my new Flame Hawk such a scaredy cat?

dutchswan

dutchswan

Member
I finally purchased my next fish: a Flame Hawkfish. I read that these guys can be aggressive and yank hermit crabs and turbo snails from their shells and eat them. Mine seems to be scared of his own shadow and hides up on top of my PH and protein skimmer pump. I moved everything around a little to give him much less room to hide up there at the top of my tank (see image below). He seems to come down to the rock a little more now, but still spends 90% of his time up there!!! When I fed everyone, he swam over to my rock column and scooted around for a bit to eat. But now he has retreated again. I think my turbo snail is more likely to eat him. Thoughts?
His fellow fish mates are:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Coral Beauty
1 Cardinal (May eventually get rid of this boring fish)
I plan to introduce 1 or 2 more fish as follows:
1 Midas Blenny (Definitely adding this)
1 Mandarin Dragonet (May eventually add this...I know they are hard to keep)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
They are not scared they will watch you from afar though......they tend to perch in hidden areas too....they will kill your shrimp
I have one and have snails and a sally lightfood crab, and some hermits. It does not mess with them
It will NOT come out when you are standing right there
 
dutchswan

dutchswan

Member
You think he will kill my peppermint shrimp? HE would have to in him first. He only comes out when lights go off...and my rock column has about 1,000 different hiding places. I think he would have a hard time catching this shrimp. Time will definitely tell I suppose. If he does kill my shrimp, I will be sad, but I only got him to kill the aptasia, which he did ages ago. My peppermint shrimp is the oldest original surviving member of my tank (except for my turbo snails I suppose). I DID see the hawk attacking one of my turbo snails when it went up to clean the glass next to the PH. I'm not sure he would be successful though, the turbo snail is quite large.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Let's put it this way.....I had 4 2" peps in my 54G......got the flame hawk.....within a couple of weeks I had none
so YES....I think it will eat your shrimp HAHA
 
dutchswan

dutchswan

Member
Okay then, a few more questions:
1. Does the makeup of my tank differing from yours make a difference? I have 20 cantaloupe sized pieces of fiji rock that climbs 26" tall and has a diameter of about 16". My Coral Beauty seems to have all the nooks and crannies found out. Just when I think there is a tiny crevasse that could not possibly be navigated, my CB pops out of it! lol Will this matter for my PS?
2. My PS is about 3.5"...does that make any difference?
3. If the Flame HF does end up killing my PS, do I need to watch for it and remove the carcass quickly to prevent an ammonia spike? Or will it eat the whole shrimp. The shrimp is bigger than my FHF, so I cant imagine there wouldn't be left-overs. Any other of my inhabitants that might meet their demise at the fins of the FHF?
Fish:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Coral Beauty
1 Cardinal
Coral:
Anthelia
Zoanthid Frag
Gonipora
Invertebrates:
1 Bubble-top Anemone (Hosted)
2 Red Leg Hermit Crab
1 Blue Leg Hermit Crab
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Turbo Snails
1 Astrea Snail
Hitchhikers:
Several Feather Dusters
Several Stomatella Snails (Black & White)
Several Bristle Worms
Several Asternia Starfish
Pests:
Bubble Algae
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
1. NO
2. Doubtful
3. NO...My shrimp were also bigger...so I thought HECK the FH can't get them....LOL....it did...I never saw any piece of them anywhere...ever
 
tang4me

tang4me

Member
Give your Flame some time to get adjusted to your tank. It will become less timid. They have a lot of personality. It will show it as it gets adjusted. It will probably eat your peppermint eventually, but maybe not right away. Mine left a peppermint alone for about 8 months before it decided to have a shrimp snack.
 
dutchswan

dutchswan

Member
After having observed him for about a week, I think he is not so timid...just a loner. He checks out the rock now and again...but still spends about 80% of his time up on his PH perch. I am not thinking he is so timid...just enjoying the view from up above. :-/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top