Flame Hawkfish (South Pacific)

Hawkfish are entertaining fish with outgoing personalities. They have do not have swim bladders so can only float in the water with effort. They prefer to spend their days perched atop rocks or coral surveying their surroundings. They are coral safe, but are predatory towards shrimp. It is possible for hawkfish to consume even a large shrimp by bashing it against a rock into bite sized pieces. They may also eat anything else that can fit in their mouths, including small or slender fish. They may bully other fish and we don't recommend keeping them with small wrasses, jawfish, dottybacks, gobies or blennies. They do well with angelfish, tangs, larger dottybacks, large wrasses, triggers and puffers.

Hawkfish are carnivores and their diet should include plenty of high quality meaty items, marine algae, Spirulina, and frozen Mysis shrimp. It is preferable to feed at least once a day. They are hardy and usually learn to eat dry foods.

Few fish can match the intense color saturation of the Flame Hawkfish. It is a solid scarlet red, and only its eye and some shading along its back are black, creating an epic contrast. The Flame hawkfish is imported from Hawaiian waters. This species is quite enthusiastic about consuming invertebrates; along with shrimp it may also consume hermit crabs and snails. Males and females are visually identical. It grows to 3.5 inches; we recommend an aquarium of at least 20 gallons.