Flame Hawkfish or Longnose Hawkfish?

Flame Hawkfish or Longnose Hawkfish?

  • Longnose Hawkfish

    Votes: 33 51.6%
  • Flame Hawkfish

    Votes: 32 50.0%

  • Total voters
    64
Ok hopefully people don't get mad at me, but which ever hawkfish I get will go in the 75 gallon FOWLR that i'm setting up instead of the 90 gallon reef.
 
I have had a Longnose for over a couple years. He is easily 5" in length, beautiful fish. For the first year he didn't mess w/ my cleaner. But when I couldn't find it later, I figured the LN ate him. I didn't know for sure...so i got another cleaner...didn't last 2 days. I never actually seen him eat the shrimp but he is the only guy in there that would have.

Most say they don't mess w/ their shrimp, but that is probably because their shrimp is too large for the hawks mouth. They will most likely eat them.

He is a pretty cool fish though. I like the way he snaps at the surface to grab a pellet i throw in for him. He won't eat from my hand, but he watches from about 2" below the surface, for me to drop the food and attacks...

I've thought about letting him go so I can have a shrimp back in the tank...but i've just kept him. If you ever visit Indy, send me a note. I may let you take him home...may. You are a packers fan...

;)

Anyway. I voted for the LN, i think they are cooler to look at
 
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I vote for the flame. I've had mine two years with 2 fire shrimp, 1 cleaner, and several shrimp/goby pairs, and I've never seen him give any other fish or invert a hard time. Not a single pick or taste. He just flops around in his dorky yet gregarious way, getting along with the small (yasha, antenna, neon, mandarins, scooter blennies, pipefish), the large (tangs, foxface, big engineer, maroon clown pair, butterflies), and every invert from zebra crab to boxer crab (seldom seen in day) to many others. And I like the color.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12896813#post12896813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spmedi
I have had a Longnose for over a couple years. He is easily 5" in length, beautiful fish. For the first year he didn't mess w/ my cleaner. But when I couldn't find it later, I figured the LN ate him. I didn't know for sure...so i got another cleaner...didn't last 2 days. I never actually seen him eat the shrimp but he is the only guy in there that would have.

Most say they don't mess w/ their shrimp, but that is probably because their shrimp is too large for the hawks mouth. They will most likely eat them.

He is a pretty cool fish though. I like the way he snaps at the surface to grab a pellet i throw in for him. He won't eat from my hand, but he watches from about 2" below the surface, for me to drop the food and attacks...

I've thought about letting him go so I can have a shrimp back in the tank...but i've just kept him. If you ever visit Indy, send me a note. I may let you take him home...may. You are a packers fan...

;)

Anyway. I voted for the LN, i think they are cooler to look at


Well, my parents are going to indy tommorow for their anniversary...
 
i would also vote for the pygmy hawk, mine has never even niped at a coral.

Library-1947.jpg
 
I have seen your tank and I think that the longnose would look good in but I don't know since you have a cleaner shrimp.
 
I have a pygmy hawk and have never seen him bother corals. The only problem I have with him is a rarely see him. He hides and since they are much smaller than flames or longose hawks, they are better suited for nano tanks imo. I really like the bright red color of flames. I would get one if it werent for the shrimp in my tank. I have a mated pair of coral banded shrimp that were some of the first residents in the tank. I'd hate to loose them along with the goby and pistol shrimp pair. Having to choose between them sucks though. In my case, I choose the shrimp.

Gpow
 
i would say most people have good luck if they are bigger shrimp and were in the tank first. don't add smaller shrimp after the hawk has been introduced to the tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12917973#post12917973 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dcmander
i would say most people have good luck if they are bigger shrimp and were in the tank first. don't add smaller shrimp after the hawk has been introduced to the tank.

Agreed, keep your hawk well fed also.
 
just to add, a geometric pygmy hawk is actually an anthias species (acording to LA) that looks like a hawkfish, hence why they dont pose any threat to shrimp.
 
I voted for the Longnose Hawkfish. I like unique looking fish and the Longnose's body shape and color pattern are pretty unique compared to other Hawkfish. I have had one in my 65 gallon tank which currently has a Flame Angelfish, False Percula Clownfish, and a Coral Banded Shrimp. He is my second oldest fish at 4 years old.(was very small when I got him; he is about 4 inches now.) For a fish he has a great "personality", always swimming from one rocktop to another, and he has one spot that is like perfect for him, it faces the spot when I sit next to my laptop and my TV. I think sometimes that he is actually watching what i'm doing or watching the TV; I heard Hawkfish have very good eyesight.

One time when I was feeding my CBS a small piece of shrimp the Hawkfish seemed very hungry and tried to take it from him but failed. I have had my CBS for about 3 years now and I think he is full grown or close to it; theres no way my hawkfish could kill it unless maybe it was molting and it definitely would not go down without a fight. Sometimes I feed him live "ghost/grass" shrimp to him as a treat and it probably brings back his natural predator instincts a little if you know what I mean.

Longnose all the way!
 
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