shy hamlet

[Ethan Music]

well i was reading books in the library and came across a page with a fish called a shy hamlet. Was woundering if you guys knew anything about this fish if it was a good aquarium fish and whats the price on these things if anyone sells them? Iv'e seen indigo hamlets at my lfs but never this one.

 

[tcmfish]

Haven't seen them diving or in stores. I think they are pretty rare. Care would be just like any other hamlet, and I doubt they would be hard to feed judging by the mouth. Most grouper like fish will take an easy meal.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

Most hamlets main diets in the wild, are other reef fish. Probably not a good candidate for the reef aquarium.

 

[tcmfish]

To go with what Todd said, its hard to judge how fish on the reef would look in a tank, because everything is so much bigger in the wild, but every hamlet I've seen at the LFS has been big! Pretty capable of gulping a fish or shrimp.

But those indigos are a sight to see on the reef!

 

[Ethan Music]

Yea the indigo hamlet at my lfs is about 4 inches. I just started looking into them. And came across this guy i figure its rare never seen one for sell. By any chance anyone have one? Book i read said they are hardy fish and would accept frozen meaty foods after they acclimate to your tank. also said max size was 6 inches. Could be a bad book just grabbed a random one off the shelf shows how much spare time i got. Also anyone have exsperince with a indigo hamlet reason i ask is because im setting up a 90 gallon and after making up my mind on my list now im re thinking it. These guys are so cool.

 

[JHemdal]

I'm just not a big fan of hamlets - their colors really fade in captivity. The shy hamlet is a mimic of a rock beauty - in fact most hamlets mimic other fish, but it isn't always easy to determine who the model is. I've heard that is because they mimic only to the point of confusing crustaceans, and shrimp and crab see things so differently, that to humans, the mimic doesn't look very convincing. I caught a H. gummigutta once, this may be another rock beauty mimic - it faded to a somber brown color. The gemma hamlet mimics blue chromis (if I recall). A bunch of the others mimic different damsels.

Now - that all said, I haven't kept one in over 20 years, so it may well be that better water quality in tanks now days will allow these fish to keep their colors better.


Jay

 

[tcmfish]

Jay none of the ones I have seen at the LFS have been very impressive like they are on the reefs. Who knows maybe if someone put one in a reef tank and let it really settle in they'd color back up.