The Flame Hawkfish Mating Journal

[Wrangy]

So I have and adore a flame hawkfish (Neocirrhites armatus) and that I recently restarted the tank and am back at only having three fish in the tank. One thing I've always adored is the look of a pair of hawkfish (espcially longnose hawks!), combine this with the need to buy new fish and create a little bit of busyness in the tank I decided that I'm going down the route of getting my flame hawk a partner

Flame hawkfish are sequential hermaphrodites, meaning that they all start life as females and the largest and most dominant become the males. Given that my flame hawk is now two years old (at least in my tank) and fairly fat and happy I'm rather certain that he's male. So I started chatting to Dave at Deer Park about it and pairing them up, he didn't have much experience with it nor seen anyone but said he'd get me in a cute little hawk (who is tiny lol), that little beauty arrived last night and I have picked her up this morning! (I may have bought an acro as well though) so a big thanks to Dave for getting me one so promptly and so healthy

Now comes the tricky part lol, the pairing of the hawks!
My plan is to keep the new female in a small seperation container for the next week in the tank for Hawk Hawkins (my flame hawk named after the smart casual song lol) to adjust to the presence of a new flame hawkfish and hopefully I will be able to tell during this time how he will go with her in the tank. Once that week is up and I'm satisfied then I'll be opening the container but not removing it so she still has it to retreat to and for an easy catch lol.

With any luck I will be able to have these two pair up for life over the coming months as they do pair for life in singular pairs and sometimes harems If anyone has had any experience with this please chime in!

UPDATE: (just while I created the this thread elsewhere as well)
Well she's in the tank and has acclimatised really well You can tell as she already has the deep red colours back as opposed to the paled out colour she was when in the bags.


And of course the typical look you get from hawkfish!


Well we've had the first interaction and they were very inquisitive of each other which is good! Hawk Hawkins showed no outright aggression which is exactly what I want! I threw a little single piece of flake into the container and she went straight for it which is excellent, she spat most of it back out lol but it's really good knowing that she's willing to eat and try what's given to her!!

 

[gogo7]

this looks really interesting.

 

[kizanne]

Hope they pair up.

 

[Wrangy]

Thanks, I'm hoping it goes well and it looks like it will!

As I have some amazingly excellent news

I decided today while I was going through my water change procedure that I was really comfortable with how everyone was interacting with lovely little Hawkette through the container, so to the immensely epic music of the fight scene between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon (Duel of the Fates) (my brother's idea lol) I opened the side door of the container so that she could get out in her own time

Aannndd.. the best thing happened!! She swam over to sit on the magnet cleaner and as soon as Hawk Hawkins noticed he was right over there, no aggression AT ALL so the first 30 seconds of their lives in the same tank was spent interacting, plenty of brushing against each other and she fell straight into a subordinate position as Hawk Hawkins is twice her size and didn't even need to do anything to establish dominance

They're spending a bit of time now (been in the tank about an hour) sitting together and cosying up to each other and perching together. Hawk Hawkins seems happier too just in general now that there's a female with him not that he was ever an unhappy fish

She's happily doing her own thing in the tank but likes to swim up to him or be able to see him so far. I'm really hoping this means nothing but good things!!

Here's some terrible phone pics of them together on the magnet cleaner

 

[kizanne]

sounds promising. Do you have a plan for larva/eggs?

 

[Wrangy]

sounds promising. Do you have a plan for larva/eggs?

Not as of yet, I have a small 2x1x1ft tank that I can use to keep the eggs/larvae in to grow them out if I get to that stage but it's still a while off so I have no immediate plans until they start doing spawning dance's together

 

[kizanne]

I was only asking because depending on what the larva eat you may need awhile to build up stock. If they eat rotifers or baby brine you are good to go but if they need copepods then it takes a while for those starter stocks to multiply to good numbers. Where are you located?

 

[OrQidz]

oh how cute! I love flame hawks. They are adorable together - I hope they develop a deep and meaningful relationship soon!

 

[Haffs09]

I have a pair in my tank and they've been together for 3 years. I've never noticed any spawning dances, but they are enjoyable to watch and get along great.

 

[Kidd Reef]

This is very interesting. If this goes well i might attempt to get a mate for my flame hawk myself. Always wanted another red fish but was concerned since my flamehawk was the first fish in the tank. I didnt know Flamehawks were sequential hermaphrodites. Thanks for the info and hope this works out!

 

[Wrangy]

I was only asking because depending on what the larva eat you may need awhile to build up stock. If they eat rotifers or baby brine you are good to go but if they need copepods then it takes a while for those starter stocks to multiply to good numbers. Where are you located?

I'm in Aus, so a little while away haha if/onc they start to spawn then I'll look at creating a breeding and food setup but until then I'll just focus on keeping them happy and healthy

oh how cute! I love flame hawks. They are adorable together - I hope they develop a deep and meaningful relationship soon!

Well so far they've got a pretty strong bond going She loves to follow him around and generally be within eyesight of him so I'm hoping it continues that way!!

I have a pair in my tank and they've been together for 3 years. I've never noticed any spawning dances, but they are enjoyable to watch and get along great.

Yeah I'm yet to do some true research into it and if anyone has seen or attempted it but just seeing them together is more than enough for me at the moment

This is very interesting. If this goes well i might attempt to get a mate for my flame hawk myself. Always wanted another red fish but was concerned since my flamehawk was the first fish in the tank. I didnt know Flamehawks were sequential hermaphrodites. Thanks for the info and hope this works out!

No worries, I was really concerned about introducing a new hawk to the tank as he was and always has been the first fish in the tank and king of it lol after a week in separation I was confident it would go well and it did they're so fantastic the way they interact and they're the brightest red I've seen so it was well worth it!

 

[eulalio flores]

Man that really cool will try to follow

 

[Wrangy]

Thanks Laylo

Here's a new pic to entice you some more!

 

[kizanne]

awesome pic

 

[Kidd Reef]

Your killin me Wrangy, right when i thought id decided to go with a Flame cardinal you post that killer pic..so how long did you let get used to eachother before you felt comfortable releasing the female?

 

[Wrangy]

awesome pic

They pose a lot so it's not hard to get a good one lol

Your killin me Wrangy, right when i thought id decided to go with a Flame cardinal you post that killer pic..so how long did you let get used to eachother before you felt comfortable releasing the female?

haha definitely go with flame hawks! :hammer:
The little one spent a 5/6 days in solitary confinement and then within 20 minutes they were interacting and being friendly It's definitely worth a slow introduction if you've got an already established one but buy them as a pair if you can

 

[silentstorm]

wow.. that last pic is awesome :thumbsup:
always wanted to pair most of my fishes... and a definite on the list is the flame hawk. ...should be moving pretty soon & start my upgrade..

any updates of them ? any signs of spawning?

 

[Wrangy]

wow.. that last pic is awesome :thumbsup:
always wanted to pair most of my fishes... and a definite on the list is the flame hawk. ...should be moving pretty soon & start my upgrade..

any updates of them ? any signs of spawning?

Thanks mate I really adore hawkfish and their amazing personalities!! You definitely won't regret getting one!

I have good and bad news with my pair. The bad news is, last week they both jumped out of the tank sometime during the night and died :sad1: the good news is that they had starting mating/breeding rituals which was why they ended up jumping. So I can say that I did reach a point of them just about start breeding and then lost them nearly straight afterwards

The other point of good news is that I will be getting a new pair in the next week or so, my lfs has them coming in tomorrow night specially for me so fingers crossed this time I get them breeding!

 

[rhickman17]

Awesome looking pair, really like the pair posing on the frag rack!

 

[hotelbravo]

Im sorry to hear the loss, you should get a screen cover I just made some for my tank using 1/4inch clear mesh to keep my exploring eel in the tank. Cost me around 20$ to make myself