|
Reef Fish Guide designation and why
Take it home
Hawkfishes are a great choice for a beginning aquarist because they readily accept most types of food (even flake food) and have high chances of survival.
Distribution
Tropical Atlantic, Western Pacific, Indo Pacific (Specific location depends on species, but as a family they are quite widespread).
Maximum Size
Family ranges in size from 2.8 inches (7 cm) to 5.5 inches (14 cm)
Care Requirements
These hawkfish should be kept in at least 20 gallon tanks, and should not be housed with smaller, less-aggressive species. In fact they should be in aquariums with more aggressive fishes—such as larger pseudochromids, larger wrasses, puffers, and triggerfishes. Some hawkfish like the Blood Red hawkfish can be fed pigment-enriched foods to ensure it maintains its brilliant coloration.
Food: All of these hawkfish will eat almost anything and should be fed daily. They do well with meaty foods, including marine fish, crustacean flesh, mysid shrimp, and frozen preparations. Although it spends a large portion of the time sitting on the bottom of the tank and on aquarium décor, most fish in this group dart with amazing speed to grab food items that catch its ever-alert eye.
Compatibility: All of the hawkfish in the Cirrhitidae family are hardy aquarium fish but the larger ones are considered potentially aggressive. Some species like the Coral hawkfish is known to pick on small dottybacks, grammas, gobies, dartfishes and even other hawkfish. In this case, if you plan on housing new hawkfish with less-aggressive fish, they should be added last to an already established tank. Cirrhitidae species are non-predatory and are quite compatible; however they will infrequently eat small ornamental shrimps.
|
