Tankmate for Hawkfish in 29 FOWLR

[krazykat]

Hello everybody! Just joined the community today and I wanted to see if anybody can help me. I am re-doing my 29 gallon saltwater tank. My hawkfish is currently in his(?) temporary 10 gallon tank. He is about 4 inches and for two years now he has been the only fish in the 29 gallon tank. I put in a DSB approximately 5 inches deep. There is no live rock in there at the moment. I have a Fluval 104(?) and a 400 watt Marineland powerhead in there at the moment. I have used the Aquaclear foam media as a prefilter on both filters' uptakes. I also have an 18-watt flourescent lamp for lighting, since I will be doing FOWLR, and not very much live rock at that. I am planning on having only a 'bommie" type structure for him, with several live rock frags scattered about. I would like to add some fish to the tank before I return Mellow Yellow (that's my pet hawkfish's name) to the 29 g, so he doesn't make a meal out of them. I would like to add some sand sifting fish, like maybe some gobies and maybe a couple of clownfish - maybe some perculas or some saddlebacks, since I can have more than one of these damselfish in the same tank. Any suggestions as to what fish can go in with my Mellow Yellow? I don't know what kind of Hawkfish he is. I looked at several books but I cannot find him anywhere. He has the body and markings of a Pixie Hawkfish but maybe bigger - and his coloring is similar to that of a Lyretail Hawkfish,kind of a blotchy yellow orange. I have no photos of him at the moment but I can take one and upload it later. Will someone please help?! I would like to have a few more fish in the tank. Thanks in advance!

[ThePuffLife]

What type hawk is it?

[krazykat]

I don't know what type of hawk he is. He definitely is not a longnose hawk. Please see original post for description - thanks!

[ThePuffLife]

Sorry i must have missed that... Interesting... well, keep in mind that hawks are very bold and dont always get along with other bottom dwellers... but sometimes they do. Id say youv'e got about a 50/50 shot with a sand sifter... i really dont see any problems with the clowns...

[krazykat]

Okay, I have been thinking about this and have also looked around my LFS in the area. I found a really great looking fish called the Dwarf Fuzzy Lionfish aka Shortfin Lionfish, Dwarf Lionfish, Dendrochirus brachypterus. Beautiful fish! Grows to about 7 inches. I think it will be a perfect companion to my hawkfish who is about 4.5 inches. I know that this is a venomous fish and I plan on taking the utmost care when in or around the fish tank. Now I would like to know whether anybody out there has any experience with this fish that they would like to share, advice, warnings, whatsoever. To recap, I have a 29 g saltwater tank FOWLR. Thinking seriously about setting up my empty 65 g tank up for these two fish (hawkfish and lionfish), but that is only a thought for now, so please share with the asumption that these two will be staying in the 29g. All the web articles I have found suggested a minimum of 30 g tanks for this lionfish. Looking forward to hearing from everybody out there - thanks in advance!

[ThePuffLife]

Yep, i love fuzzy dwarfs... keep in mind though that their fins are venomous upon contact. And according to this compatability chart:Marine Compatability Chart it is a caution level with hawks...

[krazykat]

hmmm... kinda disappointed that I didn't get more of a response from everybody out there... I was hoping for more inputs from the more experienced reefers out there, even if my tank is FOWLR, not a mini reef. After staring at pictures of hawkfish, I can say with certainty that mine is a blotched hawkfish with an unusual, predominantly yellow-orange coloring. He's still the only fish in the 29 g tank. I got a good handful of macroalgae to go in the tank with him, plus 6 nassarius snails which I cannot see anymore (they've dug themselves into the sand bed). There is a very slight diatom algae buildup on the glass - VERY little - which is still controllable with a glass cleaner, three powerheads on a wavemaker plus the Fluval 104. Water quality's good - not too hard to do with just one hawkfish in there. I am foregoing the idea of the fuzzy dwarf angelfish, just to keep water quality maintenance issues as minimal as possible. I would still like to have something else in there with him, though, and so I thought maybe a clownfish like a tomato clown or a sebae slown (comparable size to the hawkfish), or a pair of percula clownfish; plus a cleaner wrasse, and call it good. Will be upgrading the Fluval 104 to a 304 as soon as my husband cuts the intake tube to the Fluval 304 so that it won't be sucking up my DSB instead of the water -lol. Let the 304 mature a little bit - run it at the same time as the 104 for about week before adding any more fish. So, what do you guys think about my revised fish additions? Any reactions? Criticisms? Anyone? I think I would get more reaction if I said I wanted to put a trigger in my 29 g tank... Hmmm...(relax, people, I am not...) Help, please! Thanks!

[Witfull]

when you posted it was late at night when things slow down on forums.

first welcome to RS~

hawkfish can be beligerent to other fish, especially in a smaller tank and compound it with him being solitary for some time.

fish choices are limited. but first do not get a cleaner wrasse. they have a dismal survival rate in captivity and those that do are in larger tanks. have you considered a few damsels? there are several brightly colored species and can deal with the hawks pugnacity.

[tippMANn98]

Im my LAST 29(not current I had a freckled hawk, bout 3 inches, they do have quite the attitude. I had a yellow-headed sleeper goby, and a 3.5 inch goldstripe maroon clown. They all got along pretty well, and the hawk was first. Just becareful on FISH SHAPE too. If you choose a small goby or dottyback, that has a slender type body shape the hawk my think its food and act upon it.

[krazykat]

Okay, after much hemming and hawing I finally took the plunge. Went to 2 LFS. First store had a great looking goldstripe maroon about 2.5" but a couple of juvenile blue tangs in the same tank had a dusting of ich. The second store only had one maroon clown for sale (the other two which were both goldstripe maroons, were in the display tank and were NFS). Looked good and it seemed pretty big at the store. So the LFS guy bagged her up for me and I took her home. It took me a little over two hours to acclimate her to my tank - I floated the bag for 30 minutes with the lights out, then used airline tubing to drip water into a small bucket where I released the maroon. After the drip acclimation, I released her into the 29 gallon, and she started to explore the territory. She actually ate some of the flake food that I dropped into the tank to distract my hawkfish. Very promising! But then my hawkfish jetted out of his (?) hiding spot and pecked at her! And so she swam to the top right back corner to hide behind the powerhead! And there she stayed! The maroon is half the size of the hawkfish!!!! Aaaaaghhhhhh!!!!! Mellow Yellow actually took a few more swings at my maroon. And then Mellow Yellow seemed to stop and go into hiding. But then he occasionally comes around, eyes swiveling towards the corner where the maroon is hiding, and doing swim-bys.....Right now my maroon is in one of those breeding nets to keep her away from the hawkfish. I need to go to work early tomorrow and I'm planning on keeping her in the breeding net to keep her safe. I turned off all the powerheads and only the Fluval 104 is now creating any circulation in the tank. Pretty worried, though. I just hope she makes it through the night okay. It's pretty stressful on me thinking about what's going on in there, and I know it's even more stressful on her. I hope she makes it through the night in good shape....

[jski711]

i'm sure it will make it through the night. if that fish has been in a tank by itself for 2 years it might attack any other fish you put in there. also imo a 29g tank is not big enough for any lionfish, even a dwarf lion. keep the fish in the breeder net for a few days and let the fish get used to seeing each other and then release her again and see how it goes. hth.

Jake

[tippMANn98]

It happens, its something new in the hawks territory, its gonna have to learn how to share.

[lcstorc]

Try rearranging the tank. That will make the hawk feel like a new guy as well. Even better move the hawk and let the clown become established and then return the hawk to the tank. IMO that is your best bet but you still need to watch carefully.

[tippMANn98]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

Try rearranging the tank. That will make the hawk feel like a new guy as well. Even better move the hawk and let the clown become established and then return the hawk to the tank. IMO that is your best bet but you still need to watch carefully.

I have never been a fan of completely moving a fish and causing unnecessary stress. The rearrangement IMO would be a better choice. why punish the hawk when its just acting out of instinct. sorry lynn

[lcstorc]

No need to be sorry. We all have our opinions.
I would rather stress the fish and give the clown a better chance. In all honesty anything is a guess here.