The Falco Hawkfish or Dwarf Hawkfish is one of the most commonly seen of the hawkfish. They are a very interesting fish to watch and have very intricate and colorful markings. Although hard to see in the photo, they have bright yellow tufts (typical of hawkfish) on the dorsal fin rays.
AJ - 2013-02-12 I have had a falco hawk for about 5 months now and I haven't had any problems with him. He is an awesome fish for my reef tank. Never has he eaten my hermit crabs, snails, or peppermint shrimp. The small glass shrimp I feed him periodically are consumed right away! I wonder if these other people are feeding theirs enough. Mine eats pellet food, freeze dried krill, frozen mysis shrimp, and the glass shrimp. I feed him twice a day, dropping one or two pieces of food in at a time until he no longer begs for more. I also have a clownfish that follows him around like they are paired up lol. This is a very fun fish, don't let the other people's comments scare you away.
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Anonymous - 2013-02-15 if it will fit in his mouth, he will eat it, just a matter of time. not so much the hard shelled critters, but the shrimp are living on borrowed time
paris - 2013-04-18 yup I def. agree. I had a hawkfish sweet as can be for a few months then ate my huge cleaner shrimp.. all of them!! i caught him with the antennaes hanging out of his mouth!
Jeremy - 2010-11-27 AHHHH, YES.........the falco hawkfish is very beautiful and smart. Couldn't wait to get one and we named her lola. All was well in the the tank until we added blue leg hermits, a mandarin dragonet, and a mat of green star polyps. Well the "cute little hawk" became a killer when her Grouper instincts kicked in, she ate the hermits, terrorized the dragonet and started to rip the polpys out of the coral mat. Cute little lola, aka little grouper.(predator)
Casey - 2010-06-26 Just bought a star fish and shrimp ... dead within a day from the Falco Hawk ... my other fish are missing chunks out of there fine also ... they're really neat to watch, but I do not recommend if you want invertebrates.
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Cindy - 2010-11-13 My Falco is very picky on who is in the tank with her. She becomes very aggressive on some fish and leaves others alone. I have had her for 8 years now and is now the only one left. I am afraid to get any more fish because I don't know who will last and who won't.
Lauren - 2010-06-07 I just bought a hawkfish and he's doing great with all my other fish. I haven't seen any aggressive behavior from him or my other fish. I think it all depends on the fish, some are naturally killers while others are calm and cool.
F - 2010-06-01 Ellen, I disagree. I have had my hawkfish for over a year and a half with a clownfish and a lawnmower blenny, and the 3 of them could not be happier! He is very content with other fish! You could not keep a tank full of hawkfish, because unless they are in a mated pair or harem, they will attack each other.
jacob - 2010-03-22 My falcos was mean only to new arrivals and was mean to all shrimp before he figured out they could clean him off and served a purpose to him other than lunch.
Matt - 2010-02-19 I was going to get one tomorrow....NOT now. Ii've got a Bi-Color angel, a Scopas tang, a powder Blue tang, 3 Firefish, a Percula, a Purple& yellow Dottieback, a banded Coral shrimp, 5 or 10 little bitty Hermit crabs, and a handful of Turbo snails, all in a 135. Thanks everybody, It would be really crappy if that fish upset my happy tank.
Thomas - 2009-07-06 I have been thinking about getting one of these for a while now. I thought they are very pretty and cute and fun looking fish to have...until i read all the comments on this site. Thanks to all who commented for helping me stay away from a apparently very disastrous decision!
Ellen - 2009-02-05 I started my aquarium with a hawkfish and 2 barrier reef chromis. 2 weeks later I have no chromis but the hawkfish seems fine having the whole tank to him self, like 200 litres. Hawkfish are great and have a big personality but they just arent community fish and unless you want to waste money on replacing fish all the time and cringing when you find another dead one, I'd take the hawkfish back to the shop... OR have a tank full of hawkfish!
cliff - 2009-01-28 I have had my falco hawkfish for about 10 months. Pretty cool if its the last fish that you add to your tank... EVER! It does not like new fish added to the tank, or really new crabs either. Oh, and they are pretty tough to catch too. They seem much more aggresive than most web sites make you aware of.
The Falco Hawkfish or Dwarf Hawkfish is one of the most commonly seen of the hawkfish. They are a very interesting fish to watch and have very intricate and colorful markings. Although hard to see in the photo, they have bright yellow tufts (typical of hawkfish) on the dorsal fin rays.
I have had a falco hawk for about 5 months now and I haven't had any problems with him. He is an awesome fish for my reef tank. Never has he eaten my hermit crabs, snails, or peppermint shrimp. The small glass shrimp I feed him periodically are consumed right away! I wonder if these other people are feeding theirs enough. Mine eats pellet food, freeze dried krill, frozen mysis shrimp, and the glass shrimp. I feed him twice a day, dropping one or two pieces of food in at a time until he no longer begs for more. I also have a clownfish that follows him around like they are paired up lol. This is a very fun fish, don't let the other people's comments scare you away.
if it will fit in his mouth, he will eat it, just a matter of time. not so much the hard shelled critters, but the shrimp are living on borrowed time
yup I def. agree. I had a hawkfish sweet as can be for a few months then ate my huge cleaner shrimp.. all of them!! i caught him with the antennaes hanging out of his mouth!
AHHHH, YES.........the falco hawkfish is very beautiful and smart. Couldn't wait to get one and we named her lola. All was well in the the tank until we added blue leg hermits, a mandarin dragonet, and a mat of green star polyps. Well the "cute little hawk" became a killer when her Grouper instincts kicked in, she ate the hermits, terrorized the dragonet and started to rip the polpys out of the coral mat. Cute little lola, aka little grouper.(predator)
Just bought a star fish and shrimp ... dead within a day from the Falco Hawk ... my other fish are missing chunks out of there fine also ... they're really neat to watch, but I do not recommend if you want invertebrates.
My Falco is very picky on who is in the tank with her. She becomes very aggressive on some fish and leaves others alone. I have had her for 8 years now and is now the only one left. I am afraid to get any more fish because I don't know who will last and who won't.
I just bought a hawkfish and he's doing great with all my other fish. I haven't seen any aggressive behavior from him or my other fish. I think it all depends on the fish, some are naturally killers while others are calm and cool.
Ellen, I disagree. I have had my hawkfish for over a year and a half with a clownfish and a lawnmower blenny, and the 3 of them could not be happier! He is very content with other fish! You could not keep a tank full of hawkfish, because unless they are in a mated pair or harem, they will attack each other.
My falcos was mean only to new arrivals and was mean to all shrimp before he figured out they could clean him off and served a purpose to him other than lunch.
I was going to get one tomorrow....NOT now. Ii've got a Bi-Color angel, a Scopas tang, a powder Blue tang, 3 Firefish, a Percula, a Purple& yellow Dottieback, a banded Coral shrimp, 5 or 10 little bitty Hermit crabs, and a handful of Turbo snails, all in a 135. Thanks everybody, It would be really crappy if that fish upset my happy tank.
I have been thinking about getting one of these for a while now. I thought they are very pretty and cute and fun looking fish to have...until i read all the comments on this site. Thanks to all who commented for helping me stay away from a apparently very disastrous decision!
I started my aquarium with a hawkfish and 2 barrier reef chromis. 2 weeks later I have no chromis but the hawkfish seems fine having the whole tank to him self, like 200 litres. Hawkfish are great and have a big personality but they just arent community fish and unless you want to waste money on replacing fish all the time and cringing when you find another dead one, I'd take the hawkfish back to the shop... OR have a tank full of hawkfish!
I have had my falco hawkfish for about 10 months. Pretty cool if its the last fish that you add to your tank... EVER! It does not like new fish added to the tank, or really new crabs either. Oh, and they are pretty tough to catch too. They seem much more aggresive than most web sites make you aware of.