Trouble with hawkfish

[Nathaniellund17]

I want to remove a Falco Hawkfish from my 180 gallon tank. I have trap, but the Hawkfish stays far away from it… All other fish have no problem going into the trap to eat. So I’m at the point I think I need to pull out all the rocks and corral and use a net to get him out. I have a 40 gallon tank that I used to quarantine fish in the past and want to put my coral in there as I think it will take some time to net out the hawkish. I used a copper treatment in the 40 gallon tank. Should I avoid using this tank for anything with coral?

As an aside, the reason I want to remove the hawkish is since I’ve added the hawkish, I’ve had a mandarin gone and wrasse die… the wrasse looked like it was attacked. I’m also not seeing many Berghia nudibrancs… with plenty of aiptasia. I’ve been told that Hawkfish would leave berghias alone, but I’m thinking this one is just a jerk. Not sure if others have had this experience.

 

[fishywishy]

Just rinse the tank with vinegar and it should be safe to use with corals again.

I don’t think hawks eat bergias. it was most likely the wrasse, but I could be wrong. It definitely could be attacking your fish though. Before you remove all the rocks, just give the trap some more time. It sometimes takes fish weeks to get warmed up to traps. Just don’t feed him for a while so he is forced to go for the food in the trap.

 

[Nathaniellund17]

Just rinse the tank with vinegar and it should be safe to use with corals again.

I don’t think hawks eat bergias. it was most likely the wrasse, but I could be wrong. It definitely could be attacking your fish though. Before you remove all the rocks, just give the trap some more time. It sometimes takes fish weeks to get warmed up to traps. Just don’t feed him for a while so he is forced to go for the food in the trap.

Thanks for the reply. I tried the box for about three weeks, maybe I’ll try it longer… removing all the rocks from the tank does not excite me. If I do end up removing the rocks, I’ll make sure to clean the 40 gallon out first.

Regarding the wrasse, the Berghia started thinning out after the wrasse was found dead. I can’t think of what else it could be. I’ve heard that as long as fish are not moving around too much at night, they should leave berghias alone. This hawkish does appear to be active at night, and with the other dead fish, I think it’s got to go.

 

[i cant think]

I want to remove a Falco Hawkfish from my 180 gallon tank. I have trap, but the Hawkfish stays far away from it… All other fish have no problem going into the trap to eat. So I’m at the point I think I need to pull out all the rocks and corral and use a net to get him out. I have a 40 gallon tank that I used to quarantine fish in the past and want to put my coral in there as I think it will take some time to net out the hawkish. I used a copper treatment in the 40 gallon tank. Should I avoid using this tank for anything with coral?

As an aside, the reason I want to remove the hawkish is since I’ve added the hawkish, I’ve had a mandarin gone and wrasse die… the wrasse looked like it was attacked. I’m also not seeing many Berghia nudibrancs… with plenty of aiptasia. I’ve been told that Hawkfish would leave berghias alone, but I’m thinking this one is just a jerk. Not sure if others have had this experience.

I caught my Lyretail Hawkfish by waiting until night time and going in for the swoop. He was sat in my makeshift acclimation box for a good 2 days after that and visibly showed signs of going for my wrasses.

By the way, wrasses and hawkfish I’ve yet to have success mixing long term so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the culprit to a missing wrasse. I know mine went for;
- Male Radiant
- Attempted to grab my large Diamond Tail Flasher
- Copperband Butterfly (I had that fish thriving for almost 4 years)

And something else but I can’t remember what (this issue was over a year ago now and since then, I haven’t kept any hawkfish in a display).

 

[DrkNMighty]

Any chance you can use some kind of divider to partition the tank into a smaller space to make catching easier?

 

[Nathaniellund17]

I caught my Lyretail Hawkfish by waiting until night time and going in for the swoop. He was sat in my makeshift acclimation box for a good 2 days after that and visibly showed signs of going for my wrasses.

By the way, wrasses and hawkfish I’ve yet to have success mixing long term so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the culprit to a missing wrasse. I know mine went for;
- Male Radiant
- Attempted to grab my large Diamond Tail Flasher
- Copperband Butterfly (I had that fish thriving for almost 4 years)

And something else but I can’t remember what (this issue was over a year ago now and since then, I haven’t kept any hawkfish in a display).

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I’ve tried the night time capture as well. This guy is just so active and knows when I’m coming. Being that the other fish disappeared, were attacked after I added this guy, I’m pretty sure he’s the culprit. I also added some anthias at the same time, but my understanding is that the anthias are much better tank mates as long as they are fed (which they are with an automatic feeder.). It’s been several months since I’ve lost the wrasse, and now that I’m not seeing berghias, I really want him out of the tank.

 

[Nathaniellund17]

Any chance you can use some kind of divider to partition the tank into a smaller space to make catching easier?

Thanks for the reply. That’s a good thought. My rock work does extend out throughout the tank, but there might be a way to divide it.