Hawkfish are semi-aggressive saltwater fish that loves to stay in the reefs. They are small fish that could barely grow up to 5 inches and they are good community fish. Although they are good community fish, but they do prey on smaller fish and other smaller aquatic animals too, the question many Aquarists ask is, will they eat Shrimp? or are they also compatible with them? If you are interested to know if they could be kept with Shrimp or what they could eat, then this article is for you.
Do Hawkfish eat Shrimp? Hawkfish naturally prey on Shrimp. Although it may take some time, they will prey on any Shrimp if they happen to be kept together.
Shrimp is of the crustacean family, they are loved by many aquatic animals as snacks, including fish.
Although Hawkfish are small in size, they are a great predator of crustaceans and could kill any, be it Copepods, Crabs, Shrimps, etc if they happen to be kept together.
Many people do say that they have had success in keeping Hawkfish and Shrimps together in their tanks, but the fact remains that the end will always be sad for such people because they are keeping a predator and prey together which is astonishing.
The fact is shrimp could be kept in a tank and Hawkfish will be later kept in the same tank and they could cohabitate for a short period and even up to a few months, but the fact is that the fish will finally get the shrimp because they are one of their best meals.
Hawkfish might be able to tolerate shrimp for a while just because they are still tender or they have not learned that they could prey on Shrimp, but their cohabitation doesn’t normally last for a very long time before the feast will begin.
So, don’t listen to anybody encouraging you to keep those two animals in the same tank because the end is always sad, the two could be classified as predator and prey.
Will Flame Hawkfish Eat Cleaner Shrimp?
Flame Hawkfish and Hawkfish in general are natural predators to any type of Shrimp, including Cleaner Shrimp.
Cleaner Shrimp is one of the types of Shrimp, they are very prone to predators like Hawkfish and they could be taken down by any Hawkfish no matter the size of the fish and the shrimp involved.
I have seen a small Flame Hawkfish take down a big Cleaner Shrimp.
They do this by grabbing the Shrimp on their abdomen and bombing them on substrates, thereby killing them and eating them slowly.
Will Longnose Hawkfish Eat Shrimp?
Longnose Hawkfish do prey on Shrimp, but they could only prey on smaller shrimp and don’t always go for larger or medium-sized shrimp.
Longnose is a type of Hawkfish, they are small in size, especially those captive bred and they also could eat crustaceans such as shrimp.
Although they eat crustaceans like shrimp, but they try as much as possible to avoid those that are bigger than them.
So, if you want to keep Shrimp with Hawkfish, then you might think of this type of Hawkfish, although I don’t subscribe to keeping any type of Hawkfish with any type of Shrimp.
What Will Hawkfish Eat?
Hawkfish are Omnivores, but some of its species or types are more carnivores than herbivores, meaning that they specialize more in meat than in vegetables and other fish foods.
Types like The Falco Hawkfish, Flame Hawkfish, etc are more carnivores than herbivores and they specialize in eating foods like Crustaceans, Corals, Frozen fish foods, Pellets, Worms, Insects, Smaller Fish, Vegetables, etc.
Other types of Hawkfish like The Longnose, Coral Hawkfish, Stocky Hawkfish, etc could eat anything other fish could eat too because they are omnivores.
Conclusion
Hawkfish are Omnivores, at least the majority of them and they could scavenge, they will eat your Shrimp and any other crustacean if they are kept together.
Although it might not be immediately, so don’t celebrate yet if you made the mistake of having them both in a tank without using a tank divider to separate them.
