Flame Hawkfish behavior

VictoryBell · Jan 5, 2020

I have had a flame hawk for about 5 months and noticed she has some strange behavior in the evening. Around the same time every night she darts around the tank and hovers near the top kind of like...hovering near the top, darts away, hovers near the to; repeat. This goes on for a maybe 20 minutes and then she goes back to her normal perching and hopping from place to place behavior. Is it like...a thing these fish do? (Sort of like how cats get the evening crazies.) No one else acts out of the ordinary, when I test my parameters every week things are normal, and the tank has been running for almost two years. I’m starting to think she’s just goofy.

Has anyone ever had a hawkfish that did this?

Zack K · Jan 5, 2020

Does it happen near or during feeding time?

hllb · Jan 5, 2020

Zack K said:
Does it happen near or during feeding time?

Or is it when your lights change and maybe pods come out?

24/7ReeFTime · Jan 5, 2020

I have a spotted hawkfish I’ve had for 3 months now and does that all the time. He likes to perch upright in the corners of my tank and on my mag float. He swims back and forth quickly. It seems pretty normal to me.

StatelineReefer · Jan 5, 2020

Sounds utterly Pavlovian to me. Automatic Feeder Syndrome.

AlexG · Jan 5, 2020

If you feed in that location it might be a reason for this behavior. If it is in the evening are the lights lowing for the evening or are flow patterns changing? Lights in the room of the tank change? Could be a response to the fish seeing its reflection or it might just be a random behavior.

24/7ReeFTime · Jan 5, 2020

StatelineReefer said:
Sounds utterly Pavlovian to me. Automatic Feeder Syndrome.

I never used an auto feeder.

Aswswild · Jan 5, 2020

Yea I have one to an it is called Pom Pom for the ones on his dorsal fin an never swims always sits

StatelineReefer · Jan 5, 2020

jaxon meller said:
I never used an auto feeder.

I never did either, but that didn't stop my Solar Wrasse from adopting a 'begging puppy' posture as soon as 11:30 rolled around. My point is, fish will adopt a schedule if introduced to strong enough stimuli, and will continue that schedule for years, even when the pattern of the original stimulus has changed. I fed my wrasse at 11:30 every day for two years straight, then switched shifts to where I was feeding him at 1:30 am. (The time I got home) On my days off, I noted he would STILL swim up to the top at exactly 11:30.

VictoryBell · Jan 6, 2020

So judging from the replies, I think I have inadvertently conditioned her behavior. () She does start it around the time I usually feed the tank in the evening. The thought that she might be “begging” crossed my mind but I wasn’t sure.

Fishnfun · Jan 7, 2020

Mine does that all of the time. I think it's just normal behavior for them. It's funny to watch. I comment on it all of the time.

eraserhead187 · Jan 16, 2020

Same, my flame does this. It's hilarious. Any time I am near the front of the tank he is up there on the wall, staring right at me, eyes bopping back and forth between me and the tank.

RonSwanson · Mar 3, 2021

My hawk does that. He goes randomly to the top in the evening and then darts down and perches. Normal evening behavior. I feed them at random times so has nothing to do with feeding habits for my fish. This fish is definitely a stalker. I got him to observe his interesting behavior but the flame watches you back. The owner is being watched by a little marine red devil ALL the time. He never sleeps.