Longnose Hawkfish not eating. Help

srpntmage · Mar 18, 2016

I just picked up a longnose hawkfish at my local reef store the other day. It is very small, about 2 inches long. He is in my new tank that has been running for a couple months.

When I feed the tank (mysis, LRS nano blend, flakes) he gets excited and roams around pecking at the rocks. He doesn't eat any of the food however, even if it lands right in front of him.

There aren't many pods or rock dwelling critters in the tank, as it is new-ish, so I don't think he is getting much from all the pecking. I know hawks usually will eat pretty much anything, so I don't get what is going on with this little guy.

Any suggestions? He probably isn't getting much to eat, and I can't see him living much longer without food. I do have a smaller, 1.5 year old tank with pods, worms etc... maybe put him in there, or transfer some bristle worms over to the new tank?

AlexG · Mar 18, 2016

Was the fish eating before you made the purchase? Have you tested the water to make sure there are no issues? Try to feed some live brine while feeding regular foods. If it has only been a couple of days it will not be an issue for the fish to not eat.

srpntmage · Mar 18, 2016

I honestly don't know if it was eating or not at the LFS. The water is fine and my other fish eat very well. I would try live brine, but I don't know where to get any. Do stores usually sell live brine?

Naiad · Mar 18, 2016

Your lfs should sell it. Sounds like he is a new arrival to captive life and doesn't understand what is going on. In the future ask to make sure they eat at the lfs. Hopefully he will catch on by watching the other fish.

Jimbo · Mar 18, 2016

I recently added a small Longnose Hawk also. Acted the same way as yours and then figured out how to eat on about day 5 in the tank. Now he eats like a champ, LRS food , Mysis and even NLS Pellets.

Hopefully yours will do the same

srpntmage · Mar 18, 2016

Jimbo said:
I recently added a small Longnose Hawk also. Acted the same way as yours and then figured out how to eat on about day 5 in the tank. Now he eats like a champ, LRS food , Mysis and even NLS Pellets.

Hopefully yours will do the same

Did you do anything special? I have been trying to get food to float by him or land in front of him. Nothing but pick, pick, pick at the rocks.

Jimbo · Mar 18, 2016

Nope, nothing different. Just fed the tank as usual and he eventually caught on. Good luck!

srpntmage · Mar 21, 2016

Ha! Day five he went after a floating piece of frozen LRS. Now he is eats like a pig. Just need to get him to eat flakes and pellets now for when I am out of town.