Saltwater Fish · Hawkfish
Flame Hawkfish
Neocirrhites armatus
Scarlet coral-percher with black bandit eyesIntermediate
- Lifespan
- 5-10 years
- Size
- 9 cm (3.5 in)
- Social needs
- One per tank (bonded pair only in a large system)
- Time
- 15-20 min daily; reef-standard upkeep
- Cost
- Medium-High
- Diet
- Carnivore (frozen mysis, brine, krill, chopped seafood)
Overview
What is this animal?
- The flame hawkfish is a small, solid scarlet-red hawkfish marked with black rings around the eyes and a black band running along the base of the dorsal fin.
- At about 9 cm (3.5 in) it is one of the smaller hawkfish commonly kept, and it comes from western and central Pacific surge zones where it lives wedged inside heads of branching Pocillopora and Stylophora coral.
- Where the longnose hawkfish already on this site perches high and surveys the reef, the flame lives low, tucked into branches near the rock, and is noticeably more secretive for its first weeks.
- It is hardy and full of character once settled, and its bulldog face and pure red colour make it one of the most striking small marine fish.
- Most specimens are wild-caught from Fiji and nearby Pacific reefs, which keeps prices well above a clownfish.
- Captive-bred flame hawkfish exist but surface only occasionally, so ask your supplier and be prepared to wait if you want one.
Temperament
- A settled flame hawkfish is bold, watchful, and quickly learns to recognise its keeper, but it is a genuine predator of small invertebrates.
- Ornamental shrimp, small hermit crabs, and small snails are at real risk, so build the cleanup crew from larger snails and skip cleaner and sexy shrimp and tiny hermits entirely.
- It defends its patch of rockwork and can bully small bottom-dwellers such as gobies, blennies, and firefish, especially in tanks under 200 litres (about 50 gallons).
- Add the hawkfish last, after peaceful fish have established, and give it its own branching territory.
- Keep one hawkfish per tank as a rule.
- Flame hawkfish are protogynous hermaphrodites, so a bonded male-female pair can live together, but only in a large system with plenty of rock; two unpaired fish will fight over the best perch until one is hurt.
- With medium-sized, confident tankmates a single hawkfish causes little trouble and spends its day hopping between lookout points.
A good fit for
- Reef keepers wanting an intense splash of red
- Mid-size reefs from 115L (30 gal) upward
- Fans of perching, watchful personality fish
- Coral-dominated tanks without prized ornamental shrimp
- Keepers willing to seek out captive-bred stock
Common mistakes to avoid
- Shrimp, small hermits, and snails become prey
- Open lids: hawkfish are explosive jumpers
- Two unpaired hawkfish fight; only a bonded pair cohabits, in a large tank
- Adding it before shy bottom-dwellers have settled
- Buying a shipping-stressed fish that never feeds
Enclosure
Minimum 115 litres (30 US gallons)
Must be housed alone. One per tank (bonded pair only in a large system)
- Provide a cycled reef of at least 115 litres (30 gallons) with dense branching rockwork or sturdy branching coral set low in the tank, because this hawkfish wedges into structure rather than perching in the open.
- Like all hawkfish it lacks a swim bladder, so it rests on its pectoral fins and moves in short hops instead of cruising.
- Keep salinity 1.024-1.026, temperature 24-27C (75-80F), pH 8.1-8.4, ammonia and nitrite at zero, and nitrate below 20 ppm.
- As a surge-zone native it appreciates strong flow and will happily sit in currents that would exhaust more delicate fish.
- A tight-fitting lid is non-negotiable, since startled hawkfish are explosive jumpers and jumping is the most common cause of loss.
- It will not nip corals, though it may irritate a small SPS colony by perching on the same spot day after day.
Supplies
Setup
- Tank, stand and sump
- Return pump and powerheads
- Protein skimmer
- Reef lighting
- Rock and sand
- Salt mix, refractometer and test kits
- Quarantine tank
Ongoing
- Frozen mysis shrimp
- Frozen krill
- Frozen enriched brine shrimp
- Frozen chopped seafood blend
- Marine carnivore pellets
- Feeding tongs
- Small thawing cup and strainer
Safe substrate: Aragonite sand · Dry or cured live rock · Bare bottom
Care routine
Daily
- Check salinity, temperature and flow
- Check the lid
- Feed
- Head-count and look everyone over
- Top up evaporation with fresh water
Weekly
- Service the skimmer and filter socksevery 3 days
- Clean the glass
- Test the water
Monthly
- Water changeevery 2 weeks
- Calibrate the refractometer
- Check salt, RO/DI and reagents
Less often
- Deep-clean pumps and powerheadsevery 3 months
- Replace RO/DI filter mediaevery 6 months
Vet: Quarterly review with a lid check — every 3 months
Top resources for more info
Independent creators and organisations we would send a friend to. We have no affiliation with any of them, and nothing here is sponsored. Links checked 2026-09-19.
YouTubers
HumbleFish & ReefSaltwater fish disease, quarantine and treatment (Humble.Fish forum)BRStvReef tank setup, fish health and quarantine series (run by a retailer)FishOfHex AquaticsBeginner saltwater guides, avoiding common mistakes and tank disasters
Sites
Go deeper
Diet
- Flame hawkfish are carnivores that ambush small crustaceans in the wild.
- Feed frozen mysis, enriched brine shrimp, krill, and finely chopped fresh seafood once or twice daily, and most individuals learn to take a marine carnivore pellet within a few weeks.
- New arrivals often hide and refuse food for the first several days, which is normal, but confirm the fish is eating at the shop before you buy, because shipping-stressed wild-caught specimens sometimes never start.
- Target-feeding near its favourite crevice helps a shy newcomer compete.
- Vary the menu rather than relying on one food, and remove anything uneaten.
- Remember that it will also feed itself on any tank crustacean small enough to crack, so do not count the cleanup crew as part of its diet plan.
Health
- This is one of the tougher marine fish, with good parasite resistance and a calm response to the minor parameter swings that would stress delicate species.
- Quarantining new arrivals for 3-4 weeks remains best practice all the same.
- Most flame hawkfish losses are not disease at all but jumping through an open lid or starvation in fish that were already failing at import.
- Choose an alert, actively feeding specimen with full body weight behind the head and no pinched belly.
- With stable water and a varied diet a flame hawkfish commonly lives 5-10 years, and well-kept individuals can go longer.
- Watch for the standard marine warning signs of scratching, white spots, or rapid breathing, and treat in a separate hospital tank rather than dosing the reef.
Is your enclosure big enough?
Minimum volume115 litres (30 US gallons)
CompanyMust be housed alone. One per tank (bonded pair only in a large system)
Is this urgent?
In a reef, stability matters more than any single target number. A parameter moving fast does more damage than a parameter sitting slightly off.
Go now
Any detectable ammonia or nitriteWater change now with matched, mixed and aerated saltwater. Stop feeding. Directly toxic, and a marine system has less margin than a freshwater one.
NowTemperature or salinity has moved sharplyCorrect slowly, over hours, not minutes. Check the heater and the top-off. The speed of the change does the damage. Correcting fast repeats the injury in the other direction.
NowRapid gilling, or a fish hanging in the flow breathing hardIncrease aeration and check temperature and salinity. Warm water holds less oxygen, and a heater failure shows up here first.
NowToday
White spots, or a fine dusting like icing sugarIdentify which parasite before treating. Most reef tanks cannot be treated in place. The two common parasites look similar and need different handling; velvet can kill a tank in days.
TodayCorals closed for more than a day, or receding tissueTest alkalinity first, and compare it against the last reading rather than a target. Unstable alkalinity is the most commonly cited coral killer, and a swing shows up in the trend, never in a single point.
TodayA new fish added without quarantine now looks unwellRemove it to a separate system today if you can. Nearly every wipeout in a reef tank traces back to a skipped quarantine.
TodayQuarantine every new animal, including corals and inverts. It is the single practice that separates a reef that lasts from a reef that restarts.
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
What it really costs
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
Bedding and substrate
In a marine system the rock and the sand are life support, and how you start them decides the first six months.
Safe
Aragonite sandThe standard marine substrate. Buffers pH and hosts the biology.
safeDry or cured live rockDry rock avoids importing pests but takes longer to mature. Cured rock is faster and riskier.
safeBare bottomCommon in high-flow systems. Easier to keep clean, but it removes a large part of the biological buffer.
safeWith a caveat
Deep sand bedsPowerful nutrient processing when they work and a sulphide release when they are disturbed. Choose shallow or deep deliberately, not by accident.
with a caveatUncured live rockIt will cycle the tank for you, and it will also bring in whatever was living in it.
with a caveatNever
Silica play sandDoes not buffer, and it is commonly blamed for feeding diatom blooms in a new tank.
neverAny rock or decor of unknown originMetals and phosphate leach for months and are almost impossible to trace once the tank is running.
neverThis is our general list for saltwater fish. We have not built one specific to Hawkfish yet.
My kit says 0.25 ppm. Is that dangerous?
A liquid kit measures total ammonia, but only the un-ionised fraction is really toxic, and that fraction is governed by pH and temperature — each whole pH unit multiplies it roughly tenfold. So the same reading can be nearly harmless in one tank and lethal in another; this works out which one you are in.
Compare with other animals
The same axes for every animal, side by side — the way the guides are written makes that a fair comparison rather than two articles.
Keep going
Hawkfish, side by side
Same axes, same care guides — the honest way to choose between types.
See all Hawkfish side by side →
