Moorish Idol

[afreshoutlook]

Hello,

Thru a fellow reefer, I just purchased a healthy MI, they had it for 4 months & breaking down there whole set-up, thought that I did the proper reading & research on this fish & was willing to give it a try.

Has/ would anybody with experience with Mi's be willing to share what has worked for them.

I love watching him play with my 2 perculas & seems to have adjusted very well in the past 24 hrs.

Thanks
Dwight

[BMW Rider]

I know Deb (EmilyB) has kept one for a while now. There is a picture of it in her featured TOTM I believe.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Zerandise had a beautiful, healthy one for several months before it decided to eat about $800 worth of imported zoos :evil: Keep an eye on it to make sure its not "sampling" your corals. I've seen that MI several times & it's a beauty that's for sure.

Anthony

[EmilyB]

I got your PM Dwight and will send you some info on my Moo later. :biggrin:

[Gools]

EmilyB if you don't mind posting your info, would be great, would love to get some info as well, as it is a fish I would love to one day look into buying

[Samw]

Hi Dwight.

Got your PM. I wish there was some secret I can tell you but I didn't find my MI extremely difficult to keep other than they need lots of oxygen. In my tank, the MI was the #1 most demanding fish for oxygen with my flame angel being #2. Those 2 fish would suffer from low oxygen way before my Hippo tang, gobies, and clownfish. Those 2 would probably die within a matter of hours of me turning off my aeration while the others would not (Actually I did lose Flames that way recently). I'm not encouraging people to buy a MI but a varied diet of Ocean Nutrition 2 flake and Freeze dried plankton was all I needed to feed mine until it outgrew my tank 1.5 years later.

[kari]

They are nori piglets. Also enjoy the dark green flake that starts with sp... that I can't pronounce or spell. Fresh meaty foods as well.
Their dislikes include large purple tangs and green carpet anemones.

[dunl]

Spirulina?

[EmilyB]

First of all, you are probably lucky to be the second owner, as the usual problem is that MI's ship poorly and starve quickly.

Secondly, do you have a skimmer ? Moorish Idols require a very high oxygen level, a skimmer off even over nite can have dire consequences.

Feed a varied diet, PE mysis, spirulina flake, raw oyster/clam/mussel concoctions that have been mixed and frozen prior to feeding, and lots of nori.

Watch your tankmates, moorish idols and tangs can be a deadly combination.

If you have some specific questions, please feel free to ask.

[Samw]

Oh yeah. Forgot to mention what corals mine ate. Zoo's, Hydnophora, Candy Cane, Moon.

Was OK with clams, decorative sponges, shrimps, and crabs.

[EmilyB]

Ditto Sam....oh, same fish...lol... :lol:

[afreshoutlook]

Thanks to all who have/have had experiences with the MI.
It's awesome that the shared experiences on this site probably have helped many newbies like myself :eek:

Thanks
Dwight

[bulletsworld]

Yes, I must say MOO, is truly a beautiful Moorish Idol. What did you say Deb or Saw, Moo is about 5 years old now, right? WOwZers hey! Truly Beautiful! IMO... the TOTM picture doesn't show what a true beauty & size Moo really is. If ya ever decide to sell Moo, Deb, I would buy him in a second! I love that fish! :wink:

I was also lucky enough to get a Moorish Idol. I became its second owner. It came to me after it had eaten a bunch of the owner’s corals and mine. So I named her Chewie. :lol:

I agree with all above that they do require more aeration, oxygen and water quality then the others fish I have found and had. Thanks again for that tip a while back Deb! I run a skimmer at all times on mine as well. I also have found in my case my MI to be easy to care for. I have had mine for almost 6 months now and eats Green Nori like a piggy, loves Spirulina (thanks Deb for that tip) and I also feed everything from Marine One pellets, Frozen Mysis, Brine Shrimp, Krill and Cyclopeeze and every now and then I buy her some zoo's. She loves them. I feed three times a day and she's way fatter then when I got her. Missy piggy she is.

I do have mine with a Regal tang, a Naso tang and a Yellow tang. They all seem to school together. Only problems I have seen between the tangs is that the yellow tang (as always with this fish) tends to become territorial at times about her cave spot, other then that they all seem to school together most times. My Moorish Idol is the ruler of the tank. I think the long screamer fin the MI has makes the other tangs feel its larger then them, so its boss. :biggrin:

One thing to watch out not to do is....Don’t add trigger fish with this fish. I added a small otherwise docile Niger trigger and after time it would nip the Idol's long fin short. *PLUCK* went the Trigger from the tank. hehe Later I read an article that said Triggers and puffers like to chase the screamer fin on the Moorish Idol. Opps! :eek:

The only corals my MI has really eaten are…. ATE TONS of zoo's! Ate all mine plus last owners. :eek: Has recently picked on a candy cane corals & a torch coral to death but other then that never touched clams, mushrooms, sun coral, softies, or anemone as of yet. It also ate all my LR sponges and also helped eliminate my over whelming feather duster problem on my LR! Chewie ate them ALL in less than a few weeks. WooHOO! Won’t touch Aptisa though….bummer! :lol:

I find these fish don’t come for sale very often in the hobby. It is a beautiful fish though and with great care (water quality & oxygen), variety of food fed to, put with non aggressive tankmates and lots of room to swim it’s a great addition. But I have always read it doesn’t live that long in captivity. Moo (EmilyB fish) is a great inspiration and example of how the fish can be, I only hope my Moorish can grow to be as big and healthy as Moo. :mrgreen:

Omg...a few days back and I'm writing up novels again! :lol: SORRY GUYS! :lol: :lol:

Lee

[bulletsworld]

Hey I found some old pictures of the tangs & Idol racing & schooling together. Both blury but its hard to get all the fish to all stay still. :lol:

The first picture their racing. The little Naso is hidden but beside the yellow tang. Looks like the Moorish is winning! WoOHOO!

Enjoy.


http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/844Racing_Idol_tangs-med.JPG


http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/844Tangs_Moorish_Idol-med.JPG

[EmilyB]

Awesome Lee - I was hoping you would chime in ! :biggrin:

[wayner]

I don't think anyone mentioned Tank size , just in case people start putting them in there 50 Gallon tanks, I'm assuming 180 gallons minimum??????, great to hear success stories with the idol.

[RD]

I believe that if you look closely you can see 5 Moorish Idol in the aquarium below. Amazing what one can do when the tank is large enough.
http://forums.spectrumfishfood.com/viewtopic.php?t=66

[WWWD]

you sure do pimp that link around.

btw i think your confused between Moorish Idols and Heniochus Bannerfish.

[RD]

People were asking about Moorish Idol, size of tanks was mentioned, as was diet. I believe that link covers both issues rather well.

I'll also add this, in speaking with people who have kept this species in captivity long term (as in 3 yrs or more) they have found that when healthy, MI's can be quite aggressive, to the extent of killing other Idols.

PS - take a closer look at the pics in that link, especially the one where the fish are all swarmed together & feeding. I count 5 Moorish Idols.