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 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.

[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.