moorish idol

A

aday2remmbr

New member
i have attempted keeping these a couple times in my 180 gallon reef tank, but they just never seem to fully acclimate and seem to just go downhill from introduction and in a few months die. i know it is mainly shipping that stresses them so does anyone know a place that ships these well. also any one that has one of these is welcome to chime in on other aspects of their care. thanks
 
jus out of curiosity, you have lost 2 and still insist on perhaps getting another? wouldnt the loss of 2 make you wary of adding another? it really doesnt have necessarily anything to do with shipping, though bad shipping doesnt help... these fish are expert only and you have to have one hell of an established tank of good size to even begin to accomadate them...

if you have killed 2 already, leave them be and dont kill another, it wll jus result in yet another being pulled from the ocean... :rolleyes:
 
I've had one for almost a year plus now and I'd advise against shipping, def get one local if possible. They are very difficult to maintain as they need constant food/sponges and more than likely will eat coral. Mines the boss of the tank as well. Personally, I think the success is all about the lfs's processes on the fishes arrival and quarantine. I waited multiple weeks prior to purchasing to ensure his streamer was healthy and was constantly eating.


Also if you ve lost two, I doubt I'd continue to keep trying... Just my opinion
 
Pallobi said:
jus out of curiosity, you have lost 2 and still insist on perhaps getting another? wouldnt the loss of 2 make you wary of adding another? it really doesnt have necessarily anything to do with shipping, though bad shipping doesnt help... these fish are expert only and you have to have one hell of an established tank of good size to even begin to accomadate them...

if you have killed 2 already, leave them be and dont kill another, it wll jus result in yet another being pulled from the ocean... :rolleyes:
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my tank has been set up for 11 years. the first moorish idol i didnt know better and it died in about 4 months, the other laster 2 years but then died after my tank sort of crashed for lack of a better term. it didnt entirely crash. but i havent kept one in years so i was thinking of getting one and i believe i am ready. i have kept many "expert only" fish including achilles tangs and harlequin filefish also i have had a pair of leopard wrasses. i was just wanting someone to chime in if they knew a good place to get one from? or if they have one any tips they might have to make it thrive.
 
gmpolan said:
I've had one for almost a year plus now and I'd advise against shipping, def get one local if possible. They are very difficult to maintain as they need constant food/sponges and more than likely will eat coral. Mines the boss of the tank as well. Personally, I think the success is all about the lfs's processes on the fishes arrival and quarantine. I waited multiple weeks prior to purchasing to ensure his streamer was healthy and was constantly eating.


Also if you ve lost two, I doubt I'd continue to keep trying... Just my opinion
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my lfs does have them, but i was not worried about ordering online just the fish being shipped from the source is stressful to it. i have the means to feed it and once i buy one i plan to practically rearrange the entire tank around it.
 
I have had mine for over 2 years now, and it is doing great. I would recommend reading the Moorish Idol Primer if you haven't already. Sorry, I can't help to recommend where to get one from, but I do believe that they are coming in much more healthy these days, whether it is collecting techniques, or shipping techniques, I am not sure, but it seems that I have seen quite a few healthy specimens lately in the LFS around here.

Best of luck - my Moorish Idol is my all-time favorite fish I have ever had, and I hope it continues to thrive for years.
 
pinnatus said:
I have had mine for over 2 years now, and it is doing great. I would recommend reading the Moorish Idol Primer if you haven't already. Sorry, I can't help to recommend where to get one from, but I do believe that they are coming in much more healthy these days, whether it is collecting techniques, or shipping techniques, I am not sure, but it seems that I have seen quite a few healthy specimens lately in the LFS around here.

Best of luck - my Moorish Idol is my all-time favorite fish I have ever had, and I hope it continues to thrive for years.
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your help is greatly appreciated pinnatus, i have not attempted one in several years and the news that they are coming in healthier is great. back when i got my first couple even the lfs with beautiful tanks and massive filtration systems couldnt keep one of these alive. i think ill go ahead and give on e a try as i have seen several around in the lfs'. do you believe a 180 is an adequate size? the only other fish in there is one fox face a school of 5 anthias and a few cardinals along with some random gobies and blennies.
 
Mine is in a 240 gallon, 8' long tank with a 60 gallon sump. It certainly swims a bunch, and uses the entire tank. As with most fish, the bigger the tank the better. But I would think it was OK in a 180.

My experience (with one Idol) is that especially at first, they need to eat almost constantly. They seem to have very little room to hold food in their stomachs. So, they don't eat much at one feeding, and need to be fed often. After you have them for a whlie they seem to be able to store food longer. Occasionally, mine went on a hunger strike, but feeding Rod's food always got him eating again. Also, feed Nori, which will keep the banner growing. Otherwise, I pretty much feed mine NLS pellets and it seems to do fine.
 
I got my Moorish Idol from Divers Den. It arrived healthy, happy and started eating in 2 days. It now eats everything I put in the tank. Its current diet consists of NLS pellets, Nori and Rods. IMO "expert only" is a relative term. As long as you are providing the care the fish needs you should be fine.

My Idol is also the boss of the tank. The only coral it has eaten was a candy cane and I keep a mixed reef. It also goes after some of my macros but not with gusto like a tang.

A 180 should be plenty big. I keep mine in a 125 and havent noticed any stress with the Idol however 125 would be a minimum IMO. I have both the front and back of the reef completely open for him to swim around.

Like previously stated, check the MI primer thread before you purchase again.

As for your original question, Live Aquaria Divers Den would be a good place to get a Idol. They make sure to get all their fish accustomed to captive life and eating before selling to the public.

HTH

Kris
 
i have heard of them eating constantly when first introduced, i have an automatic feeder that can feed up to 12 times a day so i think im covered for that. i have only about 120 pounds of live rock in the tank so there is a ton of swimming space as i have planned to keep some sort of large free swimming fish. the tank is right now a mixed reef but i dont have any candy cane corals so i think im good, mostly sps and some lps and softies
 
Mine took a liking to my zoas after leaving them alone for 4 months, and then wiped them out. I have no corals anymore after treating my tank for ich. It also like byropsis as a snack when I had that in my tank.
 
pinnatus said:
Mine took a liking to my zoas after leaving them alone for 4 months, and then wiped them out. I have no corals anymore after treating my tank for ich. It also like byropsis as a snack when I had that in my tank.
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i dont have any zoas in my tank, i do have a ton of xenia and alot of montipora and other acros
 
I had recently sold my Moorish Idol because it took a liking to expensive SPS frags. Bottom line, when I want a touchy fish I go right to the source depending on location. In regards to the MI, I received mine direct from Les at Wet Pets Hawaii. He keeps them for two weeks to acclimate and then ships them in like 3 gallons of water. I received mine and it ate right out of the bag. It fattened up in the main display until I was forced to remove it and sold it to RC member Tanglovers. I think I paid $50 for it. Beautiful and graceful fish. If I do another FOWLR I will have one again.

BTW, once properly QT'd and acclimated, MI are fairly hardy if received from the right source. It is all about collection with these fish.
 
so is that the place you would suggest i order one from? i was thinking of putting him in the 180 but if theres a chance he will eat my coral i could put him in my 125 fowlr, or is that too small of a tank or it?
 
aday2remmbr said:
so is that the place you would suggest i order one from? i was thinking of putting him in the 180 but if theres a chance he will eat my coral i could put him in my 125 fowlr, or is that too small of a tank or it?
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Les Parker is a very good resource for healthy Hawaiian livestock at a good price. There are also some other divers that could get a specimen for you. I would also PM PAcific Island Aquatics (RC sponsor) and see if they can get you one. This is a fish you don't want going through the normal chain of acquisition( ex. diver - wholesaler/exporter in HI--shipped to LA wholesalers--shipped to LFS/online fish supplier---then shipped to you). BAsically if you can cut out the middlemen there is obviously less stress on the fish.

In regards to size of tank, I think it would do fine in 6' long tank. I wouldn't put it in anything smaller, they love the swimming room. They will eat certain LPS and will pick at SPS. I have higher end SPS so I freaked out when I saw it picking. I have seen them in reefs though. IN fact I believe John Coppolino (aka Copps) has one in with a bunch of angels in his mixed reef. Hit or miss I guess......
 
thanks for your help guys, my tank is full of many rare corals probably several thousand dollars worth of corals in it, im going to put it in there first because that is where i would prefer to have it and if it picks at my coral i can move it to the 125, also in the 125 is an achilles tang and a blue angel, those are the only really agressive one sin the tank are they compatible?
 
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