Morish Idol sucess?

[MeskeetDog]

Anyone kept a group of these guys successfully? I know its basicly doom if you have one or 2 but what if you have 6-8 and a very large tank? Ideas?

 

[Beaun]

I know that at Atlantis Marine World they have 2 in their 20,000 gallon reef tank and if they are only keeping 2 then no one else should be keeping more than that. It seems like the demands to keep more than two would be huge and you couldnt possibly provide enough to keep them "happy".

 

[jedheuer]

Check out the morrish idol primer :

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=993712

PaulB has had success with them.

 

[username in use]

I agree with Beaun. try one if you want, but i wouldnt add any more than that. Ask justjoe about their care. He is the guy that started and runs Atlantis Marine World with the 20,000g reef, and his Moor's seem to be thriving.

 

[Labman48076]

before you get a Idol

before you get a Idol

Read This info before buying a Morish Idol sums up very well the difficulty of this fish. Plus of course they are not reef safe.

I picked up tropical fish magazine Jan 2008 issue there is a very interesting article on idol's the other with 30 years experience tried to keep 6 of them and also tracked 382 that were sold the results are shocking. something to think about before deciding to add one to your tank author recommends minimum 200 gallon tank prefers 400 to 600 . if you are thinking about one I recommend finding the article found my copy at petsmart and if you wanted to barrow mine I would be willing to loan it out. author lost hers where the * is

time survived less then a week 280
1-2 weeks 38
2 weeks to a month 15
1-2 months 6
2-6 months 5 *
1 year 12
1 to 2 years 7 **
2-5 years 19

also read this article at least if you decide to try one it will give you could info.. BTW just because a lfs got it to eat frozen or flake does not mean that it's getting the nutrition it needs.

Please read this article Keeping Zanclus Cornutus

 

[MeskeetDog]

Could you scan in the article and send it to me as a PDF? Otherwise we could arrange to mail it etc if that would be ok? I would love to put something together for my own reference for future use etc. Binder of articles and notes for reading and sharing.

let me know

thanks

 

[stugray]

I kept one in my 125G reef tank for almost 2 years, then traded him back into the same LFS I got him from.
The owner of the LFS was very impressed with how healthy & fat he was.

I had to remove all of my candy-canes because he started eating them immediately when I put him in, but rarely nipped at SPS or other LPS ( although he was caught "tasting" various corals occasionally ).

I finally had to get rid of him because I couldnt keep my cleanup crew for more than a couple of months.

So they apparently need to "snack" on corals, snails, & crabs to stay healthy.
He also ate button polyps/palythoas but didnt bother zoas much.

I typically fed frozen mysis, emerald entree, & marine cuisine.
He ate all of the frozen.

Caution - while in a 15 gallon QT tank, he developed a sore on his face from rubbing on the glass while "pacing" back and forth.
He never did it in my 125 gal though.
So... IMO 125 gallon or larger as a minimum.

Stu

 

[MrTuskfish]

Re: before you get a Idol

Re: before you get a Idol

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14806608#post14806608 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Labman48076
Read This info before buying a Morish Idol sums up very well the difficulty of this fish. Plus of course they are not reef safe.

I picked up tropical fish magazine Jan 2008 issue there is a very interesting article on idol's the other with 30 years experience tried to keep 6 of them and also tracked 382 that were sold the results are shocking. something to think about before deciding to add one to your tank author recommends minimum 200 gallon tank prefers 400 to 600 . if you are thinking about one I recommend finding the article found my copy at petsmart and if you wanted to barrow mine I would be willing to loan it out. author lost hers where the * is

time survived less then a week 280
1-2 weeks 38
2 weeks to a month 15
1-2 months 6
2-6 months 5 *
1 year 12
1 to 2 years 7 **
2-5 years 19

also read this article at least if you decide to try one it will give you could info.. BTW just because a lfs got it to eat frozen or flake does not mean that it's getting the nutrition it needs.

Please read this article Keeping Zanclus Cornutus

These numbers really contradict the vastly held idea that idols die because we can't provide the proper diet. If all those died in the 1st week, it has to be something else. I'd bet the farm that the numbers would be different if they were all Hawaiian Idols; still not good, but that many lost so fast points to a collection problem. I'm 2 for 3 with them, but sure don't think I did anything special. I got good fish; and I know even the best are still very "iffy".

 

[dew2loud1]

We've had two for over six months and know of several individuals who have has them for over five years, including one who had them for nine years.

 

[Labman48076]

well

well

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14900891#post14900891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dew2loud1
We've had two for over six months and know of several individuals who have has them for over five years, including one who had them for nine years.

what do you give the success too? tank size? the collection? the reefer? the fish? the feeding? etc just saying I did it and I know others adds nothing to the success of the fish. Also makes others that have done no research want to add them too there tank. Many think they are cool and reef safe. :lol: not dissing you just more info would be much more useful.

 

[carlso63]

I think the reasons for a low "success rate" are multiple and include:

These fish do not ship well generally (talking about shipping from collecion site to wholesaler to LFS) and tend to arrive in LFS tank looking haggard and thin to start with - as someone else mentioned there was a study done that had 70+% of the Idols in the study dying within 1 week... that's not "a poor diet or nutritional needs not being met", that's a hell of a lot of fish already deathly ill before they even got into the hobbyist's tanks...

IMO these fish like a high dissolved O2 content in their water (see again 'don't ship well')

I think the whole "nutrition / diet" thing is overblown... I had one in a 125g reef for around 4 years and only had to give him away when I moved cross-country... although I did feed a varied diet, the Idol ate almost anything like a %$#! pig... a much more prevalent problem is getting them to eat at all. Which (again) IMO is a symptom of a doomed fish rather than a food choice problem.

Overall, I would put this fish in the same catagory as, say, an Achilles Tang as far as difficulty. So they are difficult, but certainly not impossible...

I should mention that after I moved to UT and set up my tank again about a year I tried another Idol... it lasted less than a month and would not eat at all... I tried close to 25 different types of fresh and frozen foods to entice it but no luck... Looking back on it I now realize this Idol was one of the "doomed" ones... it just hovered around the LFS tank, never picking at any of the rockwork or the sandbed, sort of had that "deer in the headlights look" to it - but I bought it anyway.

Stupid "rookie" mistake on my part, for sure.

Now that I have a 225 I am going to try again - but this time i am being very picky about choosing a healthy Idol. It will eat in the LFs tank - or at least be picking around looking for something to eat - or I'm not buying it, no matter what.

And, so far this year, I haven't seen one that meets the criteria I need to be able to take it home.

 

[Plankt0s]

The way that I look at it is that if you buy one from a LFS you are propagating the problem. If 70% die within the first week in a customers tank then think of how many it took to get that live one into the LFS. Im just going to make up a number here so that there is something to work with. Say it takes 10 fish from collection through shipping to importers then to a distributor and finally to the LFS, then just with the people here that have admitted to having them we have 90 dead fish. I just think that until we know exactly what it is that makes them so difficult to keep them we really should not import them.

 

[wrestle1952]

I don't know how many of you have gone snorkeling or diving. If you watch a moorish idol in the wild you would know why it is cruel to keep them in captivity. They do school but they are fast and nervous fish. Unlike their cousins the tangs, idols are very nervous or skitterish. When you approach them it's like watching a heat seeking missle. They will flee and can turn at a 90 degrre angle without losing any speed. They need LOTS of room and are fast swimmers that are all over the reef and not content to just graze like tangs do in their natural habitat.

 

[jd474]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15014290#post15014290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrestle1952
I don't know how many of you have gone snorkeling or diving. If you watch a moorish idol in the wild you would know why it is cruel to keep them in captivity. They do school but they are fast and nervous fish. Unlike their cousins the tangs, idols are very nervous or skitterish. When you approach them it's like watching a heat seeking missle. They will flee and can turn at a 90 degrre angle without losing any speed. They need LOTS of room and are fast swimmers that are all over the reef and not content to just graze like tangs do in their natural habitat.

+1. I kept one for 11 months in a 250, and it ate up until the day it died (lack of nutrition i'm assuming as it was becoming emaciated). many professionals have trouble keeping them in all but the largest of aquariums (i.e. thousands of gallons). this a fish that should really stay on the reef.

 

[ludnix]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15014290#post15014290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrestle1952
I don't know how many of you have gone snorkeling or diving. If you watch a moorish idol in the wild you would know why it is cruel to keep them in captivity. They do school but they are fast and nervous fish. Unlike their cousins the tangs, idols are very nervous or skitterish. When you approach them it's like watching a heat seeking missle. They will flee and can turn at a 90 degrre angle without losing any speed. They need LOTS of room and are fast swimmers that are all over the reef and not content to just graze like tangs do in their natural habitat.

I agree, after seeing them while snorkeling in hawaii my first concern would be that I'd never have a tank big enough for them.