morish idol ???
- Thread starter TKByrnes
- Start date
affan
In Memoriam
The most difficult aspect of keeping Idols has really been getting them to feed. Yes, PaulB dives etc, but he's also made a mention of some soft sinking pellets that he was able to get his Idol to eat. I don't remember the name or brand, just remember reading that he was able to get his Idol to eat these particular pellets of a softer kind. TK, do a search if you can, see if you can find that thread. Tons of great information therein.
Paul B
Premium Member
Although the Idol I have now is three I would not call that having great success. Great success is having ten of them for ten years.
Of course the fish should be eating when you buy it as all fish should but in the case of a moorish Idol that may not mean much. I have had quite a few of them and they all ate. Some of them (like mine) will eat anything including bananas, avacados and flakes which for some stupid reason is one of his favorite foods. There is also no real useful information about this fish because no one has actually kept enough of them long enough to learn their secrets, and they have many. If you do not have years keeping fish and a lot of time to care for them and a large tank I think you will be wasting your time and killing a beautiful fish. They should be fed at least three times a day, five would be better. Some sponge seems to be good for them as it is their main diet in the sea and it is the only thing I ever saw them eat in the sea. Don't buy one just because you saw it eat something, these fish have a habit of looking beautiful for a few months and dropping dead for no apparent reason. As I said I feed mine bananas, avacado, sponge, live black worms, fresh clams and mussels, whole fish, mysis, etc. I also give it vitamin A on flake food and Selcon on pellets twice a day through an automatic feeder. I feed the pellets to him in a dish so none of the food is lost. This fish is really messing up my water in my 100 gallon reef which is much too small for this fish and I can see his frustration. They don't like to turn around much and they are not very good at it since they do not really hide in the coral much.
Read the Moorish Idol thread but I don't recommend this fish to anyone unless you have had many years experience with finicky fish. I can keep anything but these fish are a real challenge.
Paul
