should i buy a moorish idol

[bolton reefer 1]

hi everyone for a very long time iv loved moorish idols but never owned one, my lfs has got 4 in thay are all eating brine shrimp.
i want one for my reef tank iv got 3 x chromes 1 x firefish 1 x banana wrass 2 x percula clowns 1 x anthios in my 120 softie reef tank, should i buy it !!

 

[reefnetworth]

if you get one you better feed it plenty. the fish described are food to it. i wouldnt but it, theyre also jumpers. REEF-ON!!!

 

[jsmith0193]

Nano4brains - do you have a reference that describes the Moorish Idol's tendency to eat its tankmates? Just curious - REEF-ON!!

 

[bolton reefer 1]

nano4brains i know thay may nip at corals +inverts but iv never been aware of them eating fish it was there finnicky feeding i was worried about anyone out there kept idols do thay tend to jump?

 

[msman825]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=607477

 

[bolton reefer 1]

nice one msman825 im on holiday for 2 weeks i might have time to read it all thanks mick

 

[jsmith0193]

I'm not sure why people think they are hard to feed - just keep supplying them with new tankmates for them to eat - right Nanoforbrains? REEF-ON!!!!

 

[littlevietnam]

I think you should keep them in a hospital tank for a few weeks. They tent to have ick / gill disease. For feeding shart out with live and you can change the feeding method once it healthy.

 

[cateyes]

i thought they were sponge eaters, and finicky about the type of sponge...

 

[bolton reefer 1]

im just waiting for someone to post thay had there mi 9yrs on a diet of chromes, firefish, clowns and wrasses theres always one

 

[Paul B]

I am not going anywhere near this thread, there is just too much misinformation going on to know where to start

 

[bolton reefer 1]

hi paul iv had my idol now for 2 weeks and im wondering what all the fuss was about its the best feeder in the tank growing well and looking very happy

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7538717#post7538717 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nano4brains
if you get one you better feed it plenty. the fish described are food to it. i wouldnt but it, theyre also jumpers. REEF-ON!!!

What?
Huh?

IMO, if you're still at the stage where you're asking whether or not you should get one, then the answer is no, you shouldn't.

im wondering what all the fuss was about its the best feeder in the tank growing well and looking very happy

boston reefer, many of them are finicky eaters; you're wondering based on your n=1 study. Put 5 or 6 MI in there and see how many of them eat.
It's also not uncommon for them to eat things but not be able to get the required nutrition out of the foods. They'll seem to be eating fine but will slowly waste away.

Dave

 

[coralfarmer84]

here is my experience. Bought two from hawaii diver, came in would not eat, got ich, got half my tank sick and then died. lived about a month before they perished. Initial cost was 15 dollar each. BUT they caused my other fish to be killed with disease. killed an Achilles tang that was 90 bucks, a chevron that was 90 bucks, a bicolor anthia 30 bucks, a naso tang with streamers, you get the point hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of fish wasted because they wouldn't eat. Goodluck to you thou, I'll never make that mistake again. just my .02

 

[Paul B]

Bolton Reefer, all the fuss is not about them not eating, I have had about a dozen of them and they all ate. My three year old also will eat anything. The problem is that even though they eat, after a year or so they tend to drop dead for no apparent reason. I have had nice fat helathy Idols for a year or two keel over and die.
The rest of my fish live long enough to die of old age of about 12 to 18 years. I feed my Idol sponge that I collect, fresh clams, live worms, fresh seaweed that I collect, pellets, bananas, avacado and some commercially available food.
The stuff about them jumping and eating your fish is science fiction.
Paul

 

[Shawnts106]

should i buy a moorish idol

... NO ...

I am not going anywhere near this thread, there is just too much misinformation going on to know where to start

I hear ya' brother!

 

[jsisler]

interesting comment paul. i have had mine about a year now and he has tripled in size. hard to believe he is not getting the proper nutrition but i guess it is possible and i know you have much more expereince wiht idols then i. i wont consider it a success unless he lives 5+ years so i still have a ways to go. having said that he seems to be thriving. all this with living in the top quarter of my tank for the first two months due to my a-hole powder blue which i could not catch to remove. he was close to death for two weeks all beat up but never stopped eating and now looks to be in amazing condiiton. maybe feeding PE mysis will be the difference. we'll see.

 

[Paul B]

Jsisler, Your Idol seems happy and healthy. But it is not all about food as we sometimes think. I have followed Idols in the sea and they live in mated pairs. They swim long distances in huge loops around the reef with one leading the other to sponge which is about all I ever saw them eat. A fish like this should live at least ten years. I only have of one person keeping one that long. 5 or 8 years is not acceptable, it means we do not know all the answers about this fish and it is slowly dying as soon as we collect it. My reef is 6' long and the Idol knows it. I can tell he gets frustrated when he hits a wall. Maybe we bore them to death.
Paul

 

[Shawnts106]

Maybe we bore them to death

LOL, If they have any bit of a mind like a tang does... yeah, that is definatly the cause of not being able to keep them long term!

 

[bolton reefer 1]

all interesting comments i know this wont make me very popular but i dont tend to keep fish long term i like a change,1-2 yrs max i might have kept him longer if i could have got a pair,oh well when he leaves to a new home it might stop him dieing of bordom!