The Moorish Idol Thread

[SDguy]

Then got rid of the byropsis and the Idol suffered. In particular, I noticed its pennant stopped growing.

I notice the most fin growth when I feed a lot of the HBH spirulina pellets. The food has the most spirulina content I could find in a food. I doubt it's coincidence

 

[pinnatus]

Hmmm. Maybe a good choice rather than Nori.

 

[Bernie21]

Sounds like you are supplying a good diet to me. I have had byropsis in my tank, and the Idol liked it. Then got rid of the byropsis and the Idol suffered. In particular, I noticed its pennant stopped growing. So, I began giving Nori, and the Idol went back to normal. I currently have gotten rid of my algae once again, so I need to start adding Nori back into its diet. But no sponge here. I can definitely say that greens are very important to their diet. Best of luck with yours.

Thanks, its a very beautiful fish & I'd like for it to stay that way. I have had my share of pretty fish, but the Idol takes the cake when it comes to swimmimg gracefully.

 

[SDguy]

Managed a few still, somewhat focused, shots tonight...

 

[cbbram]

This is my second Moorish Idol. My first one was such a success made me wonder what all the "hype" was about. I sold my first one to a fellow hobbiest who offered me an insane amount of money for my fat, eating like a pig MI.

This time around I figured its been a few months my tank is more stable i'll go for a pair this time. Well fedex sure didnt help on this one. Fish arrived 7 hours late and the MI's I could tell were stressed. One didnt make it overnite. The second is still here 7 days later but is EXTREMELY stubborn. It will eat nori all day but when feeding time comes it will only eat the first couple spectrum pellets but spits the rest out. I haven't tried the clam trick on this one yet... maybe i'm being stubborn as well. Hasn't taken to mysis or Rod's yet either.

Just wanted to share and log my experience.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

SD nice pics.

 

[shaka]

So I've gotta ask ( even though it is the same question that has been asked a hundred times now ) . . .

Has anybody successfully kept Moorish Idols in pairs or even trios?

I saw a youtube clip of a guy claiming that one of the keys to their success is that Moorish Idols should be NOT be kept as a single specimen. According to him they should be kept as a pair or more.

There is a LFS by me ( just outside of Chicago ) that says the same thing : Moorish Idols need to be kept as a pair.

Any thoughts?

 

[Seng]

My morish idol streamer can grow very long in just 2 weeks time after broken will grow back very fast but I never success to keep them more than a year they suddenly stop feeding and die in few days maybe diet selection cause I'm feeding pellet only ...

A video of MI pair in my frag tank feeding on pellet with super long streamer ...

 

[pinnatus]

So I've gotta ask ( even though it is the same question that has been asked a hundred times now ) . . .

Has anybody successfully kept Moorish Idols in pairs or even trios?

I saw a youtube clip of a guy claiming that one of the keys to their success is that Moorish Idols should be NOT be kept as a single specimen. According to him they should be kept as a pair or more.

There is a LFS by me ( just outside of Chicago ) that says the same thing : Moorish Idols need to be kept as a pair.

Any thoughts?

I started with 3. They killed each other off til one remained. I have had that one for 4 years.

Have not heard of anyone keeping more than one in a home aquarium successfully.

 

[Allmost]

Managed a few still, somewhat focused, shots tonight...

wow well done ! I dont think I have ever seen an idol this fat in captivity

he looks like the ones I see while diving !

 

[blueramSeattle]

So this is a two part story with Christmas in Kauai this year with the help of a rental set of fins and a watertight iPhone case. Within minutes of hitting the water in PoiPu I saw my fist wild MI grazing. Such a graceful fish and inquisitive. For the most part they just ignored the people but apparently the camera is a little threatening as I have lots of pictures of fish swimming away...

On my last day I figured out how to go a little farther out and let the fish "act natural." I never took food out but did discover that a quick surface dive to overturn a rock exposed purple coraline algae and apparently fish-nip as a school of wrasses and MI would swarm to peck on the rocks.

Based on this thread I have been building up an 8' reef with the hope that developments in MI care would someday catch up. Well, my favorite store in Seattle has some friends on the island and 3 MI's arrived while I was out. By the time I stopped by the store they were in the tank for a week and nibbling on pellets. I got to choose the fish with the best shape and for $50 (less than a checked bag on my trip) I now have a MI in my reef.

He is eating whatever including F2 flake and pellets of all sizes. So far the yellow, brown, and black sponge has no more than a nip. He will steal pellets from the brown polyps in the picture.

For the record, he is Hawaiian likely from Honolulu. The reef is 8' LPS/softy reef with a hippo tang, yellow tang, chromis, and damsels (including clowns) in the nemo theme. So far no problems and the banner gets really long and then breaks off. The picture was from his first day in the tank so he is much more confident now and will pose for photos.

 

[shaka]

Thanks pinnatus . . . That's just what I thought would happen. Housing two Idols or more in the same tank would just be asking for trouble.

 

[SDguy]

I have a question. Have people kept their MI's long term with more aggressive, larger fish? My large angel looks to be becoming a bit aggressive, and the MI seems to coincidentally have become a big less outgoing, and therefore eating less...

 

[cthetoy]

So I've gotta ask ( even though it is the same question that has been asked a hundred times now ) . . .

Has anybody successfully kept Moorish Idols in pairs or even trios?

I saw a youtube clip of a guy claiming that one of the keys to their success is that Moorish Idols should be NOT be kept as a single specimen. According to him they should be kept as a pair or more.

There is a LFS by me ( just outside of Chicago ) that says the same thing : Moorish Idols need to be kept as a pair.

Any thoughts?

I kept 4 so far for about 8 months. Started with 6. One got sick, the other they killed off. Added another last month (Much larger) and they killed it off. Here's the scoop on them so far. I have a 300 gallon tank. The Idols were bought together, quarantined together and added to the main tank together. In the quarantine tank they did not fight since the quarantine tank was small. Once in the main tank after a week is where the fighting began. Now two Idols will hang out near the left side of the tank and the other two on the right side. They will chase each other from time to time throughout the day but nothing major. At night when lights are are out its even stranger. They all hang out together on one side of the tank.

For feeding its nori in the morning (one on each side of the tank) and pellets at night feeding on each side of the tank so the idols gets its fair share of food without fighting. In the beginning I had to feed pellets 3x-4x a day so they can gain weight.

Knock on wood that if one idol dies I can not add a 4th one and if Im down to one I will not be able to add anymore. You have to add them together all at once.

Same goes for my 5 yellow tangs. Added them all together a year ago. No fighting at all.

Sorry for the bad cell phone pic.

 

[pinnatus]

I have a question. Have people kept their MI's long term with more aggressive, larger fish? My large angel looks to be becoming a bit aggressive, and the MI seems to coincidentally have become a big less outgoing, and therefore eating less...

I have had a couple of aggressive angels with mine. I had an Asfur, he would chase the Idol. The Idol would just take it in stride, he'd run away then go back to business as usual. The Asfur is now gone, but now I have a French, who is also starting to become aggressive. Again, the Idol just takes it in stride.

 

[Allmost]

I have a question. Have people kept their MI's long term with more aggressive, larger fish? My large angel looks to be becoming a bit aggressive, and the MI seems to coincidentally have become a big less outgoing, and therefore eating less...

Im positive my anchilles killed my Idol .... it just picked on the poor thing at eating time so much I lost it shortly after, after having him for over 1 year.

 

[SDguy]

I have had a couple of aggressive angels with mine. I had an Asfur, he would chase the Idol. The Idol would just take it in stride, he'd run away then go back to business as usual. The Asfur is now gone, but now I have a French, who is also starting to become aggressive. Again, the Idol just takes it in stride.

Do you have lengths of time for these instances? Mine also just seems to take it in stride at the moment in time, but his overall demeanor and eating habits have changed somewhat.

 

[SDguy]

Im positive my anchilles killed my Idol .... it just picked on the poor thing at eating time so much I lost it shortly after, after having him for over 1 year.

I've always heard that for long term success, the MI should be the largest fish in the tank, especially compared to any tangs.

 

[pinnatus]

Do you have lengths of time for these instances? Mine also just seems to take it in stride at the moment in time, but his overall demeanor and eating habits have changed somewhat.

I'd say the Asfur harassed the Idol for about 2 years. The French has just begun being aggressive, maybe the last month or two.

The Idol's pennant rarely grew very long when the Asfur was around.

 

[SDguy]

Was the asfur larger or smaller than the MI?