The Moorish Idol Thread

[KDodds]

Curious if Moorish Idols seem to do better in pairs or singles?

Unless it's an exceptionally large tank, singly, unless you can get them all at once AND they're already getting along.

 

[THP]

Is there any difference between a Moorish Idol from Fiji vs Maldives? Is one better to get or more colorful than the other?

Although I have never owned an idol I have heard that Maldives is your best bet and for idols specifically, Hawaii is better. The reason for this (assuming you are from the US or Canada) is that there are simply less hops for shipping so a better survival rate.

 

[erich1980]

My Zanclus is 4 weeks in my tank. He is very active, gracing LR but still does not eating frozen food. He is quite thin now, however thanks to my friend - MrTuskfish, i tried with fresh clams. Attempt with clam linked with LR using rubber and fence is quite succesfull. He is eating now but only a little bit. There are tangs who also likes clams and it is hard to get them. I have to reduce feeding now becouse my system is overloaded much since 3 weeks when i started to force Zanclus to eat. Zanclus is not eating anything falling in water. Do you have any suggest what can I do now?
MrTuskfish - thank you very much, thanks to you I belive I will handle with Zanclus some day .

 

[erich1980]

I have heard different opinions about Zanclus which are quietly oppose to yours exeperience. They are from probably the best polish shop - "erybka". They coped with 3 large Zanclus 2 weeks ago despite the fact that there were not eating at the beginning.
First and the most controversial is that it is much easier to acclimatizate idols in small group 2-4 fish.
Second one is that the most important factor for feeding is smell. Frozen food is not attractive becouse of it. They used to rub stine fish in live rock and attach different frozen food to this.
Apart of it very important is stable tank with LR and natural spongs.

 

[Paul B]

Today I was at the place where I collect sponges that I used to feed my moorish Idol. The stuff grows wild here in a certain place in the Bronx New York. I don't have an Idol any more so I don't collect the stuff but if you are near the water, the stuff grows near the surface and freezes well.

 

[jannima]

I've had MI about 2.5 years, and I've been thinking to add 2nd MI. Other tank mates includes CBB, anthias x2, clownfish x1, golden assessor and mandarin pair. Will two MI get along?

 

[clowndude]

Honestly I would be very careful. MI are very territorial. I've tried two others so far and either one tries to beat one or the other tries to beat up a different one. I concluded just to stay with one MI.

 

[Paul B]

In the sea I have only seen them in mated pairs.

 

[SDguy]

In the sea I have only seen them in mated pairs.

Interesting. Every time I saw them in Hawaii during the couple trips I've made there, I only ever saw adults as singles. Occasionally I saw groups of juveniles (3-5 individuals).

 

[Paul B]

It seems that everyone who dives with Idols has different experiences. I did see a few singles and a few groups of three but the vast majority was in pairs. That was Tahiti, maybe in Hawaii they are different. I really don't know.
I dove in Hawaii almost 40 years ago (on my honeymoon) and don't even remember seeing moorish Idols then.
I am sure they were there I just didn't notice any.

 

[RealReef7]

paul what happened to your moorish idol?

 

[clowndude]

Anybody else have their MI nipping at their sps like it was candy?

 

[jannima]

My MI pays no attention to SPS and clam. However it seems to have vision problem, can't focus on target. It tries so hard to eat pellet, but always misses. I hand feed MI daily with frozen food, nori, clam and flake; it bites my fingers a lot instead of food.

 

[Paul B]

paul what happened to your moorish idol?

I lost him with many of my other fish while I was away for a family emergency. (my Mother died) I was in the midle of re aquascaping and cleaning the tank and most of the fish were in a small tank. I had to leave for a few days and something must have died taking all the other fish in the tank with it. There was no filter in the tank as they were only supposed to be in there for a few hours.
I had him about 5 years.
I also lost an 18 year old cusk eel and a very old mandarin. My fireclown lived and I still have him, he is about 16 years old.

 

[RealReef7]

I lost him with many of my other fish while I was away for a family emergency. (my Mother died) I was in the midle of re aquascaping and cleaning the tank and most of the fish were in a small tank. I had to leave for a few days and something must have died taking all the other fish in the tank with it. There was no filter in the tank as they were only supposed to be in there for a few hours.
I had him about 5 years.
I also lost an 18 year old cusk eel and a very old mandarin. My fireclown lived and I still have him, he is about 16 years old.

man that is tough. are you planning on trying another Moorish Idol?

 

[pinnatus]

Took some really crappy cell phone pics of my MI yesterday. It is currently >2 1/2 years old:

 

[Allmost]

nice pics ken looking fat and healthy and vivid colors.

mine keeps growing the steamer on top, it gets nice and long, then my anchilles tang bites it off lol they look amazing with their steamers.

 

[pinnatus]

I used to have an Asfur Angel that kept the MI's streamer on the short side. Since the Asfur is gone, the streamer grows nice and long.

 

[djkms]

Hello all. I have had my MI since Feb this year. Things have been great up until recently. He is starting to act funny. He has rapid breathing fits and darts around the tank once in a while. I have not noticed any spots on him, no rubbing or anything like that. He still eats like a champ. He also seems to be getting a bit more aggressive. I have had the same fish in the system and not much has changed in a while except I started vodka dosing. Could he be having a reaction to the vodka? I am dosing 2.5ml per day at the moment. Maybe he is starting to feel cramped in my 125?

Thoughts?

Here is a recent pic of him, I posted it in another thread but will post it here if it helps

He eats NLS pellets through the auto feeder 2 times a day, Rods at night and a half sheet of Nori.

 

[Tracey2]

Wow guys, gorgeous idols. I would love to add one to my 270g. Do they do well in QT, mine is 40g? Also, would I be overstocking or do you see any compatibility issues with my current fish,
Tangs, Naso, Achillies,Hippo,Purple, Angels, 3 regals, majestic, golden pygmy, copperband butterfly, maine betta, disbar anthias
So I wanted to add an idol and other small schooling fish.
Any advice would be appreciated.

One of the larger lfs's in Toronto ON area told me all idols go nuts in our small tanks eventually and should really not be kept, how do you all feel about that? Who has the oldest living idol in captivity?