The Moorish Idol Thread
- Thread starter zfunk007
- Start date
My Idol eats pellets. The pellets are not tiny, but not large either, maybe 1-2 mm. I pretty much only feed my tank New Life Spectrum pellets and sheets of Nori for the most part. Now and then I may throw in some Rod's food or something, but mostly if I get a new fish that I am trying to get eating. Otherwise, pellets and Nori.
plecosword
New member
Could I join the club? I have have an idol! and I have the proof...
I was also wondering if anyone has tried either of these two products? I was thinking of using both if can get my hands on them to properly feed the idol.
Ocean Nutrition - Angel Nutrition
New life Spectrum
I was also wondering if anyone has tried either of these two products? I was thinking of using both if can get my hands on them to properly feed the idol.
Ocean Nutrition - Angel Nutrition
New life Spectrum
Welcome to the madness. Asfor the two products you listed, I've used them both with sucess.
Well, I put my order in last week. Asked the LFS owner to find me a good pair of MI's. He said he gets them from Bali. I know he is a direct importer.
He said he just sold a pair of MI's the week before. They were eating when he got them and they were looking good. We'll see what happens in the coming months.
Well, I put my order in last week. Asked the LFS owner to find me a good pair of MI's. He said he gets them from Bali. I know he is a direct importer.
He said he just sold a pair of MI's the week before. They were eating when he got them and they were looking good. We'll see what happens in the coming months.plecosword
New member
Thank you for the warm welcome!
I picked up some new life spectrum (marine formula) from petco, it took both the naso and the idol a while to start eating them without spitting them out. They both still avoid flake food, which is fine. These two fish and Banggai cardinal fish have been the hardest to get eating so far.
I picked up some new life spectrum (marine formula) from petco, it took both the naso and the idol a while to start eating them without spitting them out. They both still avoid flake food, which is fine. These two fish and Banggai cardinal fish have been the hardest to get eating so far.
Tracey2
New member
Hi MI gang. I had a Hawian MI about a year ago that ate everything but I lost due to a velvet outbreak.
Yesterday I found 2 Bali MI at my lfs both eating mysis, I have them on hold. One is larger than the other and they seem to get along nicely. I have a 100g QT tank very established and will be picking them up soon. Could everyone please say a prayer, cross your fingers and send them luck.
I would like to know if I should be planning hyposalinity or cupramine, need to make RO water and/or buy a copper test kit.
Paul B, you have been very helpfull to me, I have homemade worm keeper, your suggestion another thread. Do the idols like the live black worms?
Any other suggestions in preparing to bring these beauties home?
Yesterday I found 2 Bali MI at my lfs both eating mysis, I have them on hold. One is larger than the other and they seem to get along nicely. I have a 100g QT tank very established and will be picking them up soon. Could everyone please say a prayer, cross your fingers and send them luck.
I would like to know if I should be planning hyposalinity or cupramine, need to make RO water and/or buy a copper test kit.
Paul B, you have been very helpfull to me, I have homemade worm keeper, your suggestion another thread. Do the idols like the live black worms?
Any other suggestions in preparing to bring these beauties home?
Paul B
Premium Member
OK, one secret to feeding idols is they they need to eat a few times a day. Mine also loved bananas which I froze. I also mixed plaster of paris to soft bananas and when it set I would feed that. OK stop laughing. The plaster supplied calcium and the banana just gave it some taste so the idol would eat it.
Outerbank
New member
I feed a lot of nori and a variety of food throughout the day. I notice the fish just seems to be much healthier if it is always eating.
Today I took a video of my tank and MI. Notice the swimming room. Click on the picture and it will take you to the video. The fish can swim in front and behind the rock structure. I bought the MI August 7, 2008.
Today I took a video of my tank and MI. Notice the swimming room. Click on the picture and it will take you to the video. The fish can swim in front and behind the rock structure. I bought the MI August 7, 2008.
tylorarm
Premium Member
Plecosword; yes, I feed my MI Ocean Nutrition frozen angel formula. I feed a cube or two every second day or more. My MI loves it, and not many of my other fish do, so he eats about 1/2 of whatever of the ONFAF i throw in there. I'm past 1.5yrs now, so far so good. I also feed many other things though, nori, mysis, spirulina, live clams, live blood worm...
Mine eats everything all day long doesnt stop eating and has put on considerable weight.
I started it on seaweed sheets and NLS pellets then taught it to eat cockles in the half shell attached next to the nori.
Now it eats about one whole cockle to itself 1 or twice a day plus eats all the other bits of mysis, bloodworms and frozen mix dinners.
Last week it smashed two montis and 3 acros as well but it has stopped eating sps this week the little bugger!!!
Cheers
Nam
I started it on seaweed sheets and NLS pellets then taught it to eat cockles in the half shell attached next to the nori.
Now it eats about one whole cockle to itself 1 or twice a day plus eats all the other bits of mysis, bloodworms and frozen mix dinners.
Last week it smashed two montis and 3 acros as well but it has stopped eating sps this week the little bugger!!!
Cheers
Nam
fish_doctor
New member
hi i work in an aquatics store in england UK and would like to say this thread is amazing so much info! so i decided so order in a Hawaiian idol and a bag of live freshwater clams, within hours out the bag he was eating halved clams, we keep the clams in a small tank with a sponge filter and regular water changes, i take one out everyday now as a treat, he loves them. had him a month now, managed to get him eating enriched brine by day four, then small bits of mysis the next day, on day seven i took some flake mix (new era: marine flakes, herbivore flakes, aegis flake I and aegis flake II) soaked it in garlic guard and after a few shakes of the head n spits back out he started tearing through them! now he takes the pellet forms of the flake i use but he prefers the flake i think because it floats in the water column. hes got some weight on him now and streamer bout 2 inches. ill post photos up tomorrow. i tried feeding everything at the start apart from sponge as cant get any here but did try angel formula and he nibbles it but not to aggressively. only thing he would eat was the clams. i think they are the trick to get them feeding im so convinced we have another 1 coming in on thursday as the 1 we have is now reserved. iv since used clams on hard to feed butterflys and angels all of which accept a wide variety of food now. im considering putting him in our display tank as my project. i think too many people say they are impossible and i know from reading this thread it isnt just about getting them to feed, tank space and water quality aswell as power outages (i feel your pain) may be issues. so for this reason im taking on one as a project. and since it will be at work i can feed it numerous times a day 6 days a week (still gets fed on 7th by work mate but most likely only once or twice) which i think is 1 of the many keys to unlocking this beauty, its just so unfortunate that some on here have passed away under such bad circumstances as they may have lived for many more years we just wont know. ill keep the post updated.
djkms
Fish Freak
Hello all, joined the Mi club last week!
On Wednesday 02/16/2011 my MI arrived. I purchased the Idol from Live Aquaria Divers Den. It is approximately 3" big. Divers Den had it feeding on PE Mysis and Brine. They conditioned him for a month before putting it up for sale. The first day I got it he did not eat at all. Second day he nibbled on a frozen blend a LFS makes. 3rd day on he has been a pig and eating everything I throw into the tank. PE Mysis, RODS, NLS pellets, my LFS blend of frozen food, etc.
The first couple of days he was real shy and pretty much hid behind my reef. The tank is setup so fish can swim freely in the back and front of the reef, there is also plenty of swim room near the surface. The Idol picks on rocks all day and has not bothered any coral yet (I have a mixed reef with LPS, SPS, Zoas, etc).
So far so good, he is eating good, appears to be healthy, stress free and happy (as happy as a jailed fish can be :lol
Here is some pics, pretty blury I know but this is the best I can get so far.
btw his streamer was really short, pretty much only the hard part when he arrived. about 2 days ago it grew about 2 inches in less than 24 hours.
On Wednesday 02/16/2011 my MI arrived. I purchased the Idol from Live Aquaria Divers Den. It is approximately 3" big. Divers Den had it feeding on PE Mysis and Brine. They conditioned him for a month before putting it up for sale. The first day I got it he did not eat at all. Second day he nibbled on a frozen blend a LFS makes. 3rd day on he has been a pig and eating everything I throw into the tank. PE Mysis, RODS, NLS pellets, my LFS blend of frozen food, etc.
The first couple of days he was real shy and pretty much hid behind my reef. The tank is setup so fish can swim freely in the back and front of the reef, there is also plenty of swim room near the surface. The Idol picks on rocks all day and has not bothered any coral yet (I have a mixed reef with LPS, SPS, Zoas, etc).
So far so good, he is eating good, appears to be healthy, stress free and happy (as happy as a jailed fish can be :lol
Here is some pics, pretty blury I know but this is the best I can get so far.
btw his streamer was really short, pretty much only the hard part when he arrived. about 2 days ago it grew about 2 inches in less than 24 hours.
fish_doctor
New member
pics as id said but a day late
get some better quality ones up soon
get some better quality ones up soon
fish_doctor
New member
pics from thursday
streamer getting long
streamer getting long
fish_doctor
New member
and pics from today after we put him in 120 gallon display tank
tank was set up for 6 months but had a bad hair algae problem so had to strip it down and clean every rock. gave me a chance to restock it though
current stock in there is the moorish, pair of blue stripe clowns, pair of helfrichi firefish, golden angel, pygmy royal blue angel and a cleaner wrasse which was in there before the strip down. and have a pair of blue throat triggers in QT waiting to go in.
the other moorish came in so will get pics up of him, was eating flake in the bucket i was acclimatising him in, he likes his clams alot aswell, funny thing is the customer who was in to collect the moorish thats in the display but seen the other eating in the bucket so changed mind and waiting to take that 1 when its ready for sale, so into the display went the original moorish. who is still going to town on the flake.
tank was set up for 6 months but had a bad hair algae problem so had to strip it down and clean every rock. gave me a chance to restock it though
current stock in there is the moorish, pair of blue stripe clowns, pair of helfrichi firefish, golden angel, pygmy royal blue angel and a cleaner wrasse which was in there before the strip down. and have a pair of blue throat triggers in QT waiting to go in.
the other moorish came in so will get pics up of him, was eating flake in the bucket i was acclimatising him in, he likes his clams alot aswell, funny thing is the customer who was in to collect the moorish thats in the display but seen the other eating in the bucket so changed mind and waiting to take that 1 when its ready for sale, so into the display went the original moorish. who is still going to town on the flake.
Moorish Idols primarily eat sponges... sponges aren't that difficult to grow!
Moorish Idols primarily eat sponges... sponges aren't that difficult to grow!
I have read A LOT about the large amount of unsuccesful trials with keeping a Moorish Idol. There aren't enough recommendations on feeding sponges to the Moorish Idol on the internet, which is their main food source. I haven't read all 30+ pages in this forum...I did notice an earlier post of an 800 gallon tank owner planning on feeding their idols sponges which is awesome. There are however infinite posts on all the forums stating that they are being fed a little or a lot of everything(or they're being fed but not eating). They are also saying theirs was eating every common type of food but still died. This shotgun approach should be a supplement to a diet of sponges. The Idol is an omnivore but is closely related to tangs. It also likes what they like, ulva sea lettuce and red and green gracillaria. It benefits from pristine water conditions. If you want a shot at a new moorish idol you have to culture a couple sponges. If you don't you're gambling with your money and their life and it isn't fair to them. The Mandarin fish is a success in this hobby if it has enough of it's natural food. Why should the Moorish Idol be any different?
Moorish Idols primarily eat sponges... sponges aren't that difficult to grow!
I have read A LOT about the large amount of unsuccesful trials with keeping a Moorish Idol. There aren't enough recommendations on feeding sponges to the Moorish Idol on the internet, which is their main food source. I haven't read all 30+ pages in this forum...I did notice an earlier post of an 800 gallon tank owner planning on feeding their idols sponges which is awesome. There are however infinite posts on all the forums stating that they are being fed a little or a lot of everything(or they're being fed but not eating). They are also saying theirs was eating every common type of food but still died. This shotgun approach should be a supplement to a diet of sponges. The Idol is an omnivore but is closely related to tangs. It also likes what they like, ulva sea lettuce and red and green gracillaria. It benefits from pristine water conditions. If you want a shot at a new moorish idol you have to culture a couple sponges. If you don't you're gambling with your money and their life and it isn't fair to them. The Mandarin fish is a success in this hobby if it has enough of it's natural food. Why should the Moorish Idol be any different?
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