The Moorish Idol Thread

[solitude127]

I haven't known of any to go after anemones, but honestly, if you keep him fed well with a variety of foods (I point this out because I know of MI's that are well fed and still pick at corals because my guess is their nutritional needs are not being 100% met), then picking should be minimal with little to no irreparable damage.

Keep us updated!

Chad

Thanks Chad. What did you feed yours?

nevermind. I found my answer a few posts pack.

Thanks Mike... living vicariously through RC for now. Hopefully will be able to set up my tank again when we move and my kids aren't getting up at god-awful times of the night consistently.

As for the MI, I think the key is frequency and quality over total quantity... I had my autofeeder drop Formula 1 & 2 pellets in twice a day (once at about noon, and once in the late afternoon), and then I fed some frozen mixture once or twice a day (I actually made my own- chopped scallops, chopped shrimp, clams, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, nori, angel formula food with sponge, with a little bit of diced garlic rather than the concentrated stuff that I know is hard on their livers). This seemed to get him the nutrients he needed since he grew pretty large and had good (but not unhealthy) girth, and didn't bother any of my corals (SPS, clams, LPS, zoas) with the exception of some new additions that were sliming (but even that subsided after a day or so).

Good luck Mike!

-Chad

 

[gofor100]

Hahaha... no worries. I forgot to mention I included New Life Food Spectrum pellets in the autofeeder too... those seems to keep them nice and thick.

-Chad

 

[dgilpin22]

I absolutely love moorish idol fish. What is the absolute minimum tank size to hold one? I have a 75 gallon at the moment and plan to upgrade in the future, but if I can get one in my 75 then I definitely will.

 

[pinnatus]

I wouldn't put one in less than a 6' tank.

 

[Aquattro]

1 month today, both fish are doing well, thinner one has put on weight. A bit of wagging at each other last week, but they've since stopped. All corals and clams intact. Starting to relax a bit instead of thinking they'll spontaneously die

 

[solitude127]

1 month today, both fish are doing well, thinner one has put on weight. A bit of wagging at each other last week, but they've since stopped. All corals and clams intact. Starting to relax a bit instead of thinking they'll spontaneously die

Congrats. Mine is still doing well and eating everything I put in the tank. Great fish with a great personality.

 

[isdaboy]

Beautiful fishes, one of my favorite fish! I had one many years ago, had it for almost two years until a snow storm blew in and damaged a lot of power line resulting massive power loss. The tank, including the MI died the next day.
Wish I had a room for a MI

 

[dotcommer]

1 month today, both fish are doing well, thinner one has put on weight. A bit of wagging at each other last week, but they've since stopped. All corals and clams intact. Starting to relax a bit instead of thinking they'll spontaneously die

This is great news. Keep us posted.

For the other posts:
My MI which has been doing incredible for a year and 4 months hasn't touched any of my Zoas and never touches my anemone.
He nips every now and then at my chalices, but lately has been leaving them alone. Leaves my SPS alone from what I have scene and doesn't touch any newly introduced ones. Any newly introduced chalices are picked at to a point I had to remove them. It's seems to be hit and miss with new introductions.
I feed a lot and have a lot of fish in my tank so there is a lot of distraction, plus my Sohal Tang has been chasing him a bit more lately , but then again my Sohal chases most of my large fish.

 

[solitude127]

My MI is looking a little thin. It eats whatever I put in there. Currently I feed Nori (once a day), cube if mysis (once a day), NLS pellets(twice a day) and some formula 1 flakes. Should I be concerned? I know it eats because I see it go after the food and I see it consume the food. I know fattening the MI up won't happen within a week but is there anything else I should try and feed it?

 

[Aquattro]

Mine took a month to fatten up to the point his spine was no longer visible. I feed roughly the same as you.

 

[gofor100]

Looks like you're doing it right Mike. Not sure what your QT process involved, but I did a treatment of Prazipro because I know a lot of them have worms that make it more difficult to fatten up.

I'm sure he/she will fatten up sooner or later.

-Chad

 

[solitude127]

Mine took a month to fatten up to the point his spine was no longer visible. I feed roughly the same as you.

Looks like you're doing it right Mike. Not sure what your QT process involved, but I did a treatment of Prazipro because I know a lot of them have worms that make it more difficult to fatten up.

I'm sure he/she will fatten up sooner or later.

-Chad

Thanks for the encouraging words. My QT process for my fish includes 2 doses of Prazi 5 days apart. So hopefully nothing got by.

 

[pinnatus]

I feed a lot of pellets; they lay around on the bottom and the Idol will pick them up and eat them throughout the day. I think that is important for the idol, they do not have a large storage capacity and need to eat all day long, especially when small.

 

[joesfiddy]

My 2 will eat anything and everything lol

 

[solitude127]

I feed a lot of pellets; they lay around on the bottom and the Idol will pick them up and eat them throughout the day. I think that is important for the idol, they do not have a large storage capacity and need to eat all day long, especially when small.

Thank you for the input Ken. Maybe I'll add another pellet feeding.

 

[Aquattro]

Hey, just a question for MI keepers. I notice that one of mine has lost a bit of appetite. I then realize he's breathing very fast. I don't recall whether this was normal or not. The other, who is still eating as well, is also breathing rapidly. No signs of stress on the eating one, but the larger is a bit more timid this week and hardly eating.
So the question is, does your MI appear to breath faster than other fish? And by fast, I mean probably 3 or 4 gill flaps per second.

If not, suggestions?

 

[pinnatus]

No, mine doesn't normally breathe faster. Mine have gone on hunger strikes occasionally. I sometimes had to feed Rod's food to get it eating again, then it would go back to normal. Check oxygenation in the water, when my skimmer stopped, sometimes my Idol would breathe faster. In my tank, the skimmer creates a lot of oxygenation. Check water temp too. Flukes is another issue that I have had with the Idol, maybe a Prazi treatment will help.

 

[Aquattro]

O2 levels are high, I have so much flow that water leaves the tank. This is recent, and flow hasn't changed. I agree O2 levels are critical for these guys.

I have treated with prazi, although 4 days in and no change. They don't appear stressed, both breathing the same, while one is still eating. I'm sure prazi doesn't help appetite though.

One thing that causes me concern is a recent alk spike (or rather, climb) to 15 dKh. I wonder if that could have affected them?

 

[Aquattro]

Update. Both fish back to normal, eating and breathing well. I suspect the alk spikes annoyed them and once back in check,they recovered well.

On a sad note, another local reefer bought 2 and lost both within a week. I think threads like this skew the stats on survival, as most are happy to post success, but few post the failures.

 

[pinnatus]

I think threads like this skew the stats on survival, as most are happy to post success, but few post the failures.

Agree