http://youtu.be/UFx4BgbAaCo Everybody give this guy a thumb! It's like he got on the phone with a dealer and was like, " send me every cool fish you got!"
The Moorish Idol Thread
- Thread starter zfunk007
- Start date
big mamma
New member
i used this about 6 months ago on my 125 gallon and worked great. here is my idol at 4 months. working on replacing the coral inserts with live rock so the fish have more hiding places.
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Terrible idea. I had 2, got along for a few months, then one day the larger pinned the second in the corner and it had to get pulled. I think every instance this has been tried in the thread, it didn't work.
Akrueger
New member
Alright thanks. Ill look for another fish to co-exist with the idol
big mamma
New member
1 have a 125 gallon with a blue throat trigger, harlequin tusk, and a toby puffer with no issues. all have been together for about 5 months.
ReefMaverick
New member
This is the next fish on my list...now I was told that Dandelion was excellent to get him to eat....any one ?
The only issue I had with both of mine was getting them to NOT eat everything! I'd start with fish food, see how that works out
Rereading this, you already have an idol, apparently, so not sure what fish you're talking about??
Sounds Fishy
New member
You will see it eat just about anything ,if it is feeding...sometimes they die before developing an appetite.Mine doesn't like bananas, go figure...If it's not eating ,at all,try oysters and sponge.Mine loves nori,but I will try dandelion in the Spring.If they are at the ...will eat everything stage...in your aquarium,you will notice they grow fast and eat constantly.
iluvmyfishes
New member
Try frozen mega marine algae and mega marine angel. You can mix them with mysis. Mine loves all of them.
Jonvo324
New member
Hi I'm a new member and I just wanted to share my experience with my moorish idol. I've officially had my MI for a full year now, this month. As a 14 year old, I risked a lot purchasing this fish because of how difficult it is and having to pay for all my fish with limited finances.
I took the risk and purchased a 4 inch MI. There were two fishes to chose from, and they both weren't eating. I chose the larger one that didn't have its spine showing. I brought it home, acclimated it without quarantining (I understand this isn't recommended but I decided to risk it since I wanted it to graze on the live rock). As I released it. Surprisingly none of the other fish bothered the new Mi. It was like the MI wasn't even new.
For the first week, it didn't eat anything except for whatever it grazed off the rocks. I had these faux plants that were in my tank when it was a seahorse tank that I didn't take out yet. It also grazed on those. That got me thinking, maybe the moorish idol might try eating things that resembled plants. So I got nori and attached it to a New Era Grazer, then dropped it to the sand bed. It started eating both nori and the grazer, I was so excited. I slowly started moving the grazer&nori to the glass and then it was used to eating off the glass.
Since I noticed my moorish idol liked eating off a surface and not the water column I decided to try feeding pellets off the water surface without it sinking down. I placed a few nls pellets/flakes in a calm corner of my tank and the MI almost instantly eat one. It started to fatten up solely because of the pellets and flakes. Then I stuck some pellets on the new era grazer (without nori) and as the pellets sank the MI chased after them. That's how my MI learned how to eat in the water column.
After a few weeks of eating nori/grazer/pellets and flakes it learned how to eat Hikari and PE mysid shrimp, just from watching the other fish. Now a year later it eats everything, but coral. Nori, grazer, pellets, flakes, mysid, clams on a half shell and angel formula sponge. In that order of first eating.
Now it's a fat healthy moorish idol that is absolutely one of the most aggressive fish in my tank.
Sorry for such a long post. I just wanted to share my experience.
I took the risk and purchased a 4 inch MI. There were two fishes to chose from, and they both weren't eating. I chose the larger one that didn't have its spine showing. I brought it home, acclimated it without quarantining (I understand this isn't recommended but I decided to risk it since I wanted it to graze on the live rock). As I released it. Surprisingly none of the other fish bothered the new Mi. It was like the MI wasn't even new.
For the first week, it didn't eat anything except for whatever it grazed off the rocks. I had these faux plants that were in my tank when it was a seahorse tank that I didn't take out yet. It also grazed on those. That got me thinking, maybe the moorish idol might try eating things that resembled plants. So I got nori and attached it to a New Era Grazer, then dropped it to the sand bed. It started eating both nori and the grazer, I was so excited. I slowly started moving the grazer&nori to the glass and then it was used to eating off the glass.
Since I noticed my moorish idol liked eating off a surface and not the water column I decided to try feeding pellets off the water surface without it sinking down. I placed a few nls pellets/flakes in a calm corner of my tank and the MI almost instantly eat one. It started to fatten up solely because of the pellets and flakes. Then I stuck some pellets on the new era grazer (without nori) and as the pellets sank the MI chased after them. That's how my MI learned how to eat in the water column.
After a few weeks of eating nori/grazer/pellets and flakes it learned how to eat Hikari and PE mysid shrimp, just from watching the other fish. Now a year later it eats everything, but coral. Nori, grazer, pellets, flakes, mysid, clams on a half shell and angel formula sponge. In that order of first eating.
Now it's a fat healthy moorish idol that is absolutely one of the most aggressive fish in my tank.
Sorry for such a long post. I just wanted to share my experience.
big mamma
New member
congrats on your success with such a difficult fish. you should be proud. i have had mine for 5 months. i feed green and purple seaweed, frozen angel formula, and lrs fish frenzy. mine also is a bold fish.
Jonvo324
New member
Thank you. It's actually really surprising how aggressive my moorish idol is. I recently bought a powder blue tang (hopefully I'll have as much luck as I had with my MI) and the moorish idol keeps chasing it. It's like my MI thinks it's a tang, since it always does that thing where it rubs up against other fish. Luckily the powder blue tang doesn't really care and just keeps swimming without reaction.
big mamma
New member
how big of a tank do you have them in ? the pbt will become aggressive over time.
Jonvo324
New member
The Moorish Idol Thread
Yeah, I understand it's aggression. But it seems very passive. I have them in a 150 gallon tank right now. With the intention of upgrading. If I don't upgrade in time, the PBT will be transported to my uncle's 400 gallon. The only other largish fish includes a emperor angelfish (3.5 in), black tang (3 in) and a blue hippo tang (5 in). I understand the tank requirements and they will be accommodated for as they age.
I feel like moorish idols should be kept with other tangs or similar and not alone (I wouldn't recommend two MI though. They seem to enjoy the company and can learn how to feed by watching. Atleast mine did.
Yeah, I understand it's aggression. But it seems very passive. I have them in a 150 gallon tank right now. With the intention of upgrading. If I don't upgrade in time, the PBT will be transported to my uncle's 400 gallon. The only other largish fish includes a emperor angelfish (3.5 in), black tang (3 in) and a blue hippo tang (5 in). I understand the tank requirements and they will be accommodated for as they age.
I feel like moorish idols should be kept with other tangs or similar and not alone (I wouldn't recommend two MI though. They seem to enjoy the company and can learn how to feed by watching. Atleast mine did.
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big mamma
New member
sounds like you have it figured out. its nice you have a backup plan if you need one. your uncles tank must look amazing.
