The Moorish Idol Thread

Finally read it all!

It's fascinating to see things change over the many years this thread spans. For a while the consensus was that they do better in pairs, now that's not advised. The tide started out against QT for them, then for, now it's pretty mixed.

Also their estimated life span keeps increasing. It was 10, then, 12, then 15, up to 20.

My LFS is bringing one in for me from Quality Marine. I'm going to get it still in the bag, acclimated right into my DT. I'm on a string of real bad luck QTing with copper, and have been doing observation only QT. There's not much in the tank he's going into, so I'll observe him there and hope it's the best environment for him to thrive.

Thanks for over a decade's worth of quality advice and experiences!
 
NerdCage said:
Finally read it all!

It's fascinating to see things change over the many years this thread spans. For a while the consensus was that they do better in pairs, now that's not advised. The tide started out against QT for them, then for, now it's pretty mixed.

Also their estimated life span keeps increasing. It was 10, then, 12, then 15, up to 20.

My LFS is bringing one in for me from Quality Marine. I'm going to get it still in the bag, acclimated right into my DT. I'm on a string of real bad luck QTing with copper, and have been doing observation only QT. There's not much in the tank he's going into, so I'll observe him there and hope it's the best environment for him to thrive.

Thanks for over a decade's worth of quality advice and experiences!
Click to expand...

This is a fish that absolutely needs to be QT'd, de wormed and eating.
 
Took the plunge on Friday. LFS brought in an Idol from Quality Marine, I was a nervous wreck all day, it was supposed to get to them by noon (planned my afternoon around picking it up). Then by 3 PM... finally got the call at 6:00 that it was in. I decided to go right into the tank. Nothing in there but a Foxface, so if I have to treat with something like PraziPro I can treat the tank. Very active and looking good right away. Picking at the algae on the rock from the moment he hit the water.

* Offered Larry's Reef Frenzy Friday night, he didn't eat.

* Saturday morning offered LRF again, no interest. Fed some pellets throughout the day, no interest. Saturday night fed some frozen angel food, no interest.

* Sunday morning I put half a fresh clam in the tank. He went right to it and started picking! Picked at it all day. Still no interest in pellets. Fed a little LRF, he may have picked at a piece.

* Monday morning he got another half clam, went right for it and picked it clean by the end of the day. Still no pellets eaten. Fed the frozen angel food at night, no interest.

* I mashed up some LRF with a bit of clam, put it in a clam shell and froze it. I fed that this morning (Tuesday) and he went right for it and ate the LRF!

I still have to get him eating the pellets, and eating the LRF out of the water column. I'm going to try some mysis tonight. I plan to make up another clam with LRF mix, and this time add some pellets. Nori has been available the whole time, but I've never seen him eat it. His banner was nothing when I got him, now is 3" long. I'm shocked at that growth! The first day he followed the Foxface around the tank. Now the Foxface follows him, they're inseparable.

I rigged up a funnel, tube, and autofeeder for the pellets similar to Paul's setup with the dish. So far he hasn't gone to it. I plan to place tomorrows clam where the pellets drop so he can hopefully learn that's his feeding area.

I'd welcome any tips on getting him to eat out of the water column, or onto pellets (yes, I'm soaking everything in garlic and Selcon).
 

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NerdCage said:
Took the plunge on Friday. LFS brought in an Idol from Quality Marine, I was a nervous wreck all day, it was supposed to get to them by noon (planned my afternoon around picking it up). Then by 3 PM... finally got the call at 6:00 that it was in. I decided to go right into the tank. Nothing in there but a Foxface, so if I have to treat with something like PraziPro I can treat the tank. Very active and looking good right away. Picking at the algae on the rock from the moment he hit the water.

* Offered Larry's Reef Frenzy Friday night, he didn't eat.

* Saturday morning offered LRF again, no interest. Fed some pellets throughout the day, no interest. Saturday night fed some frozen angel food, no interest.

* Sunday morning I put half a fresh clam in the tank. He went right to it and started picking! Picked at it all day. Still no interest in pellets. Fed a little LRF, he may have picked at a piece.

* Monday morning he got another half clam, went right for it and picked it clean by the end of the day. Still no pellets eaten. Fed the frozen angel food at night, no interest.

* I mashed up some LRF with a bit of clam, put it in a clam shell and froze it. I fed that this morning (Tuesday) and he went right for it and ate the LRF!

I still have to get him eating the pellets, and eating the LRF out of the water column. I'm going to try some mysis tonight. I plan to make up another clam with LRF mix, and this time add some pellets. Nori has been available the whole time, but I've never seen him eat it. His banner was nothing when I got him, now is 3" long. I'm shocked at that growth! The first day he followed the Foxface around the tank. Now the Foxface follows him, they're inseparable.

I rigged up a funnel, tube, and autofeeder for the pellets similar to Paul's setup with the dish. So far he hasn't gone to it. I plan to place tomorrows clam where the pellets drop so he can hopefully learn that's his feeding area.

I'd welcome any tips on getting him to eat out of the water column, or onto pellets (yes, I'm soaking everything in garlic and Selcon).
Click to expand...

how big is your mi ? when i got mine from dd it was around 4" long and ate lrs fish frenzy from day one. i also feed it green and purple seaweed and angel formula with sponge.
 
He's about 4-5 inches. Little bigger than I wanted, but he's alive and well.

I went down to get a beer tonight and saw him pick at the Foxface poop. It went up into the water and he chased after it. I threw in some pellets and he gobbled them up. I'm a very happy guy tonight.
 
NerdCage said:
He's about 4-5 inches. Little bigger than I wanted, but he's alive and well.

I went down to get a beer tonight and saw him pick at the Foxface poop. It went up into the water and he chased after it. I threw in some pellets and he gobbled them up. I'm a very happy guy tonight.
Click to expand...

thats good news. keep feeding it the lrs if he will eat it. it has a lot of good stuff in it. mine also gets clam once a week .
 
Does LRS count as a varied diet, since it has so much in it? Or should I be rotating other foods as well?

For now my plan was a bit of the Angel food in the mornings, pellets throughout the day, LRS at night. With some other stuff mixed in for variety.
 
Feed as often as possible. Especially when new and/or small. They don't have much capacity to store food, and I suspect one reason they often don't survive is not because they don't eat, but because they need to feed all day long.
 
Hard to say. One looks very skinny. They are very young looking. Color is washed out but that may not be an issue.
 
Moorish Idol Observations (at Kwajalein)

Moorish Idol Observations (at Kwajalein)

I just joined R/C all because of this thread!

I was stationed on Kwajalein Atoll (Marshall Islands) a few years ago, and had the opportunity to observe Moorish Idols on many occasions. They captured my attention because they are such iconic fish. Kwaj is a military reservation so the atoll is very pristine (no tourists/industry). I went snorkeling almost every day, and often could just stand in 4 ft of water and watch MIs & everything else. As others have noted the MIs swim both solo and in small loose groups. I saw them constantly stop and pick at growths (algae and sponges) and also dart to grab stuff in the water column (couldn't ID what). They would briefly chase each other; it appeared that they just like some personal space. Other territorial fish would chase them away, but the MIs didn't seem to protect any certain area.

I also noticed that they do love high-flow water; when the tide turned, foaming water would rush in over low spots in the reef, and I would have to tie onto a rock to stay put. The MIs would swim, tumble and dash around just as some folks have noted with filter outlets. Even more interesting, the first flow of water was heated from sitting in shallow reef pools at low tide, hot enough to make me very uncomfortable, but it didn't faze the MIs' enjoyment.

They were fairly 'tame', and in one area I fed them frozen spinach daily to get them acclimated. Lots of the larger ones (5 inches plus) had the little horns folks have mentioned. I saw none greater than 6-7 inches long.

From watching the same ones (scars, unique fin nicks, etc) over a few days, I'll speculate they hang out as buddies vs. mates, and they do shift partners. I found a link (http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/7618589/) that shows (maybe) a mass spawning at the edge of a reef, so mating may just be opportunistic. Their spawn just drifts away into the open ocean.

Some other links document MI larva collected at 2700 meters depth (!), so as others have said this is what spreads them so widely.

Kwaj water is far warmer & more saline than Hawaii where I also dove, and the reef life is 10x as 'lush'. The area I dove looked like somebody's dream tank.

I'll look over my notes and maybe post more. I autopsied several that the locals had caught in nets. They'll eat anything including styrofoam and plastic bits so be careful with such. I too would like to make their aquaculture more successful!

AdobeFish
 
thank you for your service and for sharing your wonderful experience with these fish in the wild. it must have been awesome.

I was stationed on Kwajalein Atoll (Marshall Islands) a few years ago, and had the opportunity to observe Moorish Idols on many occasions. They captured my attention because they are such iconic fish. Kwaj is a military reservation so the atoll is very pristine (no tourists/industry). I went snorkeling almost every day, and often could just stand in 4 ft of water and watch MIs & everything else. As others have noted the MIs swim both solo and in small loose groups. I saw them constantly stop and pick at growths (algae and sponges) and also dart to grab stuff in the water column (couldn't ID what). They would briefly chase each other; it appeared that they just like some personal space. Other territorial fish would chase them away, but the MIs didn't seem to protect any certain area.

I also noticed that they do love high-flow water; when the tide turned, foaming water would rush in over low spots in the reef, and I would have to tie onto a rock to stay put. The MIs would swim, tumble and dash around just as some folks have noted with filter outlets. Even more interesting, the first flow of water was heated from sitting in shallow reef pools at low tide, hot enough to make me very uncomfortable, but it didn't faze the MIs' enjoyment.

They were fairly 'tame', and in one area I fed them frozen spinach daily to get them acclimated. Lots of the larger ones (5 inches plus) had the little horns folks have mentioned. I saw none greater than 6-7 inches long.

From watching the same ones (scars, unique fin nicks, etc) over a few days, I'll speculate they hang out as buddies vs. mates, and they do shift partners. I found a link (http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/7618589/) that shows (maybe) a mass spawning at the edge of a reef, so mating may just be opportunistic. Their spawn just drifts away into the open ocean.

Some other links document MI larva collected at 2700 meters depth (!), so as others have said this is what spreads them so widely.

Kwaj water is far warmer & more saline than Hawaii where I also dove, and the reef life is 10x as 'lush'. The area I dove looked like somebody's dream tank.

I'll look over my notes and maybe post more. I autopsied several that the locals had caught in nets. They'll eat anything including styrofoam and plastic bits so be careful with such. I too would like to make their aquaculture more successful!

AdobeFish[/QUOTE]
 
Thank you AdobeFish....btw what a terrific photo of the MI spawning.I cringe to think of them being a sharks supper.I'll go feed mine now,some styrofoam,perhaps?.
 
I also passed on a Moorish Idol taste test...

I also passed on a Moorish Idol taste test...

I visited Ebeye, the one island in the Kwaj atoll that the Marshallese natives inhabit, and 24/7 the kids wade & throw hand nets, or snorkel with little spears, and bring in most types of small reef fish. A few seconds with a sharp fingernail - instant sushi! Then, down the hatch! Tangs, damselfish, MIs... I tried some damselfish roe- it tastes like you would expect- it won't be at your local sushi bar. I bought some MIs, already dead, and autopsied them. That's where I found one full of styrofoam and plastic, and two others with roe sacs (I passed on those!), and one without plastic or eggs. None had the little horns, all were about 4-5 inches.

There is an interesting Google Books excerpt regarding MI spawning at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=Q...onepage&q=moorish idol spawn hydrated&f=false
I refined this (long!) link to find the MI info in the book; it includes a photo of a dissected female with egg sac.

Ebeye is out in the middle of the Pacific, but it has 15000 people on 80 acres. The residents are 10-20 to a small cinderblock shack and have to hot-bunk so there is room to sleep, so fishing is always popular. I gave back my dissected MIs once I was done.

I never saw any MI spawning, but several articles point to a lunar cycle association (http://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m511p001.pdf - also discusses spawning acoustics). A balked spawning cycle, like what may happen in our aquaria, may appear as a fish 'getting fat' with eggs, then re-absorbing them (and getting thin again), maybe with some effect on appetite. Doing this for years on end couldn't be healthy, although tangs would be similar and they have lived a long time in captivity. That's what keeps this hobby so interesting!
 
Thank you AdobeFish for the link on the article.That is very interesting,and you certainly have had some unique experiences.I appreciate you passing on the information.When I watch my specimen , I'll have a little more background information about him ,and think about some of the places where you have been.I have never been outside North America,.
I think I would avoid the taste test too.
 
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