VolitanLioness
New member
I had a MI and sold it but I did compare my Female to a Large male & I could easily tell the difference. There is a web page out there that explains the difference but I no longer have it book marked.
Kaye
Kaye
The Moorish Idol Thread
- Thread starter zfunk007
- Start date
zfunk007
Premium Member
**Update**
He is officially eating like a pig. It appears that soaking the food in the Garlic Extract has worked beautifly. He's also swimming all over the tank and even comming up to the glass when I come over to look at him. He's quite a curious fish. I'm very happy about all this, although success can be measured in many degrees.
I think what I am going to do is keep updating this thread so that we can have an accurate account of a Moorish Idol in captivity. I looked at the threads blown63chevy sent to me and one in particular had ALOT of negative comments about keeping these fish. I coulden't disagree more.
My father kept salt water fish tanks back when he was a kid in the 50's and 60's. Back then about all they had was air stones and possibly undergravel filters (not even sure if they had those in the 50's). And yes its sad that many organisms had to die for us to figure out how to keep them propery but without these trials how would we ever have come to what we have today?
In my opinion its silly to bash ALL people who try to keep Moorish Idol's or any other hard to keep fish for that matter. What you should do is try and educate people on the progress that is being made in keeping hard to keep corals and fish instead of bashing them.
Be sure and tell people that as of right now, a Moorish Idol is NOT for the beginning or even intermediate aquarist. But hopefully as progress is made they will be able to be kept so many more people can enjoy this wondeful fish. Think about the progress we've made in the industry of fish and coral keeping. This website woulden't be in existence if it weren't for PROGRESS and experimentation. Lets not forget that.
As for my Moorish Idol, I plan on doing EVERYTHING in my power to make sure he has the best home he can possibly have in my aquarium. I will give him a varied diet, clean water conditions, many places to hide, food 3 times a day and most of all I will take the advice of people like Paul B and blown63chevy who are open minded and think "outside the box." Thanks guys. I'll keep you updated.
He is officially eating like a pig. It appears that soaking the food in the Garlic Extract has worked beautifly. He's also swimming all over the tank and even comming up to the glass when I come over to look at him. He's quite a curious fish. I'm very happy about all this, although success can be measured in many degrees.
I think what I am going to do is keep updating this thread so that we can have an accurate account of a Moorish Idol in captivity. I looked at the threads blown63chevy sent to me and one in particular had ALOT of negative comments about keeping these fish. I coulden't disagree more.
My father kept salt water fish tanks back when he was a kid in the 50's and 60's. Back then about all they had was air stones and possibly undergravel filters (not even sure if they had those in the 50's). And yes its sad that many organisms had to die for us to figure out how to keep them propery but without these trials how would we ever have come to what we have today?
In my opinion its silly to bash ALL people who try to keep Moorish Idol's or any other hard to keep fish for that matter. What you should do is try and educate people on the progress that is being made in keeping hard to keep corals and fish instead of bashing them.
Be sure and tell people that as of right now, a Moorish Idol is NOT for the beginning or even intermediate aquarist. But hopefully as progress is made they will be able to be kept so many more people can enjoy this wondeful fish. Think about the progress we've made in the industry of fish and coral keeping. This website woulden't be in existence if it weren't for PROGRESS and experimentation. Lets not forget that.
As for my Moorish Idol, I plan on doing EVERYTHING in my power to make sure he has the best home he can possibly have in my aquarium. I will give him a varied diet, clean water conditions, many places to hide, food 3 times a day and most of all I will take the advice of people like Paul B and blown63chevy who are open minded and think "outside the box." Thanks guys. I'll keep you updated.
Paul B
Premium Member
Zfunk, don't get a false sence of security about your moorish Idol. I have never had one that did not eat, I do not think food is their only problem. These fish can eat for a year and look great then drop dead for no apparent reason. I have seen it too many times. It may be that they need to live in mated pairs as I have never seen them alone. They may not be able to adjust to captivity after a certain age, they may have to mate every so often. Most fish will live over ten years with no problem but not an Idol. At least I have never heard of one in a tank of 100 gallons or so reaching ten years, if one or two do they are in the vast minority, I would say most live a year or two which stinks.
I am experimenting with Selcon and different foods and I even went to Tahiti to study them. Today I collected some local sponge to see if he will eat it. The sponge will not live in my tank for long so I have to remove it in a day or two.
Take care,
Paul
I am experimenting with Selcon and different foods and I even went to Tahiti to study them. Today I collected some local sponge to see if he will eat it. The sponge will not live in my tank for long so I have to remove it in a day or two.
Take care,
Paul
MrMongoose
New member
zfunk007 said:
I agree with you on that point. However its hard not to, when you see the kinds of people at the LFS you have to assume everyone is an idiot. From what I have seen most of the difficult fish to keep you are usually out of the woods after 4-6 months with the Idols its closer to 2 years!
I'm glad you started this thread, we really needed one to tackle the unknowns of this fish. I would also caution everyone who reads this not to go out and buy a Idol until thier are a few more documented TRUE sucsess stories. I'll be following this thread as I wish to keep a pair of Idols in the future.
Maybe someone can chime in on the required or recommened tank size for one Idol and does it increase when keeping in pairs? Thanks
-Nathan
Last edited:
Paul B
Premium Member
Zfunk, they had UG filters in the fiftees, I always had one. I also had fish in the fortees but being a baby I probably did not know it.
As for bashing people for keeping Idols or any other kind of fish, the last time I looked, this was a free country and you can keep any kind of fish in any size tank in any kind of conditions. We may not think it is ethical, moral, or envirnmentally sound but I keep my opinions to myself when talking to an American. I have my own opinions about it. I also eat fish almost every day and I know that for every fish I eat there are hundreds of pounds of "trash" fish that get discarded. I still eat fish. If you do any traveling to the Caribbean or any Polynesian islands when you get away from the tourest areas you will see people with nets catching Idols, lookdowns, tangs, morays and any other kind of fish that they can to eat or sell. The majority of them just die in the sand to be eaten by crabs. I have seen this many times, it's life and I think many more fish are killed that way than you think.
Anyway, this is a moorish Idol thread so I don't know why I got off on this, sorry.
Have a great day.
Paul
As for bashing people for keeping Idols or any other kind of fish, the last time I looked, this was a free country and you can keep any kind of fish in any size tank in any kind of conditions. We may not think it is ethical, moral, or envirnmentally sound but I keep my opinions to myself when talking to an American. I have my own opinions about it. I also eat fish almost every day and I know that for every fish I eat there are hundreds of pounds of "trash" fish that get discarded. I still eat fish. If you do any traveling to the Caribbean or any Polynesian islands when you get away from the tourest areas you will see people with nets catching Idols, lookdowns, tangs, morays and any other kind of fish that they can to eat or sell. The majority of them just die in the sand to be eaten by crabs. I have seen this many times, it's life and I think many more fish are killed that way than you think.
Anyway, this is a moorish Idol thread so I don't know why I got off on this, sorry.
Have a great day.
Paul
MrMongoose
New member
Yes its a free contary but for some its comparable to a homeless person adopting a child...its got no chance.
So I've elected myself as a member of the "Moorish Idol Placement Agency"
MIPA hehehe
So I've elected myself as a member of the "Moorish Idol Placement Agency"
MIPA hehehe
zfunk007
Premium Member
Very good points everyone. And don't worry i'm not jumping to conclusions just because my Moorish Idol is eating. But you do have another good point. Perhaps they need to live in a mated pair to do well. And I think we need to find out if it really is possible to tell the sexes apart cause if you could get a male and a female it may greaten their chances of living in captivity.
However I am of the belief that the bigger the tank the better your chances are. I have a 210 gallon tank that my Idol is in and I think its chances are better in a tank this size than if he was in a 100 gallon. Simply because he has more room to swim around. And obviously the bigger the more natural.
Your right MrMongoose it is VERY hard not to bash people because alot of people are in this hobby for the wrong reasons. I work at an LFS (im actually here now) and I hear and see all kinds of rediculous things. But like I said, I do my best to educate people instead of being hard on them.
As for my Idol, I have taken some more pics and I will post them when I get home tonight. He seems to be doing well. He is eating almost everything I put in now except for the pellets which he still isn't quite sure about. He seems very healthy and happy for the moment.
There is one thing that is bothering me though. He has a small white spot forming on the black part of his head on the left side. It's small and there are no other visible spots on him anywhere, so we'll see how it goes.
When I got him I broke from tradition and didn't quarantine him because he was a Moorish Idol and I wanted him to get into the best environment possible as quickly as possible. None of my other fish have ich and have all been very healthy and vibrant. So i'm hoping it will go away, whatever it is. We will see.
Paul B, another question, how many times a day do you feed your Idol? I'm a little worried because my lights don't come on till around 11 oclock in the morning and the days I have to work I leave before they come on. So on the days I work I will only be able to feed him at the most twice a day. I have been leaving some of the algae strips in the tank for him to munch on while im gone. And he seems to be going for them now. What do you think I should do?
However I am of the belief that the bigger the tank the better your chances are. I have a 210 gallon tank that my Idol is in and I think its chances are better in a tank this size than if he was in a 100 gallon. Simply because he has more room to swim around. And obviously the bigger the more natural.
Your right MrMongoose it is VERY hard not to bash people because alot of people are in this hobby for the wrong reasons. I work at an LFS (im actually here now) and I hear and see all kinds of rediculous things. But like I said, I do my best to educate people instead of being hard on them.
As for my Idol, I have taken some more pics and I will post them when I get home tonight. He seems to be doing well. He is eating almost everything I put in now except for the pellets which he still isn't quite sure about. He seems very healthy and happy for the moment.
There is one thing that is bothering me though. He has a small white spot forming on the black part of his head on the left side. It's small and there are no other visible spots on him anywhere, so we'll see how it goes.
When I got him I broke from tradition and didn't quarantine him because he was a Moorish Idol and I wanted him to get into the best environment possible as quickly as possible. None of my other fish have ich and have all been very healthy and vibrant. So i'm hoping it will go away, whatever it is. We will see.
Paul B, another question, how many times a day do you feed your Idol? I'm a little worried because my lights don't come on till around 11 oclock in the morning and the days I have to work I leave before they come on. So on the days I work I will only be able to feed him at the most twice a day. I have been leaving some of the algae strips in the tank for him to munch on while im gone. And he seems to be going for them now. What do you think I should do?
Paul B
Premium Member
007 I think what you are doing is fine. Twice a day should be OK. I only feed mine twice during the week and sometimes only once. I have a very busy life and I can't really be there to feet him all day. I think I will get an automatic feeder though to dump some pellets in his feeding dish a few times a day until I come home to give hin plankton. Your 210 gallon tank should also be fine, mine is in a 100 which is too small.
Today I brought home some local orange sponge which grows a lot here on wood pilings and the Idol is trying to eat it but it is too hard for him to bite. I do not know if this sponge is any good for him, it may kill him but there is only one way to find out. I am going to cut it in small pieces and feed it to him with the frozen plankton to see if he will eat it. If he does and he does not croak I will collect a lot of it and feed it every day with his normal food.
I will let you know what happens.
Paul
Today I brought home some local orange sponge which grows a lot here on wood pilings and the Idol is trying to eat it but it is too hard for him to bite. I do not know if this sponge is any good for him, it may kill him but there is only one way to find out. I am going to cut it in small pieces and feed it to him with the frozen plankton to see if he will eat it. If he does and he does not croak I will collect a lot of it and feed it every day with his normal food.
I will let you know what happens.
Paul
Paul B
Premium Member
OK slight update. The moorish Idol loves the sponge in small pieces. I was feeding him from a large kind of a turkey baster and he just about jumps out of the water to get more of it. The only problem is that the other fish love it to. I don't want to give him too much at one time. If he looks OK tomarrow I will feed it again. If it looks good in a week I will collect a lot of the stuff and freeze it. I also have a small tank of it to see if it will live but I doubt it very much. The water here is in the low sixtees but I will try anyway. Maybe there is something in live sponge that they need (or maybe it will kill him.
Take care.
Paul
Take care.
Paul
zfunk007
Premium Member
Interesting about the sponges Paul. And your in New York right? Yikes... cold... Down here in South Florida we have some tropical and sub-tropical species of sponge that I could give my Idol.
Me and my bro went to go diving yesterday only to find out that the sea was very rough. So we didn't end up going in the water. Little did I know that there was a tropical storm out there already! It's only been hurricane season for 9 days! So next week will be the earliest i'll be able to go get some sponge. I'm sure my Idol will like it if yours likes New England temperate sponge!
If you can take some pictures of the sponge so I can see it and compare it to what we have here.
Me and my bro went to go diving yesterday only to find out that the sea was very rough. So we didn't end up going in the water. Little did I know that there was a tropical storm out there already! It's only been hurricane season for 9 days! So next week will be the earliest i'll be able to go get some sponge. I'm sure my Idol will like it if yours likes New England temperate sponge!
If you can take some pictures of the sponge so I can see it and compare it to what we have here.
Paul B
Premium Member
I will try to take some pictures. It is rough and bright orange and it looks like shoe leather.
I am going to dinner by boat tonight to Connecticut and I will also see if I can find any there. On the south shore of Long Island we have a lot of it but I live on the north shore. Not too far though.
This stuff may be photosynthetec because I only find it almost at the surface of the water. I don't remember ever seeing it while diving here but since our visability is usually less than a foot I would probably not see it anyway.
Take care.
Paul
I am going to dinner by boat tonight to Connecticut and I will also see if I can find any there. On the south shore of Long Island we have a lot of it but I live on the north shore. Not too far though.
This stuff may be photosynthetec because I only find it almost at the surface of the water. I don't remember ever seeing it while diving here but since our visability is usually less than a foot I would probably not see it anyway.
Take care.
Paul
VolitanLioness
New member
When I had the MI it loved sponge and went nuts for it, sponge seemed to play a large part in its diet. I had a large area of sponge growing on my LR but it was covered so the MI could not get to it so I would move my rocks around to keep exposing the sponge so the MI could get to it. I would buy the sponges in LFS's that were dieing for cheap also.
Kaye
Kaye
Milkshakeboi
New member
Hello everyone!! I too have a moorish idol!!
have it for about a month and 2 weeks!!Doing great but he only eats pellets!!I was now thinking of soaking mysis in garlic guard to see if he will accept it!!
Great to hear bout yours zfunk007!!
have it for about a month and 2 weeks!!Doing great but he only eats pellets!!I was now thinking of soaking mysis in garlic guard to see if he will accept it!!
Great to hear bout yours zfunk007!!
Paul B
Premium Member
Now I know that I have to collect the sponges and freeze them. After one day in a tropical tank they start to die. I don't want to start a chilled tank just now to keep sponges but if I get time before the summer ends I will build one. The Idol still eats it like crazy, I even fed him in the dark so the other fish did not get much. I do not have much sponge left so I will collect some today from my boat.
Take care
Paul
Paul
Take care
Paul
Paul
zfunk007
Premium Member
Thanks for joining the conversation Milkshakeboi. I highly recommend soaking any kind of food you want your Idol to eat in Garlic. For mine is seems to stimulate his appetite. Plus i've done some research on Garlic in fish and it appears to be good for them in alot of different ways.
I got some Formula Two flakes and some bloodworms soaked them in Garlic and Selcon and tried feeding those to him last night. He went for the formula two but didn't seem to care for the blood worms. Mysis are still by far his favorite.
Good news about his "white spot." When I got home last night it was gone. And his appetite was as good as ever. So all is going well so far. Monday or tuesday I am going to go diving if I can and I plan on collecting quite a bit of the tropical sponge that resides off the coast here in South Florida. If anyone else has an Idol and is interested in me shipping some of the sponge to you i'd be happy to do so. Cause it will most likely survive in your tank much longer than that temperate sponge Paul was talking about.
I'll let you all know when I get some. I'll post some more pics of my tank and Idol later tonight if I get a chance. Keep the posts and info comming!
I got some Formula Two flakes and some bloodworms soaked them in Garlic and Selcon and tried feeding those to him last night. He went for the formula two but didn't seem to care for the blood worms. Mysis are still by far his favorite.
Good news about his "white spot." When I got home last night it was gone. And his appetite was as good as ever. So all is going well so far. Monday or tuesday I am going to go diving if I can and I plan on collecting quite a bit of the tropical sponge that resides off the coast here in South Florida. If anyone else has an Idol and is interested in me shipping some of the sponge to you i'd be happy to do so. Cause it will most likely survive in your tank much longer than that temperate sponge Paul was talking about.
I'll let you all know when I get some. I'll post some more pics of my tank and Idol later tonight if I get a chance. Keep the posts and info comming!
I bought a MI 6 weeks ago. It has been in QT for the past 5 weeks as it came down w/ich. The ich is just about gone. I have had great success in feeding pellets. I did not research this fish before buying!! After I got it settled in.. I looked it up and the words that jumped out were "a fish to avoid" I was dissapointed that LFS would sell such a fish but decided that I would do the very best I can to take care of. I did learn a valuable lesson... I will research before buying!!! But is a beautiful fish!!
zfunk007
Premium Member
As promised here are some pictures I took tonight:
Heres one of my Idol and a Neon Goby I caught in the Palm Beach Inlet. (he was about a quarter of an inch when I caught him)
Heres another of the Idol, along with one of my fairy wrasse to the side.
Heres another of the Idol, as you can see his dorsal fin is growing quite long now in only the past few days. I hope that means hes healthy.
And heres a pic of my Broomtail Wrasse, Maroon Clown and French Angel thrown in for good measure
As you can see from most of the pics I don't have really any big corals in my tank yet. I am starting with all small frags so they can grow into place.
Paul B I have another question for you. I've noticed a pretty solid line that goes down my Idols body somewhat horizontally. It looks like one of his bones sticking out. Does yours have this line? Is it normal? Mines had it since I got him and most Moorish Idols i've seen have it. But I was just wondering if its normal or if maybe its a sign of mal-nutrition or something. It's hard to notice in the pictures but when you see him in the tank its pretty noticable.
Heres one of my Idol and a Neon Goby I caught in the Palm Beach Inlet. (he was about a quarter of an inch when I caught him)
Heres another of the Idol, along with one of my fairy wrasse to the side.
Heres another of the Idol, as you can see his dorsal fin is growing quite long now in only the past few days. I hope that means hes healthy.
And heres a pic of my Broomtail Wrasse, Maroon Clown and French Angel thrown in for good measure
As you can see from most of the pics I don't have really any big corals in my tank yet. I am starting with all small frags so they can grow into place.
Paul B I have another question for you. I've noticed a pretty solid line that goes down my Idols body somewhat horizontally. It looks like one of his bones sticking out. Does yours have this line? Is it normal? Mines had it since I got him and most Moorish Idols i've seen have it. But I was just wondering if its normal or if maybe its a sign of mal-nutrition or something. It's hard to notice in the pictures but when you see him in the tank its pretty noticable.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I started a thread a couple months ago about this but I don't know if any of you have seen this so i'll re-post it here. Paul you may be able to appreciate this since you like "out of the ordinary" type tanks.
I have worked at a couple different LFS's. About a year and a half almost 2 years ago me and a co-worker decided to build the finding nemo tank (so the kids would be happy and shut up). Here are some pics of it:
Now don't get me wrong, i'm not suggesting anyone go and do this, cause its probably not the best idea in the world (it was a pain in the butt to keep it that clean plus i'm sure the fish would be happier in a more "natural" setting). But we were able to do it successfully. All the fish did very well including the Moorish Idol which lived for about a year up until the hurricanes came and everything died
. But I thought you all might get a kick out of it so I figured i'd post them. Enjoy.
I have worked at a couple different LFS's. About a year and a half almost 2 years ago me and a co-worker decided to build the finding nemo tank (so the kids would be happy and shut up)
. Here are some pics of it:
Now don't get me wrong, i'm not suggesting anyone go and do this, cause its probably not the best idea in the world (it was a pain in the butt to keep it that clean plus i'm sure the fish would be happier in a more "natural" setting). But we were able to do it successfully. All the fish did very well including the Moorish Idol which lived for about a year up until the hurricanes came and everything died
. But I thought you all might get a kick out of it so I figured i'd post them. Enjoy.
zfunk007
Premium Member
KimC don't feel to bad about buying the fish. Be thankful that you bought it and not someone who will not care for it at all. Just keep comming to Reef Central and find out as much info as you can. Like I said I will be posting my results with my Moorish Idol on here for the forseeable future. So just check back from time to time if your looking for advice. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site.
