The Moorish Idol Thread
- Thread starter zfunk007
- Start date
Paul B
Premium Member
Colleen, where I do my boating there are tide pools at low tide where the sea gets to about 6" deep. There are a lot of clumps of mussels whth big clumps of mud and grass all over them. These are teeming with 3/8"amphipods. I just bang them on the inside of a pail and they jump off. At home I strain them in a fish net and replace the muddy water with clean water. I leave them in the net with a lot of debris that I don't want in my tank and I gently put the net in my reef. Eventually the amphipods leave the net and I remove the net with the garbage in it.
jkta99, I have been doing this since 1972 and they have always been in my tank, I have never gotten paracites or had any other problems with them. They even breed in the tank.
Paul
jkta99, I have been doing this since 1972 and they have always been in my tank, I have never gotten paracites or had any other problems with them. They even breed in the tank.
Paul
Paul B
Premium Member
Zfunk. I have never seen amphipods while diving. I am not sure how to get them in Florida. Here in NY we have a mud bottom. Real sticky gooey black mud. The amphipods love it. They are swimming all over my tank. I don't think you have any mud there. Of course I am not much of a Florida expert. I have some friends there and I have dove there for a few weeks but thats it. Good luck.
Paul
Paul
zfunk007
Premium Member
Actually in the Indian River (Brackish Water where all the Mangroves are) there is alot of thick black mud that i'm sure is similar to what you have there. I'm wondering that if I shook it out if I could get pods that way. I'll have to give it a try. I'm sure my Idol would love some pods. I have some in my tank that get in there from my refugium but not nearly as many as i'd like to have.
Well I put my 3 baby Atlantic Blue Tangs into my 210 today with my Idol. They were in quarantine for a while. The Idol will chase them out of the way once in a while but nothing hostile. The 4 of them are CONSTANTLY grazing everywhere. I have a nice layer of green algae on the back wall and they all seem to love it.
I've been watching them all for the past hour and my Idol is just grazing away. It amazes me with as much as he eats how he still seems like hes a little under weight. He seems healthy as anything, active, always begging for food. He now eats just about anything I put in the tank. His dorsal fin looks like its about 3" long and still growing. It is getting really full and starting to "curve" over into the half loop you see on the Idols in the wild. I hope his makes it all the way!
Diving was good today. We tried a new spot off a beach where there was a wreck. Was a nice dive. Got a reef butterfly, ABT and 2 Small Spade Fish. I don't know if any of you are familiar with the Atlantic Spade Fish but they are a really cool looking fish. They look like a mix between an angel and a batfish. Not quite sure what i'm going to do with them yet. They are in quarantine
.
Any updates about your Idols from anyone else? I'd be glad to hear them.
Well I put my 3 baby Atlantic Blue Tangs into my 210 today with my Idol. They were in quarantine for a while. The Idol will chase them out of the way once in a while but nothing hostile. The 4 of them are CONSTANTLY grazing everywhere. I have a nice layer of green algae on the back wall and they all seem to love it.
I've been watching them all for the past hour and my Idol is just grazing away. It amazes me with as much as he eats how he still seems like hes a little under weight. He seems healthy as anything, active, always begging for food. He now eats just about anything I put in the tank. His dorsal fin looks like its about 3" long and still growing. It is getting really full and starting to "curve" over into the half loop you see on the Idols in the wild. I hope his makes it all the way!
Diving was good today. We tried a new spot off a beach where there was a wreck. Was a nice dive. Got a reef butterfly, ABT and 2 Small Spade Fish. I don't know if any of you are familiar with the Atlantic Spade Fish but they are a really cool looking fish. They look like a mix between an angel and a batfish. Not quite sure what i'm going to do with them yet. They are in quarantine
.Any updates about your Idols from anyone else? I'd be glad to hear them.
Paul B
Premium Member
Zfunk, I forgot about the Indian River. That should be a very good place to collect amphipods. Just don't get any manatees stuck in the net.
I have a shallow tray just under my lights that I use for an algae filter and I clean it every so often. Now I have a problem because it is so full of amphipods that I have to invent a new way to clean it. I am glad your Idol seems to be doing well, they are a tough fish (to keep) and as I said before they do seem to die for no apparent reason. I hope that will not happen to yours (or mine) but I am a realist and I have had a few of them so I am always prepared for it. If it dies I will just have to try a different strategy. Or at least go back to Tahiti to study them more.
Hope you are not in danger from the hurricane.
Take care.
Paul
I have a shallow tray just under my lights that I use for an algae filter and I clean it every so often. Now I have a problem because it is so full of amphipods that I have to invent a new way to clean it. I am glad your Idol seems to be doing well, they are a tough fish (to keep) and as I said before they do seem to die for no apparent reason. I hope that will not happen to yours (or mine) but I am a realist and I have had a few of them so I am always prepared for it. If it dies I will just have to try a different strategy. Or at least go back to Tahiti to study them more.
Hope you are not in danger from the hurricane.
Take care.
Paul
zfunk007
Premium Member
A word of warning. I don't know if any of you read my recent post in the Regal Angel thread. But my quarantine tank somehow "crashed" but when I say crashed I don't mean in the normal way. All of my readings were at zero and my pH was 8.2. Yet many of the fish in my quarantine tank just dropped dead, even ones I had had for months in there like my juvenile french angel.
I'm pretty sure it was the piece of sponge I got at the wholesalers. Part of it I put into quarantine for my new Regal Angel to pick at, which he did, the other bigger part I put in for my Idol (which he didn't touch or even seem to care about I might add).
After that disaster in my quarantine I took the sponge out of both of my systems because I think it must have emmited some kind of toxin into the water. I can't think of anything else that would make my fish just drop dead like that with nothing wrong with my water parameters. I just hope the bigger piece didn't effect my main system with my Idol in it and I hope my Regal lives. Although everyone seems to be just fine at the moment.
So in the future guys, be careful what kind of sponge you put in your tank for your Idol if you choose to do so. I mean, this is a sponge I got at the wholesalers!! I didn't realize it but there is an article in the RK mag this month about sponges. And I think it mentions their possible toxicity. Glad I know this now. Just too bad I had to lose fish in the process of learning!
I'm pretty sure it was the piece of sponge I got at the wholesalers. Part of it I put into quarantine for my new Regal Angel to pick at, which he did, the other bigger part I put in for my Idol (which he didn't touch or even seem to care about I might add).
After that disaster in my quarantine I took the sponge out of both of my systems because I think it must have emmited some kind of toxin into the water. I can't think of anything else that would make my fish just drop dead like that with nothing wrong with my water parameters. I just hope the bigger piece didn't effect my main system with my Idol in it and I hope my Regal lives. Although everyone seems to be just fine at the moment.
So in the future guys, be careful what kind of sponge you put in your tank for your Idol if you choose to do so. I mean, this is a sponge I got at the wholesalers!! I didn't realize it but there is an article in the RK mag this month about sponges. And I think it mentions their possible toxicity. Glad I know this now. Just too bad I had to lose fish in the process of learning!
zfunk007
Premium Member
Oh, and thanks for the concern about Hurricane Dennis. For the moment we are out of harms way (I'm on the east coast). But last year, both Jeanne and Francis made their way ashore in STUART, Florida, the town I live in. So needless to say we got it bad. Hopefully this year the hurricanes will stay out at sea and leave us alone! (although if a few more hit the property value may go down so I could actually afford a house, and maybe a few snow birds would leave as well )
We just got a huge generator yesterday so I don't have to worry about losing all my tanks this year like I did last year.
)We just got a huge generator yesterday so I don't have to worry about losing all my tanks this year like I did last year.
Paul B
Premium Member
Zfunk, I'm glad you are not too affected by the hurricane.
We just came back from boating and it was a beautiful day until all of a sudden it got very dark and stormed. Of course, no hurricane Dennis or anything. We just went into the cabin and went to sleep while it did it's thing. i did collect more amphipods though. You can never have enough moorish Idol food.
Glad you are well.
Paul
We just came back from boating and it was a beautiful day until all of a sudden it got very dark and stormed. Of course, no hurricane Dennis or anything. We just went into the cabin and went to sleep while it did it's thing. i did collect more amphipods though. You can never have enough moorish Idol food.
Glad you are well.
Paul
I had an Idol for about 6 months. He ate everything - flake, brine, pellets. His tank mates never bothered him, just one day out of the blue he seemed to be blind in one (or both eyes) - the one eye clouded over and he was disoriented. He was getting himself wedged in the rocks and then he died. It happened over three quick days. Not sure why.
Edey
Edey
Green Thumb
New member
Glad to hear the ABTs are in the display and doing good. They must be so cute. Share a picture if you can! Glad to hear also that your Moorish idol is doing good. Too bad about the sponge incident...
Hey Paul & Zfunk,
Glad to hear that everything is going good for you two. Well I got some good news, it looks as if my dream of owning a MI is getting closer than I ever thought. I'm making a deal right now on a 400 Gallon system and should be picking it up in a few weeks. This is a complete FOWLR that has been up and running for 3 years. That will be the new home of a MI once I get the tank settled into it's new place. It also comes with a mated pair of Naso tangs, another fish that I have always wanted to keep and now I'll have a mated pair of them. I'll post some pics once I get the system at least temporarily set up in my garage. Take care and keep up the good work as well as feeding us with your experiences.
Glad to hear that everything is going good for you two. Well I got some good news, it looks as if my dream of owning a MI is getting closer than I ever thought. I'm making a deal right now on a 400 Gallon system and should be picking it up in a few weeks. This is a complete FOWLR that has been up and running for 3 years. That will be the new home of a MI once I get the tank settled into it's new place. It also comes with a mated pair of Naso tangs, another fish that I have always wanted to keep and now I'll have a mated pair of them. I'll post some pics once I get the system at least temporarily set up in my garage. Take care and keep up the good work as well as feeding us with your experiences.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Thats great blown63chevy!! I can't wait to see your pictures. Once you get all that setup you'll just have to go out and start the "hunt" for a good Moorish Idol specimen. Don't just take any one. Make sure it looks like its in good health. Glad to hear your setup is becoming a reality.
Thanks. Luckly I have a good LFS here and so I'll be talking to the owner when I'm ready for her to go to the wholesaler and pick me a good one. I'm hoping to get one about 3" or so from Hawaii as from what I've read, that is probably the best canidate for a home tank. Anyone got any other ideas on that?
Keep an eye out on the storms this year and good luck to you.
Keep an eye out on the storms this year and good luck to you.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Hey mixer, thanks for the post. Nice to see a fellow Palm Beacher . Did you just get that MI? His body looks very round and full which is a good sign. I hate to see them without their dorsal fin fully intact but I guess they usually lose it when they are shipped. Keep us updated on how he does and what your doing with him.
Blown63chevy, that sounds like a good plan. I think I mentioned somewhere on this thread earlier on that the specimens we had at my old LFS that we kept for over a year were from Hawaii. I think they do better from what I've seen.
My Idol is looking really good and eating the spectrum pellets like crazy. He's continuing to gain weight I think because I have been having my mom feed him 3 times a day on the weekends when I can't be there till the evenings. I've also been putting up some seaweed selects on the glass in the morning before I goto work and it is always gone when I get home (although I think my new Regal Angel is contributing to that). But all is well.
I took some pictures of my Idol and Regal Angel together. I'll post them later tonight when I get home from work. Quite a beautiful pair of fish!
. Did you just get that MI? His body looks very round and full which is a good sign. I hate to see them without their dorsal fin fully intact but I guess they usually lose it when they are shipped. Keep us updated on how he does and what your doing with him.Blown63chevy, that sounds like a good plan. I think I mentioned somewhere on this thread earlier on that the specimens we had at my old LFS that we kept for over a year were from Hawaii. I think they do better from what I've seen.
My Idol is looking really good and eating the spectrum pellets like crazy. He's continuing to gain weight I think because I have been having my mom feed him 3 times a day on the weekends when I can't be there till the evenings. I've also been putting up some seaweed selects on the glass in the morning before I goto work and it is always gone when I get home (although I think my new Regal Angel is contributing to that). But all is well.
I took some pictures of my Idol and Regal Angel together. I'll post them later tonight when I get home from work. Quite a beautiful pair of fish!
zfunk007
Premium Member
Oh yeah, by the way, my Idol has been "sampling" bits of just about all my corals. He doesn't seem to pick at any one piece enough to really hurt it bad but hes kind of just picking at certain ones on certain days. I saw him picking at my lime green montipora last night. Strange....
