The Moorish Idol Thread

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7318796#post7318796 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by john37
when you guys first got your MI what did you use to get them to first start eating?
Click to expand...

It's been over a year now since I adopted my MI, I started out with fresh Steamer clams from the seafood dept. at the local grocery store. I split the clam open rinsed it off and toss it in and the MI was all over it. Now he eats Flakes and PE Mysis shrimp and every now and then I do the clam.
 
the lfs got them from the wholesaler and i just picked them up while they were still in the bag. i asked them to call me once they got them and i didnt want the LFS to put them in their tanks and then have me change them again....so basically from the wholesaler to me.
i'll try that clam later tonight.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7322650#post7322650 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by john37
the lfs got them from the wholesaler and i just picked them up while they were still in the bag. i asked them to call me once they got them and i didnt want the LFS to put them in their tanks and then have me change them again....so basically from the wholesaler to me.
i'll try that clam later tonight.
Click to expand...

How did the Clam(s) work?
 
i went to vons and trader joes today near my house. neither had clams so tomorrow i'm going to have to try another supermarket or an asian grocery store.
 
ok so i've added a clam and tried squid as well. They arent eating it. One has been picking at a rock w/some sponge growth.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7334061#post7334061 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by john37
ok so i've added a clam and tried squid as well. They arent eating it. One has been picking at a rock w/some sponge growth.
Click to expand...

Did you take a knife and split open the clam and pull it apart?
 
Mine's going on a month now. Still eating most of what was listed above, although he does have an extreme preference for NLS. This, he'll eat every day. Currently, he more or less picks at everything else and does get his fill at feeding time, but shows no particular prejudicial preference for any one food other than the NLS pellets (1mm). He does DISLIKE some foods, tho, mainly Brine Srimp and Bloodworms, which is sadly probably what most people try first with finicky fish. He's not really "into" crustaceans as much as other fish, including herbivores like Rabbits and Tangs, can be. IOW, he seems to prefer to take other foods over Mysids and the like. Particle size continues to remain important, he doesn't touch anything that's much larger than a Ã"šÃ‚¼ grain of rice. He's taken some new foods as well, mainly SFBB Mussels. See my list of all foods used in prior pages.

HTH.
 
What is a Manila Steamer Clam?
what do they look like?
i just got the live clams at a asian supermarket and broke it open and put it next to the MI's.

BTW : the one that wasn't picking at the rocks died this morning but the other one seems to be good and swimming around a lot.
 
Well, it's been a month to the day and mine is still going strong, streamer intact, and eating well. More importantly, he's exhibiting the side effects of eating well, he's grwoing out and colored up fully. :D
 
it's been a week and i still haven't seen it try anything.
but it doesnt look very skinny either. kinda weird.
i've tried 3 different spectrum pellets, prime reef flakes, clam on a half shell, and chopped squid.
Running out of ideas.
 
Mine seems to like Prime Reef and SFBB Mussels (both frozen), and the Formula Foods, although curiously not the Angel Formula. Have you tried mashing the foods into a rock?
 
john37, try soaking his food in garlic extract from kent and also soaking his food in selcon. This is how I got my Idol to eat. Also if you can get a hold of the finicky fish formula from Spectrum, (it has a Moorish Idol on the label) try that also. You can try soaking live brine in selcon also (which will enrich their nutritional value).

Just try as many foods as possible. I tried 10-20 different kinds of foods when I first got my Idol. Here are some examples:

Formula One, Formula Two, Sponge Formula, Frozen Squid, Frozen Brine, seaweed strips, live caulerpa, various flakes, various pellets. It's going to cost you some money if you want this Idol to live. But you can do it. Just keep trying.

As for my situation, my new system is pretty much done (with the plumbing anyway). But I am going to leave it at that for now before I add the water, sand and rock. I have too much other work to do with my business. So it will be a month or 2 before I have my new system up and running.

Glad most of your Idols are doing well. Keep it up everyone.
 
6 weeks now for mine. It's not only doing well and continuing to feed, but growing at a very rapid rate. He's between 3 and 3Ã"šÃ‚½" TL now. Conservatively, he's grown about an inch in this 6 week timespan. Fishbase and other references but post-larval juveniles at 7.5cm, just under 3", so I guess you could say mine is a sub-adult now, obtained as a juvenile. :D
 
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