Moorish Idol

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#3
I had one previously for a few years before I sold it (not sure how much longer it lived after that). I think they are very susceptible to parasites and internal worms (because they have a very high metabolism and any additional stress can compromise the fish's immune system), so if you can get a healthy one and introduce it into a parasite-free tank, then I think you'll have a good chance at keeping it alive for a while.

My latest one succumbed to some kind of parasite that made its way into my system, but was going strong for about 11 months before that happened (note: most of my other fish succumbed to this parasite too, so it wasn't just the MI).
 
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#4
I had a pair that lived for 3 years until I neglected my reef tank and had an ich outbreak which they perished. Last year I added 5. Two died a few weeks and the 3 remaining is swimming around the tank for a year now. Bought a UV to keep the ich in check.

Trick is find an Idol that eat pellets at the LFS. Most Idols at the store or somewhat skinny already. You need to feed is 5x to 10x a day for the first few weeks to gain some weight. Your water parameters will suck with all the extra feeding so prepare for large water changes, GFO, etc. After a few weeks you can cut their feeding to 3x daily and then 2x daily. Diet is 70% New Life Spectrum Pellets, 20% flakes, 10% Mysis and some nori here and there. 300G tank. Idols like to swim. They don't do too well in smaller tanks IMO. When I had them in a 20G quarantine tank they still look like crap even after feeding them a lot. Once they went to the 300g tank they looked healthier after a week

Sorry for the crappy phone pic. Thats all I have to post
IMG_6869.jpg
 
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tripinpn01

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#5
I had a pair that lived for 3 years until I neglected my reef tank and had an ich outbreak which they perished. Last year I added 5. Two died a few weeks and the 3 remaining is swimming around the tank for a year now. Bought a UV to keep the ich in check.

Trick is find an Idol that eat pellets at the LFS. Most Idols at the store or somewhat skinny already. You need to feed is 5x to 10x a day for the first few weeks to gain some weight. Your water parameters will suck with all the extra feeding so prepare for large water changes, GFO, etc. After a few weeks you can cut their feeding to 3x daily and then 2x daily. Diet is 70% New Life Spectrum Pellets, 20% flakes, 10% Mysis and some nori here and there. 300G tank. Idols like to swim. They don't do too well in smaller tanks IMO. When I had them in a 20G quarantine tank they still look like crap even after feeding them a lot. Once they went to the 300g tank they looked healthier after a week

Sorry for the crappy phone pic. Thats all I have to post View attachment 97489
I've never had the desire to own Moorish Idols until seeing this pic. Incredible.
 
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My Tank Build
#7
I had one previously for a few years before I sold it (not sure how much longer it lived after that). I think they are very susceptible to parasites and internal worms (because they have a very high metabolism and any additional stress can compromise the fish's immune system), so if you can get a healthy one and introduce it into a parasite-free tank, then I think you'll have a good chance at keeping it alive for a while.

My latest one succumbed to some kind of parasite that made its way into my system, but was going strong for about 11 months before that happened (note: most of my other fish succumbed to this parasite too, so it wasn't just the MI).
What was the tank size?
 
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#9
Here are some tips after keeping a dozen and losing a a fair share of Moorish Idols over the past 15 years. One of my favorite all time fish

  • At the LFS find one that eats. Lately most of the Idols I've seen at the LFS eats. They are not picky at all unlike Copperbands Butterfly.
  • If they wont feed it then observe to see if the Idols are pickup on the buttom, rocks, PVC,etc. If they are looking at these places and you see their eyeballs moving around and searching for food then that is a good sign as well
  • Smaller idols are easier to feed than large ones.
  • Most idols are skinny at the LFS. They should look like the picture above. Thats why you need to feed them alot
  • I feed my new idols 10x a day. Every time I past my quarantine tank I drop a few pellets or defrosted mysis shrimp. I also leave some nori wrapped around a PVC elbow which they can graze throughout the day. I also feed flakes as well. Some idols will eat all three and some just one out of the three or two out of the three. Whatever they like just feed them a lot. Raw clam on the half shell from asian markets works for picky eaters. IF you work like me than I feed before I go to work, let them graze on the nori throughout the day and feed them every hours when I get back from work.
  • They handle copper power with no issues. I use Seachem Prime to manage my ammonia and a large 50% change of water every other day. I had 6 idols on a 20g quarantine tank is the reason for such a large water change.
  • Somehow my Idols still look skinny being in a quarantine tank. Not sure if they not gaining weight as fast because they are in such a small tank or copper power. After two weeks of no signs of Ich I put them in the reef tank. I know some people will say two weeks is not long enough. I dont have a larger quarantine tank to keep them longer and wanted them to gain weight faster.
  • Once in the reef tank I continue to feed them a lot. Your tank parameters will be off from the heavy feeding so perform more frequent water change.
  • After a month of gaining weight you can cut it to three times a day. I find that if you are keeping more than one idol that feeding them alot keeps the aggression down.
  • Idols are peaceful fish and never bother any other fish except its own kind. They are swim out in the open and hardly hides in the rock. If they do then they sick or being chased by another idol which then you have to break out the mirror trick
  • If you want to keep more than one idol like a pair then its best to get them together at the fish store. They will be very aggressive towards each other like tangs if you put another idol later. If you want to try it out then the best will be heavy feeding and the mirror trick. My tank is 300g so I bought a cheap $15 closet mirror from Lowes and put it against my glass and all the fish including the older Idol that goes crazy with their reflection leaving your newly Idol alone.
  • Idols are ich magnets. Not as bad as Powder Blue tangs but almost as bad. However if the Idols do have Ich and recovers then they are pretty much immune to ich if there is another outbreak in the future.
  • One interesting observation is during the day the pretty much go on their separate ways chasing each other from time to time. At night when lights are off they all hang out closely together as if they were schooling.
  • If someone has other tips please share and post
 
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#10
I had one in my display(225)for years but it started eating zoas so i removed it. I put it in my sump(100+ gals) and it died in 3 days. They really do need a lot of room
I heard it’s more that they can get easily stressed out. So it wasn’t the smallness of the sump but rather the act of catching it and dumping it into a very turbulent sump is my guess.


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Joined
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#11
Here are some tips after keeping a dozen and losing a a fair share of Moorish Idols over the past 15 years. One of my favorite all time fish

  • At the LFS find one that eats. Lately most of the Idols I've seen at the LFS eats. They are not picky at all unlike Copperbands Butterfly.
  • If they wont feed it then observe to see if the Idols are pickup on the buttom, rocks, PVC,etc. If they are looking at these places and you see their eyeballs moving around and searching for food then that is a good sign as well
  • Smaller idols are easier to feed than large ones.
  • Most idols are skinny at the LFS. They should look like the picture above. Thats why you need to feed them alot
  • I feed my new idols 10x a day. Every time I past my quarantine tank I drop a few pellets or defrosted mysis shrimp. I also leave some nori wrapped around a PVC elbow which they can graze throughout the day. I also feed flakes as well. Some idols will eat all three and some just one out of the three or two out of the three. Whatever they like just feed them a lot. Raw clam on the half shell from asian markets works for picky eaters. IF you work like me than I feed before I go to work, let them graze on the nori throughout the day and feed them every hours when I get back from work.
  • They handle copper power with no issues. I use Seachem Prime to manage my ammonia and a large 50% change of water every other day. I had 6 idols on a 20g quarantine tank is the reason for such a large water change.
  • Somehow my Idols still look skinny being in a quarantine tank. Not sure if they not gaining weight as fast because they are in such a small tank or copper power. After two weeks of no signs of Ich I put them in the reef tank. I know some people will say two weeks is not long enough. I dont have a larger quarantine tank to keep them longer and wanted them to gain weight faster.
  • Once in the reef tank I continue to feed them a lot. Your tank parameters will be off from the heavy feeding so perform more frequent water change.
  • After a month of gaining weight you can cut it to three times a day. I find that if you are keeping more than one idol that feeding them alot keeps the aggression down.
  • Idols are peaceful fish and never bother any other fish except its own kind. They are swim out in the open and hardly hides in the rock. If they do then they sick or being chased by another idol which then you have to break out the mirror trick
  • If you want to keep more than one idol like a pair then its best to get them together at the fish store. They will be very aggressive towards each other like tangs if you put another idol later. If you want to try it out then the best will be heavy feeding and the mirror trick. My tank is 300g so I bought a cheap $15 closet mirror from Lowes and put it against my glass and all the fish including the older Idol that goes crazy with their reflection leaving your newly Idol alone.
  • Idols are ich magnets. Not as bad as Powder Blue tangs but almost as bad. However if the Idols do have Ich and recovers then they are pretty much immune to ich if there is another outbreak in the future.
  • One interesting observation is during the day the pretty much go on their separate ways chasing each other from time to time. At night when lights are off they all hang out closely together as if they were schooling.
  • If someone has other tips please share and post
I just got my first MI last weekend. From a local guy who said he’d had it for 6 mos. And mainly feeding nori and frozen (although I’ve only seen it eat nori).

However, since I’ve gotten him I noticed that his stomach cavity is always “fat”. Well goes big and small with the feedings. But even when it’s “full” I can still see its rib cage. Is that normal?

I’ve see them in the wild snorkeling and I don’t recall them boney like that. I wonder if the guy has parasites they are eating all of its food?

It doesn’t have the telltale signs of parasites (discolorations, bruises, nor white poop). In fact I haven’t seen it poop really. Almost seems like it’s pooping nori. And right now, it’s only eating nori. So can’t soak frozen foods with metroplex or any medication for it at the moment.

I’m afraid to stress it out by taking it into a QT at this point.

Any thoughts?


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BgFish

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#12
Beautiful fish. I have always wanted a pair but decided not to because of the chance they won’t make it. But there is a good alternative that’s easier to keep alive:

Heniochus butterfly fish

1652490909493.jpeg


But it’s still not the same. But close.
 
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