Reef Aquarium Fact #93 Moorish Idols can successfully be kept in an aquarium.

revhtree · Mar 10, 2012

We are going to continue discussing the reef aquarium facts submitted by our members. Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts?

Fact #93

Moorish Idols can successfully be kept in an aquarium.

Truth or False? What else might we need to learn on this subject? Please also share any pictures that may pertain to the subject.

ColaAddict · Mar 10, 2012

Ive had a healthy and eating moorish idol for awhile, until I went on vacation (the dreaded word - vacation!!!). I come home and 3 of my fish are dead, including the idol. The problem with them is they require alot of attention, and they have to eat alot.

laskopyre · Mar 10, 2012

The big trick with idols is an established tank, and getting them to eat Spectrum pellets. The life expectancy goes from a few months to years. Most everything we feed is missing a component for them to live long. Spectrum has something that is the special missing dietary need for idols. If you do a google search for spectrum and idols, lots of threads about it. Also, wetweb talks about it.

mcarroll · Mar 10, 2012

I can't recommend these fish under any circumstances due to extreme likelihood of early mortality. Success stories are rare enough to be considered unrepeatable legend IMO.

No offense intended to anyone, but one year (or 1+) is not a success story IMO considering that in the wild the fish could live for decades.

Heniochus butterflyfish (R2R) are orders of magnitude more appropriate for the home aquarium (while still being a challenge) and give 9/10 of the look of a Moorish Idol to most onlookers.

Here's a relevant WetWebMedia link.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Click the image for a much larger version.

revhtree · Mar 22, 2012

Any more thoughts on this?

pac_island_aquatics · Mar 26, 2012

Hawaii ones are 10x better than any other idol on the market.. less transit time. I can get them to eat almost every time.

shse666 · Jul 19, 2014

This guy is almost 3 years old now. Starving or withering away isn't in his vocabulary.
I make sure he gets Hikari Mega-Marine angel every week without fail along with spriculina flakes and chopped wild squid.

[video=youtube;3fLh-SAQYRg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fLh-SAQYRg[/video]

Ricks Reef · Jul 19, 2014

shse666 said:
This guy is almost 3 years old now. Starving or withering away isn't in his vocabulary.
I make sure he gets Hikari Mega-Marine angel every week without fail along with spriculina flakes and chopped wild squid.

Beautiful fish! I've had luck getting them to live past 6-7 months.

shse666 · Mar 22, 2015

Bad boy is still digging it.

Hikari’s Mega Marine Angel FTW.

Humblefish · Mar 22, 2015

I've owned 2 MI in the past 10 years. The first one lived 5+ years (lost him to Hurricane Katrina); the last one (pic below) I lost to an aggressive Blue Angel.

IME; they need a minimum of 3x daily feedings and non-aggressive tankmates. I always keep nori in the tank as well. I started both of mine out on live blackworms in QT and gradually moved on to other foods. The last one ate everything - pellets, flake, nori, you name it.

Once in the DT, it doesn't take much to make them "sulk" and stop eating. This is what happened to my last one who was being harassed by a Blue Angel. Once they stop, it can be difficult to get them eating again. And since they have such high metabolisms, they cannot go long without food.

JerryO · Mar 24, 2015

I never tried and most likely never will. The irony though is that I go to Maui regularly and always see them at Maalaeaand Lahaina Harbors. The ironic part is that the water in the harbors have slicks of diesel fuel, trash and nasty looking scum floating around and the Moorish Idols and other delicate marine fish are thriving there feeding in that mess. I don't get it?

shse666 · Mar 25, 2015

Right? I've see the same thing in Lahaina. Moorish swimming in the oils slicks happy as can be.

Humblefish · Mar 25, 2015

I don't think Moorish Idols are overly sensitive to water chemistry. They are finicky eaters though, and IME will "sulk" and literally starve themselves to death if bullied by aggressive tank mates.