Moorish Idol: ideal way to startup tank for them?

[unklez]

If its eating like a pig it will last many years. IMO its easy to get these fish to eat with good stuff like NLS pellets, masstick and mussels on the shell.

 

[ReefHog]

If its eating like a pig it will last many years. IMO its easy to get these fish to eat with good stuff like NLS pellets, masstick and mussels on the shell.

18 months and going strong my CBB eats Blackworms, P.E.Mysis, Clam and LRS three feedings a day. I'd love to feed pellets twice a day and frozen once a day but alas, mine won't touch pellets.

 

[Stefaan F]

We are almost one year later and a lot has happened since then. I built my dream tank and got my dream fish.

My experiences until now with the moorish idol:
I started the tank august 8th with dead rock and dead sand. The live rock, corals and fish from my other tank were transferred after 3 weeks. Had about 25 fish in there: copperband butterfly, 7 tangs and smaller fish like wrasses and clownfish. The 'transfer' went well and I was able to handle the startup problems mostly with a lot of water changes and a lot of work.
I felt the tank was maturing enough by the end of september. Acro's started to grow again. My lfs directly imported a moorish idol and a powder blue from the maledives. I didn't order but I think he did it for me as I had already told him months before that I would love a moorish idol when I was ready.

I Waited 3 weeks before purchasing because I wasn't sure I was ready for him. And after 3 weeks I ordered him, powder blue, blonde naso and a foxface. All big fish that I wanted at the same time to minimize stress. It worked, there was really no agression at all when introducing the fish. Lfs showed video where he was 'eating', but afterwards looking at it he really wasn't. Just interested.
I collected them october 8th. The moorish idol didn't eat. He wasn't even interested in the many types of sponges, nor live or frozen food, mastic, clams, nori, dry foods,...
What he did do is peck on the rocks for some algae/detritus. He didn't get much food from that.



3 weeks in my tank and he was really skinny showing the spine but still getting some tiny bits of food from the rocks.
I always saw him interested in the nori on the feeding clip.
He didn't dare to come close when there was any fish eating from it, and there always was at least one.

But after 3 weeks it happened, I saw him taking a few bites from the nori.
I fed nori all day long from then on. After a while I put another clip with frozen shrimp+veggies mix.
He took that too. But he still didn't eat enough to gain any weight.
And a few weeks later he took clams (mussels).
Next 2 months I fed him mussels 3 times a day and every time I made sure he could eat while I kept the other fish away with a coral gripper. He gained weight by the day.
Now almost 6 months in he is getting fed 5 times a day: 1x mussels, 2x nori, 2x shrimp/veggies mix. He is eating like a pig.
He is growing noticably and is in no way skinny anymore. Not fat yet, but we'll get there one day.
He still doesnt take all the other foods like artemia/mysis/fishmix/flakes/algae flakes/caulerpa and several other dry, frozen and live foods.
I throw it in for the other fishes, in combination with his own food, but he never even accidentally picks at anything but the mussels, nori and shrimp mix.

This is the tank right now:

I really feel with my experience with him that they are indeed fish that need many feedings a day, and do not adapt quickly to new foods. But they do adapt if given enough time. I experienced that I was really buying extra time with him by introducing directly to a big and healthy tank with a lot of rock area where stuff was growing onto. In a quarantine system I would 100% sure have lost him before he could learn to eat prepared foods. Even introducing him now would reduce my chances. There is coralline everywhere, so no more algae/detritus on the rocks, and more fish so even harder for him to make the first steps while making sure no-one else is nearby.

So if doing it again, I wouldn't change a lot really. Maybe make sure he is introduced before any fish of his size but always making sure there is already growing enough stuff on the rocks. And buying him day 1 from the lfs, as it gives you a healthier specimen, so more time to teach him new foods.

Oh, and I did get ich by introducing them directly in the tank, but was able to keep it under control pretty easily by having low fish stocking, UVC, hydrogen peroxide dosing and a lot of space and a lot of food, so very low amount of stress. It's still in there on the hippo tangs sometimes, never on the powder blue, moorish idol or any other fish. But I really don't worry about it anymore as it is very slowly fading away. Just keep everything healthy and I bet I won't have any big issues.

 

[Steve H]

I would not keep multiple Moorish Idols, especially in a tank as small as 1000 gallons. They will eventually fight and establish a heirarchy even in tanks that are hundreds of thousands of gallons. Otherwise they can be long lived and not that difficult to keep if you acquire a healthy and conditioned specimen.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

We are almost one year later and a lot has happened since then. I built my dream tank and got my dream fish.

My experiences until now with the moorish idol:
I started the tank august 8th with dead rock and dead sand. The live rock, corals and fish from my other tank were transferred after 3 weeks. Had about 25 fish in there: copperband butterfly, 7 tangs and smaller fish like wrasses and clownfish. The 'transfer' went well and I was able to handle the startup problems mostly with a lot of water changes and a lot of work.
I felt the tank was maturing enough by the end of september. Acro's started to grow again. My lfs directly imported a moorish idol and a powder blue from the maledives. I didn't order but I think he did it for me as I had already told him months before that I would love a moorish idol when I was ready.

I Waited 3 weeks before purchasing because I wasn't sure I was ready for him. And after 3 weeks I ordered him, powder blue, blonde naso and a foxface. All big fish that I wanted at the same time to minimize stress. It worked, there was really no agression at all when introducing the fish. Lfs showed video where he was 'eating', but afterwards looking at it he really wasn't. Just interested.
I collected them october 8th. The moorish idol didn't eat. He wasn't even interested in the many types of sponges, nor live or frozen food, mastic, clams, nori, dry foods,...
What he did do is peck on the rocks for some algae/detritus. He didn't get much food from that.



3 weeks in my tank and he was really skinny showing the spine but still getting some tiny bits of food from the rocks.
I always saw him interested in the nori on the feeding clip.
He didn't dare to come close when there was any fish eating from it, and there always was at least one.

But after 3 weeks it happened, I saw him taking a few bites from the nori.
I fed nori all day long from then on. After a while I put another clip with frozen shrimp+veggies mix.
He took that too. But he still didn't eat enough to gain any weight.
And a few weeks later he took clams (mussels).
Next 2 months I fed him mussels 3 times a day and every time I made sure he could eat while I kept the other fish away with a coral gripper. He gained weight by the day.
Now almost 6 months in he is getting fed 5 times a day: 1x mussels, 2x nori, 2x shrimp/veggies mix. He is eating like a pig.
He is growing noticably and is in no way skinny anymore. Not fat yet, but we'll get there one day.
He still doesnt take all the other foods like artemia/mysis/fishmix/flakes/algae flakes/caulerpa and several other dry, frozen and live foods.
I throw it in for the other fishes, in combination with his own food, but he never even accidentally picks at anything but the mussels, nori and shrimp mix.

This is the tank right now:

I really feel with my experience with him that they are indeed fish that need many feedings a day, and do not adapt quickly to new foods. But they do adapt if given enough time. I experienced that I was really buying extra time with him by introducing directly to a big and healthy tank with a lot of rock area where stuff was growing onto. In a quarantine system I would 100% sure have lost him before he could learn to eat prepared foods. Even introducing him now would reduce my chances. There is coralline everywhere, so no more algae/detritus on the rocks, and more fish so even harder for him to make the first steps while making sure no-one else is nearby.

So if doing it again, I wouldn't change a lot really. Maybe make sure he is introduced before any fish of his size but always making sure there is already growing enough stuff on the rocks. And buying him day 1 from the lfs, as it gives you a healthier specimen, so more time to teach him new foods.

Oh, and I did get ich by introducing them directly in the tank, but was able to keep it under control pretty easily by having low fish stocking, UVC, hydrogen peroxide dosing and a lot of space and a lot of food, so very low amount of stress. It's still in there on the hippo tangs sometimes, never on the powder blue, moorish idol or any other fish. But I really don't worry about it anymore as it is very slowly fading away. Just keep everything healthy and I bet I won't have any big issues.

Great job! That’s some very responsible keeping and the proper way to keep an idol
I’m in agreement with you that these are fish not suitable for a sterile WT tank and should be introduced straight in to the DT.
You are completely correct in that they do best when feed several times a day, I found the sweet spot is around 4-5 feedings.
I would suggest algae max pellets from NLS and spirulina flakes on an auto feeder.

If you can, try introducing angel formula in to its diet. They really need sponges to do well long term.
I found the best way to feed that is to use a feeding pouch from two little fishies.

I unfortunately lost my guy Fat Frank a couple of months ago. It got freaked out over something and must have ran in to a rock. Never recovered from that hit.
Had it for 2+ years and it had doubled in size so that was disappointing.

 

[Paul B]

I hope you can break the record and keep these fish for 10+ years. So far we haven't' figured out their secret. Most of them eat right away and as you said, eat like pigs. For some reason, no matter how much they eat, or how healthy they look, after a few years they seem to stop eating and just waste away.

At least that is what happened to virtually all of them in a "home" aquarium. I believe they are missing something we can't or don't know what to provide. As I said, I spent quite a lot of hours with them underwater and their diet in the sea is horrible.

I have only seen them eat this lime green sponge in the South Pacific and nothing else but in Hawaii they subsist on dying vegetation and whatever else is encrusted in it like the "stuff" growing on this coral around this spotted moray eel. This is what they pick out all day.

It seems the good food we give them in a home aquarium for some reason doesn't keep them healthy for more than a few years.

 

[ReefHog]

I hope you can break the record and keep these fish for 10+ years. So far we haven't' figured out their secret. Most of them eat right away and as you said, eat like pigs. For some reason, no matter how much they eat, or how healthy they look, after a few years they seem to stop eating and just waste away.

At least that is what happened to virtually all of them in a "home" aquarium. I believe they are missing something we can't or don't know what to provide. As I said, I spent quite a lot of hours with them underwater and their diet in the sea is horrible.

I have only seen them eat this lime green sponge in the South Pacific and nothing else but in Hawaii they subsist on dying vegetation and whatever else is encrusted in it like the "stuff" growing on this coral around this spotted moray eel. This is what they pick out all day.

It seems the good food we give them in a home aquarium for some reason doesn't keep them healthy for more than a few years.

That's what happened to mine. Two years of being the most agressive eater in the tank. The all of a sudden over three weeks he slowly stopped eating and died. An I have several types of sponge covered rocks in the tank and also fed Angel formula as well as Pantarhe sponge pellets. Fingers crossed that you have one that makes it to a grand old age.