Moorish Idol

[CanadianReefer]

Alright folks, so I apparently like a good challenge (or am simply a sucker for punishment) so I purchased a Moorish Idol today.

He appears to be a (surprisingly) healthy adult male specimen - nice and plump, no obvious signs of disease and was eating both pellets and frozen spirulina/ brine shrimp at the store.

He is currently in my QT system and is eating for me as well - all very good signs. I'm keeping the light off for now to reduce stress and am letting him get used to his new surroundings.

Now this fish is obviously notoriously difficult to keep alive, but I want to make sure that I do everything right to give him the best chance possible to survive.

The LFS folks said that if he keeps eating while in QT, to QT him normally in the same manner as I would with a more delicate species, such as my copperband. It seems like reasonable advice, but what I'm really wanting to know is if there are folks that have successfully kept this species for long periods of time, and if so, what did you do in terms of QT? Also, what food works well for you and do you feed them sponge as well? Lastly, how often do they nip at your corals and how extensive is the damage?

Thanks in advance everyone

 

[DRoth335]

We have had one for 2 years during which he has more than doubled in size. If yours is eating you should be good. Just feed lots of nori and good mixed frozen. We got ours started with live clams from grocery store but if you're is eating well I don't think that would be necessary. Good luck - they are a very cool fish!

 

[4FordFamily]

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/keeping-the-mysterious-moorish-idol.72/

I wrote this article in this exact topic!

 

[Maritimer]

And wrote it well!

What sort of QT setup would you recommend for an idol? More-or-less normal, or anything special?

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

And wrote it well!

What sort of QT setup would you recommend for an idol? More-or-less normal, or anything special?

~Bruce

Thank you. More or less normal. I treated them like I did my Regals -- the only things I did different was keep aggressive fish out and feed nori. I kept the lights off for longer cycles as well.

 

[CanadianReefer]

Definitely a good article! I am hoping I have success like you So far, so good. He's still eating despite the fact he started prazipro today. I always mix a bit of metro and kanaplex into the food for the first few weeks and he doesn't seem to mind the taste. I have to say he's looking to be in pretty good shape...

Unfortunately my biggest QT is a 20g, so that's what he's in. I used tank water from my main DT to get him used to the water. I change it out 50% every 2 days. Great way to do water changes to my DT at the same time.

Is your MI still alive today @4FordFamily??

 

[4FordFamily]

Definitely a good article! I am hoping I have success like you So far, so good. He's still eating despite the fact he started prazipro today. I always mix a bit of metro and kanaplex into the food for the first few weeks and he doesn't seem to mind the taste. I have to say he's looking to be in pretty good shape...

Unfortunately my biggest QT is a 20g, so that's what he's in. I used tank water from my main DT to get him used to the water. I change it out 50% every 2 days. Great way to do water changes to my DT at the same time.

Is your MI still alive today @4FordFamily??

Nope, lost it and 95% of my fish to a horrible power accident under my dads care on a vacation/business trip.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/such-a-sad-day.291496/

I literally now have 3 fish. I had 7 but under the care of a friend while my home was being built, I now have three. At one point I think I had over 60+. I'll rebuild, eventually.

An idol may well be a part of that!

 

[CanadianReefer]

Nope, lost it and 95% of my fish to a horrible power accident under my dads care on a vacation/business trip.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/such-a-sad-day.291496/

I literally now have 3 fish. I had 7 but under the care of a friend while my home was being built, I now have three. At one point I think I had over 60+. I'll rebuild, eventually.

An idol may well be a part of that!

OMG :-( I just read your post. That's so sad. This is why I dread going away.

Though my losses weren't as great, I went to Spain a while back, and though the tank was watched over as best as can be expected, the salinity when I got home was up to 1.031. My ATO had been knocked somehow and wasn't filling at the right level. Needless to say, I lost all my wrasses, my gungeon gobies and my cardinal - but thankfully everything else survived.

I was devastated, so I can't even imagine losing the whole tank.

So sorry for your loss :-(

 

[4FordFamily]

OMG :-( I just read your post. That's so sad. This is why I dread going away.

Though my losses weren't as great, I went to Spain a while back, and though the tank was watched over as best as can be expected, the salinity when I got home was up to 1.031. My ATO had been knocked somehow and wasn't filling at the right level. Needless to say, I lost all my wrasses, my gungeon gobies and my cardinal - but thankfully everything else survived.

I was devastated, so I can't even imagine losing the whole tank.

So sorry for your loss :-(

Thanks! It's alright, it kicked my butt in to selling the house I wouldn't have done it otherwise everything worked out -- just really hurt as it pertains to this hobby.

I lost a 180 with my large angels and a few tangs and wrasse, my 125 wrasse tank, and a 55 gal QT full of fish that were ready to go back to my other 180 gallon DT.

Sigh.

 

[DRoth335]

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/keeping-the-mysterious-moorish-idol.72/

I wrote this article in this exact topic!

Good article. Well written and informative.

 

[4FordFamily]

Good article. Well written and informative.

Thank you!

 

[melev]

Thanks for the write up, that was an interesting read.

 

[CanadianReefer]

Quick update: the Moorish Idol is still looking well :-D He has added Nori to his diet and seems to absolutely love it. They truly are vigorous eaters once they are comfortable!

I'm not noticing anything out of the ordinary in terms of illness. He completed his fluke treatment like a champ and he's still on a diet of food soaked in kanaplex and metro (& now Selcon) for another week or so. That's about as far as my prophylactic treatment goes, unless I see visible signs of something.

He had a long pennant to begin with, but this thing has grown another inch... perhaps two.

Looking very handsome indeed!

Can't wait to see him in the DT!

The only downside to my update is that it appears that the hakari mega angel food stopped being imported into Canada a while back and I can't get my hands on anything that contains sponge. I do have nice-sized patches of sponge in my aquarium, but I wouldn't say it's enough to sustain him after seeing how vigorous an eater he is. I'd really hoped to mimic his natural diet as best I could.

Does anyone know of pellet or flaked food that contains some sort of sponge derivative? I might have better luck with a dry product.

 

[Humblefish]

Provide plenty of food (2-3x daily feedings - live blackworms are a favorite) and no aggression from other fish.

 

[CanadianReefer]

Oh yes - I will. I'm already feeding the tank several times a day, given the needs of the growing Naso. He got SUPER skinny in no time flat with a "normal" feeding schedule.

Now the question is how on earth do I feed heavily AND keep the nitrates/phosphates down. Quite the dilemma. I'm currently trying NoPox to see if that helps (I had a nasty nitrate spike after I increased the amount of feedings). I'm not normally one to use chemicals etc., but I've heard good things. It's too soon to tell, but the last few tests I did would indicate that it is working a bit.

I do also own the Korralin biodenitrator, but TBH, I'm leery of using it. It will be the "last resort" if nothing else works. I tend to prefer taking the less is more approach to equipment since most the time I've had a problem in the past, it's been because of an equipment malfunction. I once had a doser malfunction and my alk increased to 17! At that level, it isn't just the corals, but the poor fish too - their slime coats become nonexistent. Thankfully it was discovered soon enough not to have a major issue, but I was stuck doing massive water changes over a 2-week period to rectify the situation. We learn from our mistakes lol

I digress...

In general, I do far more water changes than a person normally would with a tank this size, so I hope that this will also help with the nitrates (though hard to make a dent on a 3oog system with water changes alone) and provide an even healthier environment for my more sensitive fish. I'd also like to get a saltwater mixing station up-and-running so it makes it even easier to do regular changes, but I have to wait till my fish room has been expanded. Hopefully soon

I've decided that once my fish room has been expanded, I'm going to get rid of my wall of QT tanks and replace them with one of my old DTs. I figure my 75g will work well, and I'll convert the 20g into a sump with mechanical filtration that is easy to add/remove in QT situations. If ever I had to empty my tank of fish and go fallow, I certainly wouldn't be doing that with a bunch of 10 and 20g tanks. I simply have too many big fish for that now. Let's hope it never comes down to that, but hey, best to be well-equipped just in case

I'm taking out one of my baffles in my sump so that I can expand my refugium (currently 20g) even more and I will add another grow light. My macroalgae grows well and I have a lot of "expansion" space that I'm not using. I had originally planned on putting a lot more live rock in my sump because I had intended on having a minimalist aquascape, but when I realized that I wouldn't have room for all my corals once I amalgamated my various DTs, we ended up adding the live rock to the main display instead.

All this to say that the Moorish Idol and his buddies will be well fed in my system and I will figure my way through it LOL

 

[amino]

guys mine is eating my elegance coral omg! i love them both is there any way not to do that?

 

[CanadianReefer]

Are you sure they are eating the coral itself, and not just stealing food from its mouth? I have a wrasse and many shrimp who like to steal food from my meat coral...

I knew when buying my MI that there was a chance he would eat my corals. Same with both my foxfaces, both my angels and my copperband. I have many "reef safe with caution" fish. So far, I've been sort of lucky with the exception of my coral beauty who has been nipping at one of my large SPS colonies fairly consistently. I can see a bit of damage here and there, but the colony is pretty big so I'm hoping it survives it.

You could try feeding more, but TBH, it likely won't help. If they like the taste of coral, they like the taste of coral.... you could also try cutting the bottom off of a 2-litre water bottle, punching many holes in it with a hole punch (for water flow), and placing it over the colony for a little while as a deterrent. I do that sometimes when I'm adding clams so that the fish lose interest in the new addition.... just make sure the holes are much smaller than your MI's mouth so he can't get in/get stuck.

I feel for you though. I lost a huge (and very uniquely coloured/expensive) Australian elegance. It wasn't actually being eaten - but one of my clowns took to it and was very aggressive with his new host until one day my elegance started withering away. I was so sad - but thems the breaks, as they say.

If nothing works and they still nip at it, I'd simply suggest to look at it on the bright sad and be glad that they are alive and eating something, since so very few do... perhaps the coral is providing the nutrients yours needs to survive....

 

[x_burt]

I had an Idol for 2 years until my nem took a walk into the powerhead.

He ate no problems. I used the mini grazers from New Era now known as Vitalis. Great food.

Mine was fine with coral until it was about a year old then it took to eating anything it could get at.

Good luck with yours. Beautiful fish.

 

[saltyhog]

They are stunning fish. Maybe one day I can start a large second tank and include a Moorish Idol.

 

[CanadianReefer]

An update for everyone. He is super healthy and happy thus far, finished QT like a champ, and has now settled into the main DT nicely. He's fat and his pennant is nice and long. I have him eating nori of all types, mysis pellets, new spectrum life pellets, frozen mysis and frozen spirulina brine shrimp laced with selcon. I hope that this gives him enough variety to survive.

His tankmates seemed to have readily accepted him. There's a pecking order around the nori clips and he seems to have been given the 2nd slot, behind only the purple tang, so I guess he's got some street cred ;-) lol I'll attach a picture in a bit