My Attempt at the Infamous Moorish Idol

[Littlesquishy]

@Jay Hemdal are any of those 4 palatable to the moorish idol?

 

[Miami Reef]

I know moorish idols like the encrusting sponge and not the calciferous type. Also, silicate is a limiting element in the sponges development. I already have sponges growing, but not enough for my liking. Dosing silicates will surly boom the population of sponges.

But I’m not only going to rely on sponges. Moorish Idols are closely related to tangs, so I’d assume he’d enjoy spirulina mysis shrimp as well.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I know moorish idols like the encrusting sponge and not the calciferous type. Also, silicate is a limiting element in the sponges development. I already have sponges growing, but not enough for my liking. Dosing silicates will surly boom the population of sponges.

But I’m not only going to rely on sponges. Moorish Idols are closely related to tangs, so I’d assume he’d enjoy spirulina mysis shrimp as well.

Closer to Angels not tangs…

 

[LaloJ]

Ok. My current plan is to put him in observation tank for 2-4 weeks. I’ll see how he does.

Update! I got the picture and the stats.

It’s a moorish idol from Indonesia. 3.5”.

Here is the photo.

Live Aquaria said it was eating mysis and brine shrimp.

Edit: will that stringy part on the top get longer as he grows?

Update: LA said it will since it’s still a juvenile.

The size and youthful age of your Moorish Idol make him quite an interesting fish, so that should help him in a way, I've never heard of the dosage of silicates for sowing sponges or something like that, do you have more information about it?

 

[Miami Reef]

The size and youthful age of your Moorish Idol make him quite an interesting fish, so that should help him in a way, I've never heard of the dosage of silicates for sowing sponges or something like that, do you have more information about it?

I do. Randy Holmes-Farly dosed silicates in his reef tank. There was a large increase in sponges.

Silica In Reef Aquariums

Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive.

reefs.com

 

[Stain]

Dosing silicates will surly boom the population of sponges.

In a new system i'm going to guess its not the sponges that will go boom with a population explosion. Know what else thrives off high silicate levels? Starts with a D

 

[BoneDoc]

Tagging along. Do you have UV in your system? If so I’d just second what others say and dump him in your system. It’s a matter if priority I suppose: the idol or the rest of the fish?

 

[Miami Reef]

In a new system i'm going to guess its not the sponges that will go boom with a population explosion. Know what else thrives off high silicate levels? Starts with a D

I am expecting a diatom bloom.

I’ll start off with a small dose at first. I am expecting a diatom bloom, but I know it won’t last forever.

 

[wmb0003]

Good luck! They are beautiful fish! I have had mine a little under a year. When I was in the hobby several years ago they were nearly impossible to keep so I thought it wasn’t an option when I got back in the hobby. Mine is fat and healthy and will eat anything, I try to feed it a mussel or clam on the half shell once a week, he really loves that treat. I don’t have a ton of sponges in my system but every month or so I will take an old dead frag or small piece of rock out of my sump that is covered in tiny pineapple sponges and let him and my angel pick it clean.

 

[4FordFamily]

@4FordFamily

Will an observation period for 2-4 weeks be ideal? I cannot risk my DT getting infected with ich.

I'd suggest what @Jay Hemdal said, with prophylactics treatment being ideal or buying from a supplier that properly and fully quarantines (such as TSM Aquatics). It has been working out quite well!

 

[Largeangels]

Personally I treat no matter where it comes from. Copper and Prazi. My first idol I had for 8 years and was one of the best eaters I ever had. Flakes, pellets, mysis, etc. My other one is the same and eats like crazy. Holds its own with all the other fish (angels, tangs, etc.) I feed multiple times per day.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thanks for the tips! Tomorrow is the day!!!

 

[djf91]

I’ve been considering one for my 500g reef. What have people’s experiences been with coral? I’ve heard zoanthids immediately get devoured. Any other corals in particular?

 

[Viking_Reefing]

I’ve been considering one for my 500g reef. What have people’s experiences been with coral? I’ve heard zoanthids immediately get devoured. Any other corals in particular?

I have some random zoas around my tank that the idol is fairly indifferent towards.
Since I have a bunch of angels as well I mostly keep sps and some noxious LPS. I wouldn’t keep them with things like acans/lobos/scollys etc.

One of the keys to managing the risk is heavy and frequent feeding. That can make their attentions stop at nipping.

 

[Miami Reef]

I received the moorish idol!

I can’t express how beautiful this fish is. Everyone in my family went crazy. It is officially my favorite fish I have and definitely my show fish.

He was delivered around 11:30 am. My copper was 2.00ppm and I added him after a quick acclimation. My first attempt at feeding was with blackworms was around 12:30pm. I didn’t expect him to eat any because he was brand new. He didn’t eat.

Around 3:10pm I fed spirulina brine shrimp. This fish ATE! He was an very good eater! Maybe even a little aggressive at it! I then added this sponge blend into the tank.

I have a light HOB which is perfect. It isn’t very efficient at removing food particles. So basically my moorish idol will have access to food for pretty much an hour before they eat them all/filter catches them.

I plan to feed very much. I don’t care about ammonia. I had seachem matrix cycling with copper to make copper resistant nitrifying bacteria. I also have sand in the tank. Plus I’m on top of my husbandry.

I started feeding my DT pretty nicely. Plus with my silicates dosing. At this rate there’s nothing stopping me!

I have the moorish idol and a new Naso in the same tank. I think having a passive dither fish can help the moorish idol settle quicker.

I will set up my observation tanks soon because 14 days will fly! I’m VERY happy with this Divers Den purchase.

 

[Miami Reef]

Here’s the pictures (that blue tang is in a separate tank)

 

[LaloJ]

I received the moorish idol!

I can’t express how beautiful this fish is. Everyone in my family went crazy. It is officially my favorite fish I have and definitely my show fish.

He was delivered around 11:30 am. My copper was 2.00ppm and I added him after a quick acclimation. My first attempt at feeding was with blackworms was around 12:30pm. I didn’t expect him to eat any because he was brand new. He didn’t eat.

Around 3:10pm I fed spirulina brine shrimp. This fish ATE! He was an very good eater! Maybe even a little aggressive at it! I then added this sponge blend into the tank.

I have a light HOB which is perfect. It isn’t very efficient at removing food particles. So basically my moorish idol will have access to food for pretty much an hour before they eat them all/filter catches them.

I plan to feed very much. I don’t care about ammonia. I had seachem matrix cycling with copper to make copper resistant nitrifying bacteria. I also have sand in the tank. Plus I’m on top of my husbandry.

I started feeding my DT pretty nicely. Plus with my silicates dosing. At this rate there’s nothing stopping me!

I have the moorish idol and a new Naso in the same tank. I think having a passive dither fish can help the moorish idol settle quicker.

I will set up my observation tanks soon because 14 days will fly! I’m VERY happy with this Divers Den purchase.

Beautiful fish, how do you get copper resistant bacteria? Supposedly cupramine does not affect the bacterial colony, something that I doubted a lot after placing it in a hospital tank that had ceramic rings as a biofilter, and after miraculously my API ammonia test showed 0 ppm several weeks ago, my ammonia rose to 1 ppm using cupramine inside the tank where a damsel felt deeply stressed, I'm sure a delicate fish would have died almost immediately.

 

[Littlesquishy]

If bacteria are effected by copper, putting copper into the tank would encourage copper resistant bacteria to grow and inhibit ones that do not like copper.

 

[Miami Reef]

When you cycle a tank and then add copper, it’s normal for some nitrifying bacteria to die. If you didn’t cycle the tank long enough you might even get an ammonia spike.

Since I sterilize my QT every batch, I really don’t have the patience to wait for a cycle. Doing the method with cycling media in copper fixes that for me.

 

[Miami Reef]

I did some more research and found this comment on a moorish idol YouTube video:

I think I know why moorish idols don’t make it alive. They have fast metabolisms but don’t eat enough. Almost like an anthias.

I read a post by 4fordfamily saying that access to nori the whole day is extremely important. I just hope this fish will eat it.