LF Moorish Idol
 

Like the title says anyone know where one is for sale in edmonton

brian at little oceans had 2 in the other day when I was there

You may already know but...

This is one fish to be really, really sure it is eating. The only eat sponges and a select few inverts in the ocean and even when eating in captivity are usually short lived (bad diet). It's very rare for one to live more than 6 months to a year in aquariums. I have heard of a few living several years but this really one fish that should not be collected from the ocean (thousands die for the dozens that make it more than a few years).

Sorry if you already knew all this :D

Hope you find one that is eating and healthy!

Good advice GSP
The survival rate for moorish idol is next to nil.
There is a reason why goo LFS never carry them anymore. They die or emaciate in their tanks before they can evern sell them.
There is a bannerfish which looks the same .

Yes I would recommend a Heniochus instead.

Specifically Heniochus acuminatus or Heniochus diphreutes.

Diphreutes is considered reef safe. acuminatus is not. good luck telling the difference between the 2 when they are juvies.

I agree with these guys, I too wanted to buy a Moorish Idol, but after doing some research and hearing over and over about the dismal survival rate I went with a few Heniochus and had great success. Yes they look a little different, but when you take into account the different survival rates of the two types it may be something to look into.

Yes can be hard but the Heniochus acuminatus has a longer anal fin and a different snout/mouth. H. acuminatus don't really like groups either, so you do have to try to get a good ID. They seem ok in pairs I guess but not large groups like H. Diphreutes.

I kept one sucessfully before and he ate everything including nori so I am going to try again.

how long did you have it for? Did you sell it or did it perish? I really have a sore spot for the capture of these fish from the ocean to only meet certain doom in our aquaria. I am not saying they are impossible to keep as some experienced reefers have kept them but the death rate is well over 80 percent in captivity. To me that is our human arrogance thinking we own this planet and we can take what we want. And keeping one for a year or two is not success. To have success is to have it live for or very close to it's natural lifespan. I urge everyone reading this to please not purchase moorish idols. You may be able to keep one for a while but by us buying them that means the lfs will keep bringing them in to ultimately meet there death. They are beautiful fish so let's leave them where they belong.

Jason, I agree with what you are saying, but where did you get that stat from and do you know of similar stats on all the other fish that we keep?

It would be cool to do a POLE on how many fish (all types) that we all lose after purchase within: 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 & 24 months...

Just to see what overall % we lose.

Hmm, sounds just like our Canreef fish lifespan polls....we have a whole section on this :)

Seriously-please reconsider
 

+1000 on this. I, admittedly (and shamefully), thought that the rest of the fishkeeping world was also nuts about not being able to keep an MI. And, truthfully, there are many people who have "lucked out" in keeping them. So, I figured I would try it. Afterall, I have had tremendous success with many "difficult" animals, so surely this wouldn't be any different.

Let me be the first to say that I WAS TERRIBLY WRONG! Unfortunately, I am also a slow learner, so it took-not just one failure-but two before I admitted defeat. These are-no doubt-spectacular fish, and I (along with many others) would love to have them grace our tanks; however, to continue to try would be a waste of a beautiful, stunning fish.

Until there is a way to purchase an animal that is tank bred-save the life of a fish, and yourself the heartache of such devastating loss.

We can't always get what we want-:redface:

I'm not saying he should have one or not, but I think 90% of what is in our tanks doesn't live "very close to it's natural life span"

I don't have actual stats on their death rate I have just read that it's close to 80 percent. If we keep a fish healthy and disease free they will usually live longer in our tanks than in the ocean. Most fish die due to our neglect or ineperience.

and how many people do that perfectly?? Even the best get diseases and have tank crashes... I'd love to see someone who's had a clown fish for 20-30 years??

Had my pair for ten, then rehomed them. As far as I know, they're still kicking at 12.

Even if you think 90% of what we keep does not live long (which is not true) that doesn't make it ok to keep fish that have even less of a chance to survive in home aquaria. I would say 20% success rate for Moorish Idols sounds kind of on the generous side.

I personally only know one person who kept one over a year on a diet of sponges. I think his lived 3 years. Again, not a success story by any means.

The ones mentioned above that are still around after 12 years would be a success story but that is so rare.

I don't know why people insist on buying these fish :neutral:

My friend (if memory serves me right) bought a MI from a fellow reefer who had it for awhile. She kept it for about 2 years before it out grew her tank and she sold it to someone else. When she had it, it ate well and was very healthy. Unsure if it is still alive now, but she never had any problems with it.

If you are going to buy one I would make sure it's healthy and eating first.

Unfortunately "healthy" and "eating" do not always go hand in hand. Although a good sign it does not ultimately ensure success. Many idols eat well for a time and then slowly decline and perish. I'm not in a position to tell anyone what to do I'm only offering friendly advice. To those that are taking the side of "well, other fish die in our tanks too" I believe that to be silly(sorry if I offend anyone). Like I stated earlier most fish that die in our tanks is not because they are a delicate species or difficult to keep. They die because of inexperienced aquarists(which we all were at some point) or simply accidents. In the last few years I have not had any fish deaths due to so called unexplained circumstances. I have lost a couple to disease which I tried and failed to treat which happens to us all. I don't know about any of you but the fish I have would be very hard to kill even if I neglected them for a long period simply because my husbandry skills have improved greatly over the years. Try that with a moorish and see what happens.

joshua from marine aquaria had a pair of idol's on the weekend when i was there.

If you do find one, make sure its an indian ocean one, not a phillipines. Indian ocean ones are much more likely to eat prepared food.

I hope my posts do not sound too harsh. I am not telling you not to get one...just that you may want to rethink it. And it has nothing to do with your experience or tank, its to do with the dismal survival rate of these fish. I really don't understand why stores still sell these fish.

One of the reasons that a Moorish Idol that eats prepared foods is not necessarily healthy is because most of the foods you are feeding them are the wrong foods and do not get digested properly or just simply do not have the proper nutrition for an idol. They do not eat mysis, flakes or pellets in the ocean. I understand many other fish do not either but many other fish can adapt much easier and better to frozen/prepared foods. Many of the foods we feed tangs for example are formulated to keep a tang nice and healthy.

Again, not saying don't get one, just reminding people to think twice about buying one and hoping that stores will stop ordering them!