Moorish Idol and SPS

[naesco]

Originally Posted by my2rotties

I totally understand. That really sucks. Is he doing a lot of damage, or is he just taste testing? Perhaps this might be why they usually starve to death in captivity. I did a search and this fellow Bob Fenner says they are strictly vegetarian. Are you sure it is the MI doing the eating? However father down the page someone else says they do pick at corals... here is the link

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Acanthuro...nclusCompF.htm

Actually, they are omnivores and that is the problem. They are almost impossible to keep and I am surprised that a LFS is importing them. We do not yet know what is missing from their diet that makes them so difficult to keep.

The quote below summarizes everything.

{{I would steer clear of this fish. While it may be "eating like crazy", whether it's eating enough of the right things is most likely a different story. A VAST majority of Moorish Idols do not survive more than a few days or weeks in captivity. Of the ones that do, and snare a hopeful buyer like yourself, another 95% percent of those are dead within a month or two.
It will in all Likelihood not bother your clams, but in all Likelihood it will not be alive in your tank in 6 months either.
This is one of those fish that should NOT be collected for the trade to begin with, and is best left in the ocean.
Cheers[[