Moorish Idol x 2 discussion thread

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

One will inevitably kill the other. Any research will point to this.

GETTING them to eat is all fine and dandy, it's the fact that CORAL is a part of their natural diet.

I think Sam will agree, we had luck with Moo because she was in a reef tank. She died very shortly after all that changed for her.

I agree with you Deb and Sam, 100%. After all your advice & how long you kept Moo for, it inspired me. I remember a few years back, I asked you, "what kind of coral is that?" Pointing to green star polyps, that looked nothing like it, cause Moo mowed it down so short. Hey still looked like a cool coral though! Boy, was Moo a great example though and an amazing size for being captive in a tank. I would pat yourself on the back, as an amazing achievement, really.

I took your advice and I felt my idol was doing so good because I fed him corals and sponges also. Who cares if I lost a few corals. I would buy brown ugly zoo's and green star polyps, ect, but felt it helped the success of keeping mine for almost 2 years.

I never understood why people find out something eats a certain coral and for some reason they never end of feeding it that. Boggles me, really.

[Quagmire]

So for the ppl who have had success with Morish idols,what did you find to be the coral(s) of choice for dinner.
Im not thinking of getting one myself,but the idea of a tank set up to suit the specific needs may go along ways to making this fish easier to keep.Perhaps something loosely based on a FOWLR,but with corals of choice added to meet the diet requirements,along with suitable tankmates.Pretty much as it sounds like Lee has done

[Ruth]

I kept my MI alive in my tank for over a year and always made sure that there were ugly brown zoos and GSP in there. Until I lost Elvis to an unfortunate breaker trip that lost all circulation in my tank overnight and cost me most of my large fish he was fat, seemed happy, and loved those polyps although readily accepted meaty foods and nori sheets.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

It's important to be concerned about difficult-to-maintain species. It's important to research everything about them before making that purchase. And, it's important to be willing to do what it takes to help that creature THRIVE.

I was reading an article online a few days ago. I think it was written by Eric Borneman (I could be mistaken). Anyway, the article indicated that things like Xenia were considered very difficult to maintain in a home aquarium at one point.

I guess my point is....I wonder if people who tried to keep things like Xenia did so at the expense of criticism and disdain? I wonder where you draw the line between irresponsible reefkeeping and...just trying to understand how to help organisms thrive in a home aquarium.

Just some thoughts. Nothing new, but felt like putting it down in writing

[hawk]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

Research and experimentation have gotten us to the point where we can keep a number of corals in our tanks,

Doug

I could agree with this if it were done by very experienced/dedicated hobbyist, better yet left for professionals. But all too often there are stories on these boards of relatively new hobbyist experimenting with fish such as idols. The outcome of the story is known from the beginning. Research before you buy and leave the lfs to suffer the loss in the bottom line.

I'm interested to know what peoples definition of "success" is when keeping difficult fish. 1-2 years, 3-4, half the natural life span, longer, etc.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by bulletsworld

I agree with you Deb and Sam, 100%. After all your advice & how long you kept Moo for, it inspired me. I remember a few years back, I asked you, "what kind of coral is that?" Pointing to green star polyps, that looked nothing like it, cause Moo mowed it down so short. Hey still looked like a cool coral though! Boy, was Moo a great example though and an amazing size for being captive in a tank. I would pat yourself on the back, as an amazing achievement, really.

I took your advice and I felt my idol was doing so good because I fed him corals and sponges also. Who cares if I lost a few corals. I would buy brown ugly zoo's and green star polyps, ect, but felt it helped the success of keeping mine for almost 2 years.

I never understood why people find out something eats a certain coral and for some reason they never end of feeding it that. Boggles me, really.

Hehe. I don't want to participate in any arguments so I'll just post my thoughts in point form:

1. Needs highly oxygenated water, even more than angels. Power outages (without battery backup) of 1-2 hours probably is all that it takes to kill it in an average tank.
2. Needs lots of hiding places. Very easily stressed ; More easily stressed than any other fish I've kept. They probably do better in a reef tank due to more hiding places and fewer fish.
3. Will eat corals but does *NOT* need to eat corals to survive. Flakes was the main diet for my Idol before it outgrew my tank.
4. Probably does better alone than in pairs as they eventually stake out their territory once they have settled in and will kill other idols that can't get away (based on most accounts that I've read. most of the people who've kept them for years have just 1. I haven't read yet of anyone who has kept more than 1 idol for a long length of time in the same tank though I'm sure if someone has a tank the size of a pool, then it would be possible).
5. Not impossible to keep. But not tolerant of any mistakes made by the keeper.

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by Samw

Hehe. I don't want to participate in any arguments so I'll just post my thoughts in point form:

1. Needs highly oxygenated water, even more than angels. Power outages (without battery backup) of 1-2 hours probably is all that it takes to kill it in an average tank.
2. Needs lots of hiding places. Very easily stressed ; More easily stressed than any other fish I've kept. They probably do better in a reef tank due to more hiding places and fewer fish.
3. Will eat corals but does *NOT* need to eat corals to survive. Flakes was the main diet for my Idol before it outgrew my tank.
4. Probably does better alone than in pairs as they eventually stake out their territory once they have settled in and will kill other idols that can't get away (based on most accounts that I've read. most of the people who've kept them for years have just 1. I haven't read yet of anyone who has kept more than 1 idol for a long length of time in the same tank though I'm sure if someone has a tank the size of a pool, then it would be possible).
5. Not impossible to keep. But not tolerant of any mistakes made by the keeper.

Sam, Very well said and great points! They do NEED highly oxygenated water, I think thats KEY to keeping these fish. I found that out when my skimmer crapped out, didn't realize. I looked at my idol and noticed he was huffing & puffing in the back corner, all concerned, I realized the skimmer died. After I corrected the problem, the idol was fine again. I always knew to look at the idol first to make sure nothing was wrong in the tank.

Sam, now that you mention it with the food. Even when mine picked on the LR, ate sponges, GSP, zoo's, nori, mysis, I still had to ask other Moorish Idol keepers what they fed, since my Idol (Chewie) was still skinny. I didn't notice Chewie, getting fatter till I added O.S.I Spirulina Flake Food. Which its thanks to Deb's advice, I believe was the same as what flakes MOO got fed. I believe those flakes made a big difference for growth.

[kari]

Mine must have skipped school the day they talked about GSP but kept good notes on zoo day.