Morish Idol (Zanclus cornutus) - care

[savage]

You can see just from this short thread that they do not live long in captivity. The longest one on this thread is 7 yea rs old. A fish such as a moorish Idol should live at least 15 years so no one has had success yet. The longest I got one to live was 5 years and as far as I know, no one has gotten one to live for 10 years in a home tank.

+1... I kept one for 3 years he ate everything that I offered him I always supplemented the food with garlic and purchase food with omega 3 vitamins one day he stop eating and it was all down hill from then . No one know way a lot of speculations from tank size to pairing them up to vitamin deficiency don't know??? I guess the only way is too do a autopsy on the idol and find why he died ???

 

[Paul B]

I usually autopsy all fish that die of causes of which I am not sure but I doube an autopsy on a moorish Idol will confirm anything. I don't think it is something missing in their diet because that would manifest earlier than three or four years. I feel it has something to do with habitat. They live in mated pairs and swim long distances around the same reef to find food. Maybe they need to live as a mated pair, maybe females need the male to lead her to food. Maybe the males need a purpose. I don't know and neither does anyone else but just the fact that the fish eats means nothing with this particular fish. They will even eat cardboard if you put clam juice on it. After a period of time, they stop eating and die, not one or two, but virtually all of them. I "think" I can now keep one long term but my 100 gallon reef is too small. But I went to the South Pacific mainly to dive and learn about them and I have kept many of them. Feeding them food with sponge in it and feeding them a few times a day will not guarantee success. Unfortunately, it means nothing with a moorish Idol. If we can not keep them consistantly for at least 15 years, we all failed. To keep a beautiful fish like this for two or three years is a shame.
Almost all fish we normally keep live at least that long with the exception of seahorse and pipefish.

 

[savage]

I agree Paul I dive in the hawaiian islands try to go ones a year and I always see them in pairs I do think their environment on RC we all still scratching our heads with this I'm hoping 1 day we will solve this mystery till then I will never purchase 1 again ...too much of a heart break .. :-(

 

[scubabr53]

Paul B. you wrote "The longest I got one to live was 5 years and as far as I know, no one has gotten one to live for 10 years in a home tank".

With all due respect I cannot agree with you.

How do you know how old was the fish at the time of the purchase? How can you set the life expectancy to 15 years, this is the same as have a human standard life expectancy as 100 years and to treat anything under as below life expectancy.

In the wild many things can happen to a fish, I would consider 3 years as a success and anything over is above success.

PS
I did dive with Moorish idols on many occasions in Moorea, French Polynesia and Panama?s Pacific coast, I agree with you it is a beautiful majestic fish, especially when you see them in par or school.
And I agree that we know very little about this fish including a life expectancy.
Hope in the nearest future we will know more. Regarding my purchase ? I still believe that fish has a better chance in my tank then at lfs. Definitely I will not encourage anyone without experience and proper accommodations to keep this majestic fish.

 

[Custom05Taco]

I had one for 3 months in my 150 gal. never again! He ate fine just died out of nowhere
OSI Spirulina flakes, frozen mysis, and loved sheets of seaweed



Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Paul B]

With all due respect I cannot agree with you.

That is OK SCUBA, many people don't agree with me. :biggrin:

How do you know how old was the fish at the time of the purchase?

I don't know the age of it when I bought it but it was young because it was small. If I bought a full grown one, then I would have no idea but a small fish is a juvinile. It grew quite a bit when I kept it.

How can you set the life expectancy to 15 years, this is the same as have a human standard life expectancy as 100 years and to treat anything under as below life expectancy.

I did not set the life expectancy at 15 years, I said it should live at least that long. I have come to that decision because a moorish Idol is somewhat like a cross between a butterflyfish and an angelfish but it is neither, but it is a fairly large fish. Virtually all fish of this size live at least 15 years. In my 55+ years of fish keeping I have kept many fish well over 10 years and some over 18 years. I have a clownfish in my tank now that is older than 17.
A human life expectancy is about 80 so if someone dies at 10, I would not consider that a success. I would also not consider a human living to 50 a success.
I feel a moorish Idol should live about 15 years in captivity because that is how most fish of that size live in captivity.
The only fish that have very short lifespans are in the seahorse family. Even mandarins live over 10 years as I have kept them longer than that.
3 years with any fish, even a seahorse is a total failure.
If any of our captive fish dies in 3 years, we failed. That is a dismal life expectancy. Even my hermit crabs lived to 13 years so if they can live that long in my tank, their life expectancy muct be at least that.

 

[scubabr53]

Paul, there are a lot of factors contributes to a longer life and until we know all these factors we can't be sure.

The main thing is "EVERY ONE ALLOWED TO HAVE THEIR OWN OPINION".

I do really appreciate you and other members responding and discussing this topic.

 

[Paul B]

The main thing is "EVERY ONE ALLOWED TO HAVE THEIR OWN OPINION".

SCUBABR, It is my opinion that I agree with that.

 

[scubabr53]

Three week passed and all goes well, however idol does not eat anything else but sponge.
It actually picks on the very top layer of the sponge and then leave the rest alone without any interest.
I tried to feed him a frozen sponge, and he had no problem eating it. So I know now the frozen sponge is still good to feed. I am not sure how much nutrient it still keeps, time will show.
I have not seen low tide over the last week and was not able to reach out for more red/orange sponge. KathC I might take you up on your offer about stock of sponge you can get from the dock.

 

[Paul B]

The sponge they love grows at the surface on wooden docks and looks like an ear. Same color and sometimes the same shape. It grows a couple of inches wide and can just be ripped off the dock

 

[scubabr53]

Paul, unfortunately we do not have wooden docks of Brighton Beach or Coney Island. The only thing we have here are the rock jetties that go of the shore in to the ocean 30-50 feet. Sponge usually grows at the end of the jetty. During the summer time I have no problem to collect it but when the water is chilly than it's a bit of a problem.
Here a few pictures of moorish Idol and buterflys I took diving in Tailand.
.

 

[Paul B]

I was actually born in Coney Island. The sponge I am talking about only grows a few inches below the surface so it would only be on floating things and not rocks. I have never seen it while I was diving. It is very common on the docks on City Island which is about 5 miles from my marina in Port Washington but it does not grow there.

 

[scubabr53]

I think I have stock for another week and then ether I visit KathyC or swim from the shore (hope for low tide) and get some of the rocks.
Paul thanks for sharing experiences.
I will keep this post going with updates on moorish idol keeping.

 

[scubabr53]

I gave it a few week time and decided to provide a new update on the Moorish Idol upkeep.
As of now my Moorish idol doing fantastic, I took another few deeps in the ocean and collected some sponge that should last me for a while. I learned that Idol likes it fresh and frozen. I tried to keep some in my refugium tank but for some reason Idol does not like it. So this time it?s all frozen.
I guess the fact of me able to provide Idol?s natural food took the stress out completely, and in my tank Idol is the second fish in command after sailfin tang.
While I collected sponge I collected some clams that grow on the rocks and some sea lettuce planning to feed other fish in my tank. To my surprise Idol was one of the first one to munch on these goodies and still keep eating any time I place these food in the tank. In addition it learned how to eat frozen mysis shrimp and krill. I hope this will last and my fish will last for long time.
I will try to post pictures of Idol eating other then sponge food.
Thanks to all who replies to this post and provides valuable and maybe not so valuable advices.

 

[Paul B]

Thats great. Mine also loved frozen bananna. I guess he thought is was a sponge

 

[ijvasquetelles]

I recently purchased Moorish Idol 2 and hes been really good he eats everything i put in the tank he eats like my tangs hope it keeps up that way is there a way to tell if its a boy or a girl

 

[scubabr53]

here is my Idol, seems like he is in tip-top condition. One of the pictures shows him challanging Sailfin Tang for piece of clam.

 

[scubabr53]

R.I.P.
I have to admit that you all were correct and my Moorish Idol gone to the better world (down the toulet). It was feeding fine and than one day stop eating and detiriarated over few days. I tried fresh sponge, half of the fresh clams and nothing. Three month he was my show fish friend.
Guess I know better now, but please don't write "I told you so".

 

[44santababy]

RIP...from my reading your thread, sounds like you gave a honest attempt at keeping this fish. As the saying goes...some species are best left in the ocean. Mine is the BSJ...

 

[savage]

Sorry about your lost bro...