Moorish Idol

[SpecialK]

I sold a 3 year old MI a couple of months ago and it is still going strong. I would never do a fresh water dip on Idols, because they can stress very easily. When transferring the fish I only used a 5G bucket.
These fish need to feed 3-4 times a day and they need a variety of foods including live sponge. I would buy live sponges, feed Angel formula with sponge, Pellets, Mysis, Scallops, Clams, Squid, lots of Nori, and so on.
I offered 3-4 different foods everyday and it ate 1 sheet of nori everyday.

These are very, very hard to keep and the one I had came from a local reefer not a LFS. They dont ship well, they stress easily and they need alot of swimming space. My tank is 300G and it is the fastest swimmer I have owned. I also noticed they swim all night, this fish never stops swimming so space is crucial. This Idol could out swim and out eat my Tangs & my Pinktail Trigger.

Idols should only be kept 1 per tank and if there is 2 they should be a mated pair. This is a very tempermental fish that can hold it's own in a fight, Idols can and will kill each other.
I would never keep one with angels, I did add an angel and my Idol was not impressed.

The only reason I sold this fish was because I wanted Lions and knowing this fish swims fast and all night I did not want it to run into a Lion at night or make a quick turn and hit a lion.

Kaye

 

[Anonymous]

Good post, Kaye. Kaye, if you have the opportunity and are so inclined, please take a look at this post and offer some of your experience. Thanks!

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=65740

 

[Anonymous]

I would consider myself a fairly advanced fishkeeper and have had success with some difficult species. Having said that the MI is a fish best left alone - I would not ever buy one - the one sucess for every 500 that die from collection point to the hobbyist tank does not in my mind justify the regular importation of these fish.

If you want a similar looking fish but much much hardier try a Heniochus spp. - as a bonus they are relatively inexpensive and will school fairly easily.

 

[HisKid]

I think that all marine animals that live in the wild can be acclimated to the right kind of captive system. There is no good scientific reason why they shouldn’t.

This is a bit disturbing to read. There are all sorts of reasons why certain fish very rarely adapt to captive conditions. The primary one is diet, and the inability we have to feed them correctly in captivity.

Did I read right that you freswater dipped your fish for 10 minutes? That stress alone could have killed them overnight. I've never heard of dipping a fish that long in FW.

Yeah, I have dipped fish as long as 30 minutes without any adverse reactions. If you read everything, you'd see that I didn't put them in tap water that was the wrong temp, or had chlorine in it. It was distilled water with everything but salt.

 

[HisKid]

Your enthuasism is good, but your refusal to accept the wisdom of much more experienced reef keepers is foolish. Yes, every animal could be kept in captivity if it were possible to provide for them the same conditions as they have in the wild. This, however, is not possible at the time, and probably won't be for a long while, if ever. Your introducing your fish to hyposaline conditions so abruptly and then returning them to normal conditions in a matter of hours is a very poor practice. The swing back up to a higher S.G. is especially hard on the fish. Also, the use of a freshwater dip for such a long time is also very unhealthy for fish. Like I said before, you have a lot of enthuasism and could become a very good reefkeeper if you would develop the patience discipline to thouroughly research the husbandry of fish, learn which fish shouldn't be kept, and also learn the proper quarantine and treatment methods, and take the advice of the people that have been in this hobby a while.

Let it never be said that I dont appreciate your advice, but telling someone not to buy a fish in the first place is sort of like telling someone not to step in front of a moving bus post-mortem. Its really nothing but duh-factor. I am not ignoring the mistake, only trying to learn something more than - don't buy the fish. I researched these fish for several weeks before actually deciding to give them a try. No one ever said anything other than - If you can get them to eat your in good shape. OR - They tend to school so you should keep them in 2's or 3's.

Besides, wisdom is knowing the difference between what works and what doesn't. So I suppose I have already gained that wisdom. Now if someone could simply answer my stupid questions, I can get off this thread.

regards,

 

[HisKid]

I'm curious if the one you left behind is still alive?

It died that same night. When I got back to my LFS to do the return thing, they told me they scooped it out that morning.

 

[HisKid]

I sold a 3 year old MI a couple of months ago and it is still going strong. I would never do a fresh water dip on Idols, because they can stress very easily. When transferring the fish I only used a 5G bucket.
These fish need to feed 3-4 times a day and they need a variety of foods including live sponge. I would buy live sponges, feed Angel formula with sponge, Pellets, Mysis, Scallops, Clams, Squid, lots of Nori, and so on.
I offered 3-4 different foods everyday and it ate 1 sheet of nori everyday.

These are very, very hard to keep and the one I had came from a local reefer not a LFS. They dont ship well, they stress easily and they need alot of swimming space. My tank is 300G and it is the fastest swimmer I have owned. I also noticed they swim all night, this fish never stops swimming so space is crucial. This Idol could out swim and out eat my Tangs & my Pinktail Trigger.

Idols should only be kept 1 per tank and if there is 2 they should be a mated pair. This is a very tempermental fish that can hold it's own in a fight, Idols can and will kill each other.
I would never keep one with angels, I did add an angel and my Idol was not impressed.

The only reason I sold this fish was because I wanted Lions and knowing this fish swims fast and all night I did not want it to run into a Lion at night or make a quick turn and hit a lion.

Kaye

Thank you for the insight but I think it will be a long time (if ever) before I attempt keeping another Idol. I don't much enjoy watching the animals under my care die, especially for some unknown reason. I may never know what actually caused the death, but I do know that if I don’t get some answers I won't be able to defend against the phenomenon I observed in the future.

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

Sorry to hear about your loss We all try the best we can with the information we're given and have at hand. It's hard to see any creature die in your care; it's tragic when it's something as magnificent as MI. Of course the best place for them is in the ocean, but at one point in time it was considered impossible to keep any of the creatures we house today with ease. I agree that novices should never try to keep a fish with such a poor success rates, but to say that it should not be kept at all is a little hypocritical.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that all marine animals that live in the wild can be acclimated to the right kind of captive system. There is no good scientific reason why they shouldn’t.

This is a bit disturbing to read. There are all sorts of reasons why certain fish very rarely adapt to captive conditions. The primary one is diet, and the inability we have to feed them correctly in captivity.

Did I read right that you freswater dipped your fish for 10 minutes? That stress alone could have killed them overnight. I've never heard of dipping a fish that long in FW.

Yeah, I have dipped fish as long as 30 minutes without any adverse reactions. If you read everything, you'd see that I didn't put them in tap water that was the wrong temp, or had chlorine in it. It was distilled water with everything but salt.

I did read everything. It's still probably doing them more harm than good. I also question why you placed them into a SG of 1.009 if they showed no symptoms of disease in the first place. Wouldn't the best move be to match the SG of the store tank, and then slowly lower it down to 1.009 if they showed signs of Amyloodinium infestation? It's an unnecessary stress otherwise.

 

[HisKid]

I did read everything. It's still probably doing them more harm than good. I also question why you placed them into a SG of 1.009 if they showed no symptoms of disease in the first place. Wouldn't the best move be to match the SG of the store tank, and then slowly lower it down to 1.009 if they showed signs of Amyloodinium infestation? It's an unnecessary stress otherwise.

Kewl thanks for the insight. I will pay closer attention these kinds of details in the future. I think that the big lesson here is that every species have different tolerance's that need to be addressed during the acclimation period. I have moved on and purchased an adult Paracanthurus Hepatus. It eats everything in sight, and is doing very well. This was my second choice to the MI's but it is an interesting specimen too. I still need to get one more fish. I was thinking of a Acanthurus Leucosternon. Is this another fish to avoid?

Thanks!

HisKid

 

[Anonymous]

I have moved on and purchased an adult Paracanthurus Hepatus. It eats everything in sight, and is doing very well. This was my second choice to the MI's but it is an interesting specimen too. I still need to get one more fish. I was thinking of a Acanthurus Leucosternon. Is this another fish to avoid?

Thanks!

HisKid

I would venture to say yes, you should avoid getting a Powder Blue Tang- PBTs are considered one of the most delicate tangs in the trade. In my experience, 2 or 3 out of every ten survive long term. If you did get one, odds are high that it may harrass the Hippo tang as well(Hippos are ich magnets as well and dont take stress very well either)

 

[HisKid]

I would venture to say yes, you should avoid getting a Powder Blue Tang- PBTs are considered one of the most delicate tangs in the trade. In my experience, 2 or 3 out of every ten survive long term. If you did get one, odds are high that it may harrass the Hippo tang as well(Hippos are ich magnets as well and dont take stress very well either)

Thanks for the input on the PBT. I think that I will avoid that one for a while.

Yeah, I found a lot of info about Paracanthurus Hepatus here at reefs.org, plus I asked around. I still think it is worth the risk because it is such a fine specimen. It is really healthy-it eats everything in sight, and I am thinking of buying stock in sea lettuce…LOL