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3djedi
02/05/2010, 10:31 PM
My LFS has 4 of these bad boys. 1 of them is iffy but the other 3 look very healthy and I saw them eating. I've never seen one for sale anywhere and don't know what a good price is. He want's $40...is that a good price? I know they are supposed to be very difficult to keep but I think I have a better chance than most of the people that walk into a LFS. And with the help of you guys on RC, odds are even better! He'll be going into a mixed reef and the only fish I have are a clown, PJ cardinal, and a juvi naso tang......

lucidheights
02/05/2010, 10:39 PM
search the moorish idol primer thread, few people have had moderate success, depending on how you define success.

Peter Eichler
02/05/2010, 10:48 PM
My LFS has 4 of these bad boys. 1 of them is iffy but the other 3 look very healthy and I saw them eating. I've never seen one for sale anywhere and don't know what a good price is. He want's $40...is that a good price? I know they are supposed to be very difficult to keep but I think I have a better chance than most of the people that walk into a LFS. And with the help of you guys on RC, odds are even better! He'll be going into a mixed reef and the only fish I have are a clown, PJ cardinal, and a juvi naso tang......

Whether it's you or someone else that for some reason thinks they can break nsome mysterious code for keeping Moorish Idols, it'll be dead with 2 years, and probably much sooner than that. IMO don't encourage the LFS to bring them in by purchasing one, if someone else does, so be it, they'll be the ones learning a hard lesson.

OU11BB
02/05/2010, 10:53 PM
It will be dead within 6 months. my local LFS had a pair in their tank coral tank with natural sponge and were eating well. they seemed as if they were to make it after about 6 months one turned up dead, and the other shortly after. dont waste your money

lordofthereef
02/06/2010, 12:21 AM
Never tried one myself, however, as you see above, I have really only heard bad things. That said, everything starts with SOMEONE having the first success, although I think that usually isn't someone asking for a "how to".

DGee
02/06/2010, 12:50 AM
First and foremost I'd recommend reading ALL of the pages in the primer carefully. Then spend your $40 on something with an actual survival rate.

While I do have an Idol that's a little over two years old now I wouldn't recommend it. They are an amazing and beautiful fish, but I would never attempt another one. I've had amazing success with mine but he also gets A LOT of special care and I know the one I have is one in a thousand. Mine came from a local reefer having problems with him so I decided to take him. I've also spent quite a few years obsessing and doing research on Idol's along with diving with them many times.

As Peter said purchasing one is just encouraging your lfs to purchase more which will end up perishing like most.

They're better left in the ocean.

lucidheights
02/06/2010, 02:18 AM
First and foremost I'd recommend reading ALL of the pages in the primer carefully. Then spend your $40 on something with an actual survival rate.

While I do have an Idol that's a little over two years old now I wouldn't recommend it. They are an amazing and beautiful fish, but I would never attempt another one. I've had amazing success with mine but he also gets A LOT of special care and I know the one I have is one in a thousand. Mine came from a local reefer having problems with him so I decided to take him. I've also spent quite a few years obsessing and doing research on Idol's along with diving with them many times.

As Peter said purchasing one is just encouraging your lfs to purchase more which will end up perishing like most.

They're better left in the ocean.

What do you feed your idol?

DGee
02/06/2010, 03:05 AM
My idol will eat pretty much everything and anything I throw in the tank now. I feed the tank a combination of marine hi pro flakes, arctipods, pe mysis and a full sheet of green or red Nori daily.

The Idol is by far king of that tank and runs the show, he isn't really aggressive towards the other fish but he's very assertive and lets everyone know he's the boss. He knows when I break out the Nori before I even reach for the clip and usually rips off a few good chunks before I even get it situated in the tank.

One of the things that have helped keep him fat is the variety of sponges I rotate in the tank. Thankfully I stop by one of the local wholesalers every other week or so who brings in a lot of high quality live rock. I usually spend a good 20 min searching through the rock looking for pieces covered in different sponges. I usually add a different piece of rock covered in sponge every week and rotate those pieces to my other tanks to keep the sponge alive as long as possible.

Johnny C
02/06/2010, 03:19 AM
Unless you have a 200G+ display tank I wouldn't even consider it.

With that being said, one was traded into my LFS after the hobbyist had it for two years and broke down his tank. It's now in the stores SPS-Dominated 265G display tank and is a model citizen. It <i>is</i> possible to successfully keep them alive, but the odds definitely aren't in your favor and this fish is one for only the most experienced reefkeepers. If anything, a Heniochus Butterfly looks similar and has a much higher survival rate in captivity. JMO.

DGee
02/06/2010, 03:22 AM
Sorry for the crummy iPhone picture, he looks pretty skinny in the picture but he's actually over a half inch thick.

One thing he also likes to eat is brain corals!

Dejavu
02/06/2010, 06:22 AM
If he's going in to a mixed reef, your zoa's and LPS have a good chance of being eaten. I would read though the primer it split a few time but here's the latest: Moorish Idol Primer (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=993712)

buffalo123
02/06/2010, 10:41 AM
I was recently at my lfs and saw he had 3 for sale although i have seen them in pet stores before i knew they had a bad morality rate and feeding can be a problem. I stood in amazement watching as the 3 went after pellets, eating like crazy. The owner said he has good success with them and he has kept his own for as long as 7 years.

Peter Eichler
02/06/2010, 02:28 PM
I was recently at my lfs and saw he had 3 for sale although i have seen them in pet stores before i knew they had a bad morality rate and feeding can be a problem. I stood in amazement watching as the 3 went after pellets, eating like crazy. The owner said he has good success with them and he has kept his own for as long as 7 years.

LFS owner years are like dog years ;)

davocean
02/06/2010, 02:39 PM
LFS owner years are like dog years ;)

LOL,I have to agree w/ this as well.
I also agree that this is one fish best left in the ocean.
There are very few peeps that have had TRUE long term success, and the one person that seems to have had best success dives for the sponge they seem to need in their diet(PaulB)
I understand the "I have a better chance at keeping this guy alive than most" theory, but also agree buying them leads to LFS carrying them, and usually just a waste of hobbiests $$ and the senseless death of fish.

buffalo123
02/06/2010, 03:04 PM
He's been a fish store owner for about a year.
Many fish and corals you now enjoy a few years back were better left in the ocean.
Someone shared their sucesses.
In reality all are better in the ocean if we can't breed them in captivity.

davocean
02/06/2010, 03:12 PM
He's been a fish store owner for about a year.

I'm not sure if that statement was meant to up his credibilty, or reduce it.
A year is nothing in this hobby.
Getting an idol to eat is not so much the trick, many do, yet they still seem to fade health wise.
The greater challenge seems to be providing the food they really need in their diet to sustain them long term.

3djedi
02/06/2010, 03:30 PM
Yeah, I know they are a difficult fish but many years ago just about everything was "impossible" to "very difficult" except clown fish. Somebody took the time and figured out what it took to keep those specimens alive and thriving. That being said, after careful and thoughtful meditating to the reef Gods I've decided that I just don't have the time (or the talent) that the MI needs. It would be devasting to see such a beautiful fish eating and looking healthy one day and dead the next. Thanks for everyones replies.

Peter Eichler
02/07/2010, 02:42 AM
He's been a fish store owner for about a year.
Many fish and corals you now enjoy a few years back were better left in the ocean.
Someone shared their sucesses.
In reality all are better in the ocean if we can't breed them in captivity.

That's great, unless you know he's had that Moorish Idol for that long I'd be skeptical. Fish stories aren't exclusive to fishermen and are well know from aquarists. I once had a LFS owner tell me about how he had been in the hobby for 10 years and how he'd kept a Goniopora for nearly that long. Then I had to remind him that I'd gotten him into the hobby about 3 years prior and sold him the live rock the goniopora was a hitchhiker on only about a year prior. I've seen this sort of exaggeration over and over again in this hobby. Mayube he has kept a Moorish Idol for 7 years, but I really doubt it and suspect he's trying to sell you a Moorish Idol first and foremost.

Peter Eichler
02/07/2010, 02:46 AM
Yeah, I know they are a difficult fish but many years ago just about everything was "impossible" to "very difficult" except clown fish. Somebody took the time and figured out what it took to keep those specimens alive and thriving. That being said, after careful and thoughtful meditating to the reef Gods I've decided that I just don't have the time (or the talent) that the MI needs. It would be devasting to see such a beautiful fish eating and looking healthy one day and dead the next. Thanks for everyones replies.

Perhaps, but go back in time nearly 20 years ago and look at the things that were considered very difficult or impossible to keep in the early 90's compared to today. Things haven't changed as much as some would like to think...

Paul B
02/07/2010, 10:30 AM
Peter is correct. The fish that were hard to keep in the eightees and ninetees are still hard to keep.
I would not say that at this time a moorish Idol is a hard fish to keep long term, I would say it is an impossable fish to keep long term.
I had many of them and the longest lasted about 5 years. I killed it in an accident but from experience I know it probably would not have lived much longer anyway.
I have spent quite a while diving with them and I have found a local NY sponge that is easy to collect that they love but I really don't think food is the biggest problem. They eat anything, mine would eat cardboard if I put some clam juice on it :eek2:
I don't know where the rumor started that they don't eat.
I believe it has something to do with the fact that as adults they live in mated pairs. That is just a theory of mine but it is the best I have right now.
I would leave them in the sea unless I was a researcher or had a completely new idea to try and a large tank.
The last one I had, I did have a completely new Idea with a different food and a different feeding technique. It was an experiment but an experiment I only tried after I went to Tahiti to dive with them and try to learn their secrets. This fish should probably live like most fish for 15 or 20 years.
Four or five years is a complete failure.
I think I can guarantee you that the thing will not live more than a couple of years.
Good luck
Paul