Moorish Idol success stories

[littlefoxx]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I imagine I've ordered 20+ fish from him and they've all arrived looking good. Only issue I've really had was a Copperband that wouldn't eat, but I knew that risk going in.

Huh. All three fish in my order were not healthy at all. The trigger was so thin it couldnt even swim. So lethargic and I kept emailing them and they said it was normal for a fish to look like that when they send them. No not really… this fish had such a pinched belly it clearly was starved. Triggers love food so when this one wouldnt even so much as move for any kind of food I knew it was a goner despite everything I did to get it to eat. The other two fish were the same way… never had an online vendor send me emaciated fish like that except for him. Im glad yours were good though!

 

[klavmaister]

With idols, it mostly depends on their source, and then, what size tank you have. They are also really prone to ich, so they need to be fully quarantined, but they don't really handle small, bare quarantine tanks very well.

Avoid small idols from SE Asia. They often arrive thin and in very poor shape. When Hawaii was open to collection, that was a better source. I got a pair from Australia in 2015 that are still going strong in a huge tank (90,000 gallons).

90.000 gal is like......the ocean

 

[aquaforlife]

I wouldn’t say that they are particularly sensitive to ich in my experience, I’ve kept several over the last two decades and never had an issue even though ich were present in the tanks. It’s like Achilles tangs, they are very sensitive to improper husbandry as it leads to issues with disease down the line.

However, I’d definitely say that they are very sensitive to bad QT practices I.e putting them in a sterile tank and nuking their system with copper and other toxins.

The main issue with these guys (apart from what Jay just said, getting your hands in good specimens) is feeding. In my experience these are easy fish but they do need a stupid amount of food to stay healthy and thriving. You will need to make sure to feed them 5+ times a day with a diet rich in sponge and high in fiber.

I’ve kept em for 5+ years in the past. One o sold, one died in an accident after about 4,5 years.
My failures was that I once both one as a 13 year old kid over two decades ago and had no idea what I was doing, I sure as hell killed that fish.

My last attempt was kind of strange. I believe the idol was blind in one eye as it was horrible at actually hitting the food when it went after it. After about 6 months in my big tank it had lost a lot of weight as it couldn’t compete with an Achilles tang, gold flake, majestic angel, regal angel and a bunch of other pigs. I transferred it over to a smaller tank to fatten up. Well, that tank didn’t have a lid and the darn thing jumped the very first night. Never had idols jump on me before but that could perhaps have been a byproduct of it being half blind.

Here’s my old guy fat frank that I sadly lost in some sort of an accident. I believe something spooked it and it crashed in to the rocks as its beak was badly deformed when I found him.

The coral in the background. Fake or real?

 

[aquaforlife]

This is Winston. We've had him just over two years and he's about the size of my hand.

He’s not eating your coral?

 

[aquaforlife]

On Wednesday it will be seven years that I've had my MI. He doesn't get any special food, but eats everything I feed the tank -- pellets, mysis, flakes, and especially loves nori.

This is awesome and congratulations. If you would, please share more details about your experience taking care of him all those years. Any insight you have can enhance the keeping of these beautiful fish. Tank size, filters, tank mates , corals, water changes, etc. thanks!!

He’s not eating your coral?