The Moorish Idol Thread - Page 3

Covey · #51 02/01/2007, 07:10 PM

Well after about a week of being the new kid on the playground

my idol has stepped up to go after the nori with the rest of them.

The tang even stopped being a jerk... generally

Its still eating my sponges and is eating nori but generally still isn't down for picking anything out of the water.

I people experiments to feed sponge has anyone ID the sponges they like it is a rather large group of animals I was wondering if someone has narrowed it down.

Paul B · #52 02/03/2007, 09:04 AM

The sponge I feed is very common in NY but there is also a sponge that I collect that he will not eat which grows among the sponge that he does eat. I can't identify either one but of course neither is the sponge they eat in the sea. In the South Pacific where they come from I only seen them eat a sponge that is lime green and kind of sticky. That sponge, or lack of it may be a reason keeping this fish is so hard.
Paul

Mike de Leon · #53 02/03/2007, 12:06 PM

Is it true that some sponges can actually be purchased from the Oriental store?

heuerfan · #54 02/09/2007, 04:55 PM

Anyone keeping a Moorish Idol with LPS corals, any problems? Specifically with brains, blastomussa, acan lords, goniopora.

Thanks!

Asuran · #55 02/09/2007, 11:33 PM

mine hasnt looked at my goni... but has sampled my brains... smart little guy too i feed mine mysis from a baster now because it cannot compete with my vacuum cleaning tangs when there is good in the water column... still working on fattening my idol up though

Paul B · #56 02/10/2007, 06:25 AM

I have all LPS corals and a gonopora, he has not touched any corals yet.
Paul

Kennyboy1984 · #57 02/10/2007, 09:38 AM

I just got a blue rimmed monti cap last night and one of my moorish idols starting picking at it before I even had it in place and was still in my hands! Before I went to bed last night I could see little bite sized chunks missing from the rim of the monti. I'm thinking about relocating this idol if it keeps on biting the monti. I'm not sure if its actually eating the coral or its rather picking at it for the sake of picking at it. At this rate the coral will be gone in a matter of days.

LivingDeadFish · #58 02/10/2007, 10:27 PM

well its been ages, sence i have done much to my tank, After loosing everything last christmas, my 34 month old idol was the last to perish over a 5 day period. looking back i should of set up another tank real quick.
the tank was empty till summer, and now has 3 small fish in it, i just spent the last few days cleaning things up, an am about to embark on my 3rd idol "the first lasted over 2 years also, an was lost to a power outage"
Things have changed alot sence my first, well atleast in this thread.

some info ill give you on the feeding of mine, which leads Me to think some aspects of there diet are not as important as one might think.
the idol i had for almost 3 years:
After the first 6 months which i had made up a special blend, an i no longer remember what was in it. mostly frozen food that was left over an some fresh garlic. Tetra brand colorbits consisted of about 95% of his diet that i put in the tank. he liked flake food also, my autofeeder was set up for twice a day, other than the 3 months i was away from my tank, once a day.
I used the colorbits pellets cause all my fish love that food, and it is easy to dispence, i would also feed a cube of frozen brine once a week when i had it. I could never get my idol to eat any nori, or greens, that i saw anyway, and he hated the angle formula frozen food with sponge.
not that i would recommend anyone to follow my feeding habits, but for nearly 15 years fresh and saltwater, colorbits has been my staple diet for my fish. Perhaps its like candy, but it dose get them to eat.
my first idol was a whole differnt story, i bought everything under the sun to make sure he had every vitiman and mineral , as i thought for sure he would not live another day, every day for over a year. some people had me convinced the idol was going to die for no apperant reason at any time
that idol i feed about 3-4 times a day. colorbits and flake from the feeder, and frozen special mix 2 times on most days

Both idols picked at the everything all day long, i had some large rocks with zoos on them that slowly died, it was over a year before i noticed my idol picking at them. The other corals did fine. I did have some sponge growing in the tank, but i never added any, i would not think it was enough to live on or even a snack.

my tank is a 110, with 1400 gal hr flow, an 760 wt lighting 110 lbs liverock 4" very fine sand, i also have one chaber of bioballs, and a skimmer for a tank upto 75 gal.

anyway, i just thought i would throw something up here, as ill be getting another soon.

PS props to paul for many years of research an advice

Paul B · #59 02/11/2007, 03:00 PM

Livingdeadfish, thats interesting, I have never seen Tetra Color Bits. I guess I don't ever look at Tetra products as they bring back memories of my fresh water days, not that thats bad, I just don't look there.
I also believe that it is not just food that makes moorish Idols so hard to keep.
Have a great day.
Paul

Covey · #60 02/13/2007, 10:49 PM

It might be old hat to the old school Idol owners but I fiqured out how to target feed my Idol.

During the day when I feed the fish the Idol gets his fare share picking food from the water with all the Chromis and the Tangs. He only getting what he can farely get with all the other fish.

Like I said early I noticed the Idol was a night owl. The Idol seem to be able to see in low light alot better than most of my fish. When the main thank lights go out most of the fish hide for the night. The room lights add dim light into the tank.

So I melted a cube of frozen food and dumped it near the Idol he managed to down quite a bit of the food. It started to spread out and my tang and blennie smelled the food and tried to go out and eat it. Unlike during the daylight neither of them were good at catching the food.

The Idol makes off with like 80% of the cube.

Like I said might be old hat but I thought I would share.

BTW the Idol now mauls any food I add to the tank. So good times here.

benray4fun · #61 03/01/2007, 01:48 PM

Paul, I'm so glad I found you... There's a kid on the reef discussion forum that posted a thread about moorish idols and I was hoping maybe you might stop by and help'm out with some info. It would be greatly appreciated..."THANKS PAUL" for even considering...respectfully Ben

BlueNWhite · #62 03/01/2007, 06:08 PM

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but what are the chances of success of adding a second MI to a tank that has had one in there for about 2-3 months already?

What would you recommendations be?

Thanks.

Asuran · #63 03/02/2007, 10:02 AM

just noticed that my MI has taken less interested in mysis when i feed now but rather waits by the seaweed clip and enjoys tearing away at the seaweed... also i spotted him chowing down on formula 2 flakes... guess he wants to slowly become a vegitarian?

LIReefer · #64 03/02/2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Asuran
just noticed that my MI has taken less interested in mysis when i feed now but rather waits by the seaweed clip and enjoys tearing away at the seaweed... also i spotted him chowing down on formula 2 flakes... guess he wants to slowly become a vegitarian?

Mine is doing the exact same thing, but I haven't given it flakes. Mine is still in quarantine - Is yours?

tpdpercula · #65 03/02/2007, 05:17 PM

5 months ago I purchased two idols, got them home, and set them free. At first they both got along (300 gallon reef) but eventually they had to be seperated. Got rid of the other and now just have one in my big tank. He eats everything, including the occasional zoas. I feed mine a mixture of frozen brine, mysis, marine algea, and give him a sheet of seaweed once a day. I think he is the best fish in the tank.

LIReefer · #66 03/05/2007, 06:40 PM

Well I have an Idol that came down with Black Ich. A small black dot was visible at about 4 days in quarantine. A couple of days later he was covered in black dots but they weren't as distinct or pronounced as the first one I saw. They seem to smear more. Anyway, following recommendations of a formalin dip - I did this last night. He seemed to tolerate it, but was clearly stressed and dark blotches appeared on the white parts. Is this normal? I had him there for 20 min and then put him in a hypo dip of 1.010 for a couple of minutes and then back in the QT. Today he looks like he got beat up. The lower fins and tail are tattered, and the dark blotches are still visible and look like bruses. He is eating though. Is this the way they look coming out of the bath or did I do something wrong here? I know I need to repeat the treatment every couple of days, but if he is going to take this kind of a beating I'm afraid he may not survive. Any thoughts?

Ed

ckuhndog77 · #67 03/06/2007, 09:22 PM

Here is update on mine. Posted earlier in first half of thread.

Got it on 1/23/06

Photo from tonight

AMD30 · #68 03/06/2007, 10:22 PM

Hi, i am setting up a 300 gal tank 8ft long and was wondering how many MI's i can try to keep? do they really do well in a school? 3,4,5? i have been reading this thread for quite some time and feel i know what to feed it and what kinds of MI's to look for in my LFS. thx for any help!

AMD30 · #69 03/06/2007, 11:00 PM

Hi, i am setting up a 300 gal tank 8ft long and was wondering how many MI's i can try to keep? do they really do well in a school? 3,4,5? i have been reading this thread for quite some time and feel i know what to feed it and what kinds of MI's to look for in my LFS. thx for any help!

Asuran · #70 03/07/2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LIReefer
Mine is doing the exact same thing, but I haven't given it flakes. Mine is still in quarantine - Is yours?

Mine has been in the display for about 2-3 months dont remember exactly... but flakes i feed to my other fish and my idol chows them down with the rest of the group... funny seeing how it tries to jock for position at the seaweed clip

echoplex · #71 03/11/2007, 02:19 AM

Just thought I'd throw up a pic of some Idols I spotted in the Shark/Ray petting tank at Long Beach Aquarium.
There were about 20-30 of them in there looking very healthy, picking green algae off the sides of the tank.
I don't believe this is a very clean tank but who knows, maybe it's being constantly flushed with fresh ocean water.

Yes that's a hammerhead. In the petting tank.

tanya72806 · #72 03/11/2007, 12:23 PM

WOW great thread im thinking of getting one myself I love these fish. Does anyone know where to get sponges for them ?

Paul B · #73 03/11/2007, 02:16 PM

Actually I do. I collect the sponges on City Island on the floating docks. They are all over the place. I freeze them and they last all winter.
Paul

tanya72806 · #74 03/11/2007, 02:51 PM

Paul arent you concerned about the water quaility out there

Paul B · #75 03/11/2007, 03:09 PM

Tanya I have been using that water in my reef for three decades. I am not concerned about it at all.
Paul