Moorish idol

[true perculas]

I don’t plan on getting one but I’m curious if people have had more success keeping moorish idols? I’ve been seeing a good amount of them at lfs recently and made me wonder.

 

[Wakenbaker420]

You got the Live Aquaria email too..lol. never seen one till today. Looks like a fancy butterfly fish

 

[jdpiii3]

I had one for many years, and would eat anything I threw in the tank.

I've been thinking about getting another one actually received an email advertisement from Live Aquaria saying they're in stock.

I haven't ordered from them in quite some time and I've read some real horror stories as of late I'll have to check some of the LFS around town.

 

[Rmckoy]

I don’t plan on getting one but I’m curious if people have had more success keeping moorish idols? I’ve been seeing a good amount of them at lfs recently and made me wonder.

I have always wanted one . But I prefer corals over having one .

at one time when I started reefing they had a Very high mortality rate . And said to be impossible to get eating and stay healthy long term .

that being said times have changed along with many things . Perhaps they might be easier to keep ?
@Miami Reef recently had one ?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I recently had one for roughly a year then out of the blue, he died. I thought I was in the clear and this guy would grace my tank for many years to come. My laymans conclusion was that I changed up the food I was feeding and he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed.

 

[Miami Reef]

I have always wanted one . But I prefer corals over having one .

at one time when I started reefing they had a Very high mortality rate . And said to be impossible to get eating and stay healthy long term .

that being said times have changed along with many things . Perhaps they might be easier to keep ?
@Miami Reef recently had one ?

I did have one for a few months. It was very active and even bold. Eating anything I threw at him.

Ultimately I rehomed him because he devoured all my LPS corals. Absolutely not reef safe. Maybe for acropora only tanks.

So I did not have a moorish idol long enough to determine if I would be successful at keeping them alive or not long term. I did keep one for a little over 6 months which many people can’t even do, so that’s something lol.

I wouldn’t claim that I was successful to anybody. Success to me is about 5 years as that seems to be their average lifespan. They mature very fast which gives a clue to a shorter lifespan. But that’s just my opinion.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t plan on getting one but I’m curious if people have had more success keeping moorish idols? I’ve been seeing a good amount of them at lfs recently and made me wonder.

It has improved greatly over the years where it was impossible to now no problem as long as good water quality and diet are furnished.
I had a trio as pictured UNTIL they started to peck on my coral. They were eating machines

 

[Reeffraff]

Moorish idols aren't the black box they once were. Had two in the past. One for 3 yrs and one for 5 yrs. Both rehomed to fish only tanks. They are just NOT reef safe long term. Will start picking at and eating more and more types of corals as they grow. Only found a handful of corals that safe from mature adults. The secret to moorish idol success (at least for me) was frequent feedings and LOTS of nori. These fish have high metabolic rates and in the wild graze almost constantly on algae and benthic inverts such as tunicates, sponges and anything else they can get their mouths on. They are not picky eaters once settled in a tank, but need food many times throughout the day.
Here's one of mine that was eventually removed from the 500 gal sps tank.

 

[coralbeauties]

They can be a tough fish to get eating and through qt. I am able to buy wholesale and would buy 3 at a time and was lucky to get 1 through. Many times loosing them within a week. The longest I’ve had one last is about 2 years and it slowly went down hill and died. It’s really a shame since they are such a great fish. Really nice personality, begs like a puppy for food. I’ve held off getting another for I feel it isn’t fair to take them from the ocean to die so quickly
Jeff

 

[true perculas]

It’s awesome too see people having better success with them! I’ll probably never own one unless they manage to successfully breed them in the future

 

[flagg37]

Moorish idols aren't the black box they once were. Had two in the past. One for 3 yrs and one for 5 yrs. Both rehomed to fish only tanks. They are just NOT reef safe long term. Will start picking at and eating more and more types of corals as they grow. Only found a handful of corals that safe from mature adults. The secret to moorish idol success (at least for me) was frequent feedings and LOTS of nori. These fish have high metabolic rates and in the wild graze almost constantly on algae and benthic inverts such as tunicates, sponges and anything else they can get their mouths on. They are not picky eaters once settled in a tank, but need food many times throughout the day.
Here's one of mine that was eventually removed from the 500 gal sps tank.

So he even went after your sps? I thought sps was generally safe from them. Good to know.

 

[Stefaan F]

I had one, very healthy for 1,5 years and 2 weeks ago just died in 48 hours time. Had red poop and breathing heavily. My guess is not the right nutrients and thus infected intestines.

They sure need a lot of food, and need to be fed many times a day.
I gave him mussels, nori and a shrimp mix with some vegetables in it. He really loved the last one. Was not really interested in artemia or mysis; he sometimes ate a little but not much.

Mine especially liked to nip at sps growth tips.
He also liked more fleshy corals, but nothing crazy. Never destroyed a coral, but the coral needs to be healthy to recover fast from the nipping

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

A very difficult fish to keep, just as others have mentioned.

With that being said, we have had one in our personal collection for the past 4½ years, through quarantine, copper treatment and housed with multiple tangs.

 

[Sean Clark]

I have shared this before but I will share it again.