My Moorish Idol journal!

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

Well I thought I'd log my experiences with moorish idols!
Received yesterday! 12:00pm!
Ok so I received my 3 moorish idols from PACIFIC ISLAND AQUATICS yesterday they came in very happy and healthy with plump guts!
Things I've done to insure their success to the best of my abilities
1) reshearched like crazy(hard to do considering not many have had long term success)
2) I have a very mature tank (lots of sponge of varying species growing on the rocks) 9yrs!
3) backed off of water changes and increased nutrient levels to grow a little algae on the rocks for natural grazing
4) researched more talked to many people who have had success with them for more than 2 years!
5) made special foods for them, pellet and mysis foods mixed with pharmaceutical grade garlic oil and vitamin c, also added selcon, multivitamin, omino-omega fatty acids, krill oil and cod liver oils!

On to their behaviors over the last 24!
They arrived were nervous but not skittish actual very investigative of me but the 2 yellow tangs I have in my system were a little pestering one is 6" and one is 3" the smaller one was the instigator!
I should also note that I removed my more aggressive tangs until idols are established these tangs include my 8" sailfin And my valimingi!
There wasn't any pestering by any of my other tangs or fish that include 2 clarkii clowns, zoster BF, hippo tang, various anthias, and other run of the mill fish!
Today all idols are grazing and bossing around the yellow tangs and running them off for their special food! Great sign!
They have all found the abundance of sponges and film algae in my tank I also watched the one devour an aptasia violently thumbs up there lol!
I have very few lps in my tank it's 98 percent sps there are a few zoas but they can have those haha!
So this log will I hope be here to inform as well as help me keep track of how I care for this very delicate species of fish! I definitely do not encourage anyone to take on this fish unless you have a very mature tank and can devote very meticulous care towards them!

Also if there is anyone who has kept or had great success with this fish please chime in!
Please refrain from negative comments yeah I already know how delicate, sensitive, and demanding these fish are!
So happy reefing!

spscrazy · Nov 19, 2011

beautiful beautiful beautiful!!! wish I could get them as they are among my favorite fish they sound like they are starting off great I hope that continues wish everyone would do their homework like you did before getting fish!

mojo · Nov 19, 2011

I love these fish. Great write up. Please continue on with this. I would like to hear how they do long term

Thanks
mojo~

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

Thanks guys will do mojo I'm actually scared of the long term but I have no intent on slacking on my part!
I've actually been very intrigued by these fish myself for a very long time and I've always known they need a lot of sponge so I let it grow and grow and grow and waited most of my rocks are around 6-9yrs old with very mature sponge colonies with about 9 varieties so far they are liking the light grey brown stuff!! Which is the most plentiful so that's good they've also hit on the yellow as well but not as frequently!

joejoe1055 · Nov 19, 2011

keep us updated
and plans to add more to there diet?

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

joejoe1055 said:
keep us updated
and plans to add more to there diet?

Well as of now I'm culturing sponge to have a plentiful supply at hand at all times I'm growing it on my sump walls so it's easily scraped off and can be attached to a seaweed clip!
I also talked to a guy who kept his idol for 9 yrs and he said that he cultured multiple kinds of macro algae, as am I he said his idol's favorite was maidens hair algae which I'm having a hard time acquiring, also another guy I talked to said they devoured bryopsis and I'll tell you I already can speak first hand on that!
They already love nori too both purple and green I also soak that in my mix!
I also picked up some clams from the grocery, so if I can get them eating those I'll buy the one from h20 life!
I also brought along one of their friends a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse which should do just fine with all my tangs and other fish to clean!
Also to help keep their environment clean I will be running uv for the next week and then a mild dose of ozone there after which means I'll need to dose sponge power and silicates to help continued growth with the sponges!

btkrausen · Nov 19, 2011

Great write up. I've been eyeing one to go in my 220, but its still way too new and my rock isn't thriving with a ton of live stuff yet. Can't wait to read your "fingers crossed" success.

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

btkrausen said:
Great write up. I've been eyeing one to go in my 220, but its still way too new and my rock isn't thriving with a ton of live stuff yet. Can't wait to read your "fingers crossed" success.

Find some people that have mature rocks in their tank that have varying types of sponge growing on them and scrape some off be sure not to expose to the air and you'll be good just put them in a low flow behind your rock type of a spot and they be growing and you'll be on your way! But yes this is no fish to get in a hurry about I really have had a hard time waiting all these years! But I'm hoping it will all pay off but really it's all up to the idols at this point I can only do so much ;-)

btkrausen · Nov 19, 2011

Definitely will have to do that...however, there aren't a lot of mature tanks around me right now as it seems the "start over" bug hit our local club

I plan to have one down the road for sure.

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

Just few quick shots!

btkrausen · Nov 19, 2011

Congrats man, that has to be exciting to watch those guys swim around.

GR808 · Nov 19, 2011

wonderful write up.. Will certainly be reading. had one myself for several months but fell victim to my lack of research and knowledge of how sensitive these fish are. They were my wife's favorite in the tank.

Reef UP · Nov 19, 2011

GR808 said:
wonderful write up.. Will certainly be reading. had one myself for several months but fell victim to my lack of research and knowledge of how sensitive these fish are. They were my wife's favorite in the tank.

Haha yeah one thing that prevented me from getting one almost 9 years ago was I got a book that said impossible to keep alive I'm very happy I've been patient for so long seeing how much they are grazing vs eating food I'm glad I let my rocks mature so much

KLR · Nov 19, 2011

Nice write up and they look so healthy!

My lfs had a pair and they were feeding them whole oysters that they broke a whole in their shell.
The Idols picked at the oysters constantly.

Reef UP · Nov 20, 2011

Nice ill have to grab some of those as well!
I'm going to have to start getting their food in the tank early morning before they wake up because they really don't like me In the tank they freak, and we don't want that!
BTW thanks everyone for the comments on the write up! Like I said anything you have to offer please do so!

KLR · Nov 20, 2011

I am not sure if you have to somehow cure the oysters. But I am sure they were not the first people to do it, it could probably be researched fairly easily.

Reef UP · Nov 20, 2011

I bought some of the little clams I know those are readily used but I haven't heard of the oysters but I'll give them a shot I can't imagine you'd need to do anything but break em' open and lay them on the sand bed