My Attempt at the Infamous Moorish Idol

[i cant think]

what are the specific corals these guys are prone to eating? Is it just about any LPS?
I honestly wouldn’t mind a fish nipping at coral but I would probably try get a sponge or tunicate growing in there since it’s their natural diet (And most likely the reason these RSWC fish nip at coral - Tunicates tend to grow at the bases of other coral).

 

[Miami Reef]

what are the specific corals these guys are prone to eating? Is it just about any LPS?
I honestly wouldn’t mind a fish nipping at coral but I would probably try get a sponge or tunicate growing in there since it’s their natural diet (And most likely the reason these RSWC fish nip at coral - Tunicates tend to grow at the bases of other coral).

I agree. The moorish is only picking at certain LPS.

He is leaving softies and SPS alone.

I’m definitely trying my best to grow sponges. I started carbon dosing and dosing silicates. The moorish was picking at rocks, but it is a really aggressive eater - going after my brain corals like it’s candy.

 

[Ro Bow]

@Miami Reef any updates?

 

[Miami Reef]

@Miami Reef any updates?

He’s happy and doing very well.

 

[Miami Reef]

Getting chunky. Photos taken just now

 

[Miami Reef]

Ignore the dirty side glass. Just a little cyano and dino that are clearing up on their own.

 

[Miami Reef]

And a video. He made a cute twirl at the end.

 

[Miami Reef]

Look how fat he is. Sorry for spamming. Ask and you shall receive.

 

[i cant think]

He’s getting big too! He looks to be almost the same size as some of the tangs!

 

[Miami Reef]

He’s getting big too! He looks to be almost the same size as some of the tangs!

He grew SUPER fast! I think he’s already an adult now? When I purchased him he was a little juvenile. He didn’t even have his streamer!

I’ve had him for 1.5 months.

 

[i cant think]

I’m debating on getting an Indonesian one for my indo dominant tank when it gets big enough (6’ or 7’, I have no room for an 8’ tank unfortunately so I may have to just avoid them).

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m debating on getting an Indonesian one for my indo dominant tank when it gets big enough (6’ or 7’, I have no room for an 8’ tank unfortunately so I may have to just avoid them).

Who says they need an 8’ tank?

In my experience, moorish idols are not very active swimmers. They like to glide through the water.

I think the Live Aquaria recommended of 125 gallons is very reasonable.

An Achilles or powder blue tang is a very active swimmer and likes to race across the tank. Live aquaria has those fish recommended for a 125 gallon as well.

However, it is fully your choice if you want to commit to them! They are pretty, but they eat corals - especially brain corals. I have 3 that are just about dead.

In the photo above I posted today, there was a shot of him swimming near my clam. It has not shown interest in eating them (thank GOODNESS). If that ever changes you bet I’m gonna report it to you guys in this thread.

That being said. My LFS had this large non reef safe angel in their show tanks which devoured hammers, acans, frogspawns - but never touched any of the clams in the tank.

I find it hard to believe my moorish won’t eat my clam through. Especially since I feed him LRS which contains clams. Whoops. Haha.

 

[i cant think]

Who says they need an 8’ tank?

In my experience, moorish idols are not very active swimmers. They like to glide through the water.

I think the Live Aquaria recommended of 125 gallons is very reasonable.

I mainly thought 8’ because of the tall streamer if I’m honest because in most photos it’s like 2x the length of the fish so when it trails behind them it would look cramped.

 

[Miami Reef]

I mainly thought 8’ because of the tall streamer if I’m honest because in most photos it’s like 2x the length of the fish so when it trails behind them it would look cramped.

Paul B kept one for many years in his tank. I think his tank was about a little over 100 gallons.

PS: I added to my original message as you quoted me.

 

[Ro Bow]

He’s happy and doing very well.

Thats great! Keep up the good work! He seems very happy

 

[ReefHog]

I’ve had mine for almost two years now. He’s never touched any sps euphylia, leathers or Zoas. I have a couple acans in QT right now so we’ll see how he is with them in a few weeks. I also have various sponges that came in on my live gulf rock order that he doesn’t touch. He does pick at the rocks all day. Probably just the micro and film algae. I’m thinking of getting a clam but would be an expensive experiment.

his streamer breaks off all the time. Then grows back very fast. Must get caught on rocks coral or power heads

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Who says they need an 8’ tank?

In my experience, moorish idols are not very active swimmers. They like to glide through the water.

I think the Live Aquaria recommended of 125 gallons is very reasonable.

An Achilles or powder blue tang is a very active swimmer and likes to race across the tank. Live aquaria has those fish recommended for a 125 gallon as well.

However, it is fully your choice if you want to commit to them! They are pretty, but they eat corals - especially brain corals. I have 3 that are just about dead.

In the photo above I posted today, there was a shot of him swimming near my clam. It has not shown interest in eating them (thank GOODNESS). If that ever changes you bet I’m gonna report it to you guys in this thread.

That being said. My LFS had this large non reef safe angel in their show tanks which devoured hammers, acans, frogspawns - but never touched any of the clams in the tank.

I find it hard to believe my moorish won’t eat my clam through. Especially since I feed him LRS which contains clams. Whoops. Haha.

Well, I’ve had a few and I would say that they take up almost as much tank space as my achilles. They get real big and dose not do well in cramped spaces.
A 5-600L tank is the very minimum I would keep one in, provided it has good dimensions (not to tall) and not a ton of rock.

They are often fine with sps, euphyllia, goniopora and other noxious corals. Acans, lobos etc are toast hehe.
Live clams GENERALLY aren’t on the menu as they are more geared towards sponges, algae and that sort of stuff.

 

[Rtaylor]

Panta Rhea Sponge might be something to look into. It’s designed specifically for spongivores so could be a good add to his diet. Beautiful fish. I recently tried a pair of ornate butterflyfish sadly without success. I have a number of difficult fish including 5 orange spotted filefish. I’m not sure what happened but seems to have been either stress induced or water quality related (if so I can’t pinpoint what) as they both died the night I moved them from the main display into a 20 gallon fully cycled (running for about a year) tank to better be able to monitor their eating and work on getting them to eat. Anyway, happy to see a success on this fish!

 

[ReefHog]

I moved mine from my six foot long 220 to a new 150 lagoon after 18 months. The 220 is 72"x24"x30". The new tank is 48"x36"x20". So even though the new tank is considerably smaller, it has the same footprint sq/f, just not as long or as tall. He's doing great in the smaller tank. Like was stated in an earlier post, mine never really raced the length of the six foot tank like some of the tangs do. He swims in and out of the new rock structures all day picking at the rocks.

I have the Panta Rhea Sponge pellets which I toss in from time to time but it's not on my schedule. He does eat it. I feed Hikari Mega Marine Angel or Ocean Nutrition Angel Formula for first feeding every morning. Both have sponge in recipe. Then LRS at noon followed by Live Black worms and a nori sheet at 2:00pm. My wife feeds Mysis & Brine for last feeding at 4:30pm.

 

[Miami Reef]

Live clams GENERALLY aren’t on the menu as they are more geared towards sponges, algae and that sort of stuff.

Should I remove the 3 dying brain corals to see if my moorish will start picking at the clams?

Clams are one of my favorite inverts, and I kind of want to add more, but I want to know how long I should wait to test out if the moorish will develop an appetite? If the moorish does eat clams, I’m not about to buy more. Currently, it doesn’t touch them. I want to know how “long” before I can give the all clear?