jesseb
Well-known member
A few weeks back, during a visit up at Barrier Reef, I broke down and bought a pair of Moorish Idols that were simply mesmerizing me. I've never had them before - but after a lengthy decision process - ended up having to take them home.
For those so inclined, I would not recommend anyone just go out and buy Moorish idols – I was putting them in a comfortable size reef tank of 400G tank with a not overly aggressive set of tankmates – 2 foxfaces, 2 blue hippo tang, a yellow tang and some green and Vanderbilt chromis and a few bangaii cardinals. Mostly SPS and LPS corals and an Anthelia Polyp. I bought them realizing there was a risk in purchasing this kind a fish – but I expected success with them would be great for my tank and could be helpful for others.
I thought I’d share some observations since getting them:
Observations now
It’s been a bit more than 2 weeks since I put them in the tank- and they are awesome. I have only once or twice seen them on opposite sides of the tank… they are pretty much always together. They finally seem to be in a comfort zone in the tank – the yellow tang is still occasionally trying to make sure they know who’s the boss, but other than that, they seem to have adjusted well. They seem to like water current – I find them spending large amounts of time doing what looks like body surfing in a couple of high current areas in the tank. They seem to seek these spots out – I’ve seen them move sides of the tank when the MBV switches output to the other side to ride the waves. They are almost always out and about, and I’ve never seen them sit still.
I’ve seen no corals or sponges bothered at all. I feed the tank heavily – 2 feedings daily with mysis, brine and spectrum – and spectrum usually at least a couple of times a day. Their bellies are constantly round and full looking. While they will both eat out of the water column (especially the aggressive eater) – they seem to prefer picking the same foods off the bottom or rocks. They LOVE Spectrum to eat.
For those so inclined, I would not recommend anyone just go out and buy Moorish idols – I was putting them in a comfortable size reef tank of 400G tank with a not overly aggressive set of tankmates – 2 foxfaces, 2 blue hippo tang, a yellow tang and some green and Vanderbilt chromis and a few bangaii cardinals. Mostly SPS and LPS corals and an Anthelia Polyp. I bought them realizing there was a risk in purchasing this kind a fish – but I expected success with them would be great for my tank and could be helpful for others.
I thought I’d share some observations since getting them:
- The fish themselves are about 3” in length
- When I bought them it was obvious (and still is) they were a bonded pair. They swam everywhere in the LFS tank together, and still rarely are seen separated. I never would have bought one, and after seeing them together, would hope no one would ever let a pair like that be separated. One is the obvious more aggressive (male?) and the other far more passive.
- They were in fantastic condition – they looked healthy – as you can see in the picture even had streamers on their dorsal fin (which my yellow tang helped fix after I put them in the tank).
- In the LFS tank, they were very actively picking algae off of pipes and rocks, as well as picking the bottom. That is all I saw them eating.
- I watched them for more than an hour, so was very comfortable with their condition when I finally bought them
- Knowing they are very stress sensitive, I decided they’d adjust and adapt much better in the tank once, rather than go through a sterile QT environment and then moving them. Since they were eating aggressively and looked great – I thought I’d risk it (and that worked well I’m happy to say).
- The tank is well established and has a rich array of algae, sponges, pods and who knows what else for them to feed on. Since picking is their natural feeding behavior, they had lots of opportunity for that in the tank.
Observations now
It’s been a bit more than 2 weeks since I put them in the tank- and they are awesome. I have only once or twice seen them on opposite sides of the tank… they are pretty much always together. They finally seem to be in a comfort zone in the tank – the yellow tang is still occasionally trying to make sure they know who’s the boss, but other than that, they seem to have adjusted well. They seem to like water current – I find them spending large amounts of time doing what looks like body surfing in a couple of high current areas in the tank. They seem to seek these spots out – I’ve seen them move sides of the tank when the MBV switches output to the other side to ride the waves. They are almost always out and about, and I’ve never seen them sit still.
I’ve seen no corals or sponges bothered at all. I feed the tank heavily – 2 feedings daily with mysis, brine and spectrum – and spectrum usually at least a couple of times a day. Their bellies are constantly round and full looking. While they will both eat out of the water column (especially the aggressive eater) – they seem to prefer picking the same foods off the bottom or rocks. They LOVE Spectrum to eat.
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