Moorish Idols

[bc_slc]

Beautiful fish. Absolutely amazing. Good for you for trying such a difficult fish.

 

[Damsel13]

Wow, glad you could swoop in for your Idol jesseb. Sounds like thinks are very much in control now.

Ah, and about trade winds.......nice thing those.

 

[csababubbles]

Seems lots of congrats were given to this gentlemen who at the time of this post had been able to keep a pair of Idols alive for several weeks. Now that its been about 6 months hows the little guys doing? Hope all is well

 

[Maxx]

I'd really like to know how things are as well...

Nick

 

[Paul B]

I kept mine going for almost five years on mostly sponge which I collected and froze in New York waters. It is very common here in the summer on floating docks.
I also fed him bananas, worms, and a variety of fresh and frozen foods. I think the sponge was a big plus though. I have dove with Idols in the South Pacific and sponge is the only thing I ever saw them eat although they will eat anything.
I lost my Idol to an accident.
Paul

 

[trido]

Glad to hear of the success. All of your fish look tiny in comparison to the tank from your sizing reference. :jealouse:

 

[Paul B]

Most of my fish are tiny except for three of them which are mid size.
After so many years I think I have had a few of every fish available and now I am going for a large variety of odd gobies and bleenies. I don't know how many I have but the tank is almost overcrowded.
The Moorish Idol was much too large for my 6' tank

 

[csababubbles]

Spectrum is a must, with my moorish idols I did alot of research and found that it is the only food the gives reef keepers the chance of keeping a MI's long term.

whats the deal with all these people recommending spectrum pellets? doesn't anyone bother to read the ingredients list? in my opinion I would not even consider it a good food product. tell me which of these components do you guys think is so good?

you guys are the victims of a good marketing team. i love how everyone always points to the Spectrum products owner's tank and says "look there is an idol in his tank, it must be alive for years and years and all because all he feeds him is his New Life Spectrum pellets!"

i personally think its a waaaay over-hyped food, and no it is NOT " the only food the gives reef keepers the chance of keeping a MI's long term". A healthy individual to begin with, a very low stress tank with lots of space to swim, excellant water conditions, and getting them the nutrients they need (sponge, turnicates, algae, small amounts of a variety of meaty sea-origin foods, etc) is what will keep them alive.

 

[csababubbles]

I kept mine going for almost five years on mostly sponge which I collected and froze in New York waters.

Paul, did you feed the sponge everyday to your old Idol? Or less often?

 

[tamarindthai]

i am total agree with this

you guys are the victims of a good marketing team. i love how everyone always points to the Spectrum products owner's tank and says "look there is an idol in his tank, it must be alive for years and years and all because all he feeds him is his New Life Spectrum pellets!"

 

[Paul B]

Csababubbles, I fed sponge almost every day. I collected the sponge and frooze it. I can collect enough in 30 minutes to feed an Idol for a year. I never fed Spectrum pellets so I have no experience with that product but I did feed a variety of other pellets, along with avacado, bananns, live worms, seaweed, and the usualm mysis etc.
You ned to feed an Idol a few times a day. I fed mine in a dish that was hooked up to an automatic feeder. The sponge I had to target feed to him because it was frozen.
My Idol got way too big for my tank.
This is him at his dish which became all coraline covered. The other disguesting picture is the sponge after it came from the sea.

 

[BCT182]

whats the deal with all these people recommending spectrum pellets? doesn't anyone bother to read the ingredients list? in my opinion I would not even consider it a good food product. tell me which of these components do you guys think is so good?

you guys are the victims of a good marketing team. i love how everyone always points to the Spectrum products owner's tank and says "look there is an idol in his tank, it must be alive for years and years and all because all he feeds him is his New Life Spectrum pellets!"

i personally think its a waaaay over-hyped food, and no it is NOT " the only food the gives reef keepers the chance of keeping a MI's long term". A healthy individual to begin with, a very low stress tank with lots of space to swim, excellant water conditions, and getting them the nutrients they need (sponge, turnicates, algae, small amounts of a variety of meaty sea-origin foods, etc) is what will keep them alive.

Sounds like your the pro. I will consult with you from here on out if I ever decide to open my mouth again. You probably should email Wetwebmedia and tell Bob Fenner that he is wrong. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/idolfaqs.htm

 

[BCT182]

By the way ace, I never said spectrum is the "ONLY" food that will keep a MI alive. Read the post before you pop off! I also said soaking a variety of different types of algae sheets in selcon is an great idea. Your recommendation of looking for a healthy fish, low stress environment, adequate swimming room and excellent water conditions applies to any fish. Yes its important to find a fish that meets all those requirements, but if that was the enough to keep a MI, a majority of people who have attempted to keep them would have been successful. The truth is most MI's die with fat bellies and continue to eat right up to there demise. I won't challange you any further, but will ask for your advice on all aspects of reefkeeping frequently as I stated in my last post, so I'll talk to ya soon.

 

[csababubbles]

wow you sound like an angry little man there bct182. fyi bob fenner is wrong on many things. for example, did you know he states that adding vitamins and essential fats to the foods we feed fish is questionable at best, and oh yeah, your hero also states that there is no need to use rodi, regular tapwater is just fine. hmmmm. fact is bob fenner is wrong on many things, but the fact is he is human and it could happen to anyone. he is a very good contributer to this hobby and brings great experience but even he can be wrong, my friend.

 

[csababubbles]

By the way ace, I never said spectrum is the "ONLY" food that will keep a MI alive. Read the post before you pop off!

all i did was "quote" exactly what you said. those words came out of your mouth, not mine.

here is your quote:
Originally Posted by BCT182
Spectrum is a must, with my moorish idols I did alot of research and found that it is the only food the gives reef keepers the chance of keeping a MI's long term.

why do you argue like you got a problem with me? can't you debate a fun topic nicely? i dont know everything but two decades of doing this does give me some experience, take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[csababubbles]

A healthy individual to begin with, a very low stress tank with lots of space to swim, excellant water conditions, and getting them the nutrients they need (sponge, turnicates, algae, small amounts of a variety of meaty sea-origin foods, etc) is what will keep them alive.

you seemed to have deleted the rest of my sentence. please read above for the whole sentence that I contributed.

also, these particular conditions are recommended for all fish like you stated, but I wrote them down because they are particularly important for moorish idols. many fish (damsels as an example) can survive horrid conditions so it would not be neccessary to provide all those conditions for them to survive. but try to place an idol in not so perfect environment and it will be doomed even more so. i have kept my idol for several years now but i have to make many concessions for its survival, far beyond just providing a particular brand of pellet food. a single example would be not introducing new tankmates once the idol has established itself in the tank. they do not take well to new fish and will cause them great stress. as you know stress is a very bad thing and could cause the early demise of many fish.

 

[rjarnold]

I'm trying to remember if I see many sponges around here when diving... probably, I just don't notice them much Do you want me to collect any for you?

Wow, when someone linked this thread I didn't realize how old it was N/M!

 

[csababubbles]

sorry wrong thread

 

[WPH]

I really enjoyed reading your thread even though it was posted a while back...From a diver perspective....Morrish Idols are normally caught in pairs they are found swimming tandem so when I catch one I will make sure to get the other and keep them together in the holding system....I find great success with mussels soaked in vita chem (cracked open) they love it!!! also fed them ogo (a macro algae seaweed tumbling in the surf) I also have a gel based recepie that was given to me by the waikiki aquarium that they use to feed their fish in their exibits...it is a great recipie and most all fish will eat them...if anyone would like me to PM this recepie I would be more than happy to...I wish your moorish Idols the best....aloha Les