Moorish Idol

[HisKid]

Man I am so happy, I just brought home two Moorish Idol from my LFS. Well it wasn't really local, but it sure made it worth the drive! They are in pristine shape too! I have been looking for one of these fish since I started the hobby. Everyone says that they are hard to care for, but I still wanted them anyway. Plus these two have already started eating!!

I bought some shrimp for them to munch on, but I thought why not try giving them some frozen brine shrimp and see what happens. I wish I could say that they ate hardily, but I can't. Still, after a few minutes of watching them swim between the brine, they finally started eating it.

I plan to try plain old SSM dry food in the morning to see how they act. It is the staple breakfast, I always give my fish, cause it is enriched food. My other fish always take the SSM quickly. Even my Tangs like it.

I bought two of the three my LFS had today. They were a steal at 42.00 each. I hope they acclimate ok, I am watching them like a hawk... ok, so no I am not… but they are very intriguing to watch. These two are inseparable. I hear that they are schooling fish, so I bought two. The other one had a lump under its skin at the base of its dorsal fin, so I left that one alone, otherwise I may have bought all three.

That is all for now, I will post more on this thread as they acclimate.

 

[Anonymous]

I wish you luck...you're going to need it!

 

[cyberpanther]

A lot of reefers (but not all) think Morish idols are not for the home aquarium due to the extremely poor survival rates even when properly acclimated to your tank. However, 3-4 years ago I must admit I had purchased one after searching for a healthy-looking specimen for a long time. I acclimated it slowly, but normally and it lived for about a year before it croaked suddenly and unexpectedly (which is not that unheard of). My tank had near perfect water conditions and no other afflicted fish, just the dead Morish Idol. In order to ensure better survival rates for both your Morishs I would try to find some more species specific food for them. That seems to be a common problem with fish such as this, un-enriched or unfortified brine (ex. not soaked in selcon or similar) won't cut it for the Morish in the long run. I would look for a more approriate food then just flake food or brine...just my 2 cents. Also try varying your food and it is VERY IMPORTANT to provide A LOT OF LIVE ROCK for grazing. Good luck and let us know if about the survival rates)we wish you luck.


P.S. THE BIGGER THE TANK THE BETTER

 

[EmilyB]

Moos need a big tank and coral to munch. That's a trade off for most people.

The MI I have was almost two years with a previous owner and is now 16 months with me. She is fat, demanding and makes sure I have no polyp extension..... :wink:

Get her eating nori and PE mysis for sure. I feed TONS and have a huge skimmer to compensate.

 

[Anonymous]

Although I have had no experience and probably wont until they (researchers or hobbyists) find a better way to feed these guys I wont get one...Ive heard enough stories..Ive also heard success stories as well...In short I want to wish you Luck Hiskid...Youre adding two and I hope it works out...

 

[Jolieve]

I'm with these guys. These are absolutely incredible animals, but I'm not brave enough to try one until the technology has advanced enough for them to be rated "easy to keep".

Good luck to you,
J.

 

[samw]

Moos need a big tank and coral to munch. That's a trade off for most people.

The MI I have was almost two years with a previous owner and is now 16 months with me. She is fat, demanding and makes sure I have no polyp extension..... :wink:

Get her eating nori and PE mysis for sure. I feed TONS and have a huge skimmer to compensate.

Previous owner here. Hey Emily, you are giving Moo back to me when I get my big house and big tank in about 5-10 years right? Just joking.

 

[Fastmarc]

... and it lived for about a year before it croaked suddenly and unexpectedly (which is not that unheard of). My tank had near perfect water conditions and no other afflicted fish, just the dead Morish Idol.

I had a similar experience too. Had one that ate well and looked fat, then after a year, just up and died. All other tank inhabitants were fine.
I guess the 'curse' got it.
I didn't buy this fish. A fellow reefer gave it to me.
As beautiful as they look, I don't enjoy watching creatures in my care die, so knowing of the poor survival rate, I didn't get another.

 

[Anonymous]

That seems to be the story I hear with these fish. They just die real suddenly and without any obvious warning. A beautiful fish that is best left in the ocean.

 

[HisKid]

Both my Idols died within 24 hours. They ate a meal of mysis shrimp and then began to display signs that something was amiss. I watched them carefully in my O-Tank and they began to develop what looked like parasites flaking off inside their mouths. I purchased a cleaner shrimp and placed it in the tank, but it was a vain effort. The Idol’s took notice and then steered clear of the little guy.

They refused to eat anything that night. I tried everything, including live black worms, which all the books say they relish. After looking online I performed a freshwater dip. They seemed to have a lot of fight, but the next morning, they were both dead… Anyone want to buy a slightly used cleaner shrimp? LOL…

I took my dead fish & water samples back the LFS and they credited my account. I did find out after much searching that they died of mouth rot. I thought mouth rot was a freshwater-only disease. I have heard of mouth rot during my years as a freshwater enthusiast, but never witnessed it before now.

Has anyone had any experience with this disease? How do you cure it?

Should I recycle my observation tank? If so, should I toss the live rock and substrate?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about the Idols, but hopefully this will help keep others from buying them. They belong in the ocean.

 

[Jolieve]

I can't help on that one either, and I am sorry to hear about what happened to your moorish idols, but I agree with Soulfigter, they belong in the ocean.

J.

 

[GSchiemer]

I don't know what killed your fish, but it's unlikely that both fish died within 24 hours of "mouth rot." It had to be something more traumatic, such as the freshwater bath. Frankly I've never seen a freshwater bath return a weak or sick fish to health. It only exacerbated the condition. A better approach would have been to quarantine the fish in a hyposaline environment. An even better approach would have been to not buy them in the first place.

Greg

 

[HisKid]

Thanks for the upheaval of support… I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t share the sentiment. I think that all marine animals that live in the wild can be acclimated to the right kind of captive system. There is no good scientific reason why they shouldn’t.

All – I keep my observation tank in a hypo-saline condition all the time (1.009). I observe my new animals for 3 weeks and when I introduce them to any of my systems, I do it over several hours, mixing target water with current environment water a little at a time, so they are not shocked. Up until this point I have had a 100% success rate. So I know it was not my observation tank water chemistry. Plus this was verified by my LFS.

When I freshwater dip, I place detoxified, ph balanced freshwater in my specimen container and hang it inside my observation tank for 30 minutes before I introduce a fish. The fish is limited to a 10 minute bath and then placed back into my o-tank. In my experience, this method has been very effective when treating fish for flukes or ich. These parasites peel off like sunburned skin. Then I sterilize my specimen container and wait for the next cycle (once a day). I have never had a disease so bad that I’ve had to resort to copper treatments so I don’t have any. Most of the time with ich, I can simply place them in the o-tank and dip them for about two weeks, and just watch them the last week. I have never lost a fish to ich.

So now that I’ve laid it all out, can anyone tell me more about what I may have done wrong? I really don’t want to repeat the mistake. Oh, and that junk about Idol’s belong in the ocean is not an answer, it’s a cop-out. So if anyone else has something constructive, please share, I am all eyes.

 

[Anonymous]

Moorish Idols are notoriously bad shippers, iirc...and that includes the trip home from the LFS. Every time they are moved from a system it's a crapshoot whether they'll survive the week...and I can't think of any technology or practice that is going to fix this. In addition, water conditions, including your QT, need to be somewhere above pristine. That's just the way it is.

I agree with Greg...it's unlikely they both died of mouth rot within 24 hours. In any event, I am sorry for your loss.

 

[HisKid]

I agree with Greg...it's unlikely they both died of mouth rot within 24 hours. In any event, I am sorry for your loss.

Ok, can you explain saltwater mouth rot to me? All I know is what I have already described. Again other than salinity, my levels are all pristine.

Why is mouth rot unlikely to kill fish in under 24hrs? What else could it be? I am assuming mouth rot because of the symptoms I described earlier in this thread. Again, I am just trying to understand more about what could have caused the loss, not draw attention to the fish in question.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with Greg, your fish did not die of mouth rot.
Your fish died because you are dealing with a species that a vast majority of the time does not adapt to being kept in a glass box. You, being completely ignorant of the track record that this fish posseses, are trying to reconcile the cause of your loss. However, what the exact malady or cause of your fish's demise was, is in this case inconsequential. If it wasn't one thing, it would have been another in very short order. This is one of those fish best left in the ocean.

Regards
Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I think that all marine animals that live in the wild can be acclimated to the right kind of captive system. There is no good scientific reason why they shouldn’t.

This is a bit disturbing to read. There are all sorts of reasons why certain fish very rarely adapt to captive conditions. The primary one is diet, and the inability we have to feed them correctly in captivity.

Did I read right that you freswater dipped your fish for 10 minutes? That stress alone could have killed them overnight. I've never heard of dipping a fish that long in FW.

 

[RobertoVespucci]

I'm curious if the one you left behind is still alive?

 

[Anonymous]

Your enthuasism is good, but your refusal to accept the wisdom of much more experienced reef keepers is foolish. Yes, every animal could be kept in captivity if it were possible to provide for them the same conditions as they have in the wild. This, however, is not possible at the time, and probably won't be for a long while, if ever. Your introducing your fish to hyposaline conditions so abruptly and then returning them to normal conditions in a matter of hours is a very poor practice. The swing back up to a higher S.G. is especially hard on the fish. Also, the use of a freshwater dip for such a long time is also very unhealthy for fish. Like I said before, you have a lot of enthuasism and could become a very good reefkeeper if you would develop the patience discipline to thouroughly research the husbandry of fish, learn which fish shouldn't be kept, and also learn the proper quarantine and treatment methods, and take the advice of the people that have been in this hobby a while.