One coral, One fish.

[unibob]

I have a frag Jerry...pm me for details.

Pm sent.

 

[unibob]

Moorish Idols are awesome! But, all they really eat is sponges and they are extremely hard to keep healthy for that reason alone. You would need a couple tanks to keep growing out sponges to feed it enough or it will perish unfortunately.

Could they be fed ocean nutrition angel formula? Says it is made up of mostly sponge.

 

[spyd]

I was wondering the same thing myself. I know they will waste away without it though as that is their main food source.

 

[BIGSHOW]

A lot of nice corals in there.  The Jack-o-Lantern is nice....I would love a piece of that

I have a SSC colony and I am suppose to be getting a few more colonies this month....I hope.

The fire and ice enchinata I have a small frag, have had it for about a year now, slow grower for me.

Nice eye candy thread....keep it coming

 

[Poseidon]

I was wondering the same thing myself. I know they will waste away without it though as that is their main food source.

i really want Bill from IA to chime in here... he was the one telling me they thrive on new life spectrum....

 

[AdInfinitum]

Put one in a nicely stocked reef tank and they will find all kinds of polyps and corals to snack on...they love the yellow sponge that grows on the undersides of rock and the white sea squirts as well but they'll happily have a go at anything fleshy that sits on a rock....

So when are you setting up your FOWLER?

As for wish list...

i could make room in my tank for these...

 

[Darryl_V]

Bill has gotten lots of chalices lately similar to superman

 

[Bill@IA]

[quote author=spyd link=topic=3191.msg26394#msg26394 date=1348577073]
I was wondering the same thing myself. I know they will waste away without it though as that is their main food source.

i really want Bill from IA to chime in here... he was the one telling me they thrive on new life spectrum....
[/quote]

Thank you for that Brandon. I have more than a few customers that still have their Moorish Idols. Getting them to thrive wasn't hard once they gave them the right foods. Turns out the real problem is that the Moorish Idol is a bit of a grump and does like to nibble on Coral. I have taken back and resold one Idol mainly because it got too bossy and had to be removed.

As you saw in my shop I can get them eating PE Mysis but long term, for this fish in particular, I still put my trust in the New Life Spectrum pellet. ....and have a lot of proof they can be kept.

If you want a little more reading here is an excerpt from Wet Web Media echoing my success..........


From Bob Fenner's site, just a small sample of what Bob & his mods have to say with regards to feeding Moorish Idol in captivity.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/idolfaqs.htm

<Yes... to sing its praises once again, Spectrum pelleted foods really seem to be a/the "trick" here... Accepted readily and completely nutritious. BobF>

<<EXCELLENT! Of the few successes I have heard about concerning these fish, New Life Spectrum foods have played a key role>>

<<Good signs…but likely not good enough. Just “eating” is not enough with this fish as most will still decline. I think there is something about their diet/dietary requirements that we don’t yet understand…although, there has been anecdotal proof that specimens that will feed on New Life Spectrum pellets may be fulfilling that unknown requirement>>

My LFS is also trying to feed him New Life Spectrum Pellets at my request, and he is starting to show interest.
<<This will probably be key to successfully keeping this fish…along with housing it in a proper environment>>

<<It is not… Getting these fish to eat is not atypical…getting them to thrive/survive the long-term, is. If you don’t have it now, I very much suggest you obtain the Spectrum pelleted food (small [1mm] pellets)>>

I have had two Moorish Idols for a little over a year. They have both grown in size and eat a wide variety of food mainly Spectrum Thera A pellets.
<Ah, yes... have seen Pablo Tepoot's Zanclus... almost bulging at the seams on this food>

<<It’s not so much a matter of getting them to eat...but more a problem of providing the “necessary” nutrition. Many a Moorish Idol has seemed to be feeding well only to die from apparent malnutrition, or secondary disease/infection brought on by malnutrition. But on the bright side, there appears to be anecdotal proof that the pelleted foods from New Life Spectrum can/do provide the necessary nutritional requirements for these (and many/most other) fishes. If you choose to persist in your pursuit of these fishes I highly recommend you give the Spectrum foods a try>>


Enjoy!!

 

[AdInfinitum]

I bought a large container of the spectrum pellets from Bill a little while ago and it is one of the only dry foods that I use now.  Fish all like them and I think adding them and the PE mysis to my food selection have helped with the Sohal's agression and soft coral destroying.

 

[davesolo29]

I have been using NLS for years.  The only thing i ever gave to my tropheus and petrochromis.  why change now?

 

[koop]

for my fish it would be a blue powder tang its the reason I got into saltwater ( might be getting tonight just wait for the call iI hope ) for coral is a hard one but I think I would go with orange sun coral

 

[teebone110]

I know IA had a few nice powder blues, for $29.99, its a tough fish to keep tho

 

[Darryl_V]

Wow thats a crazy price.

 

[spyd]

That price is crazy good!!! Plus, I saw his Powder Blues and they are in excellent condition. Good size too. 4" or so. Can't go wrong at $30!!!!

 

[dale]

why r they hard to keep?

 

[Duke]

why r they hard to keep?

i think its because they can be considered ich magnets.

 

[dale]

ahhh,., no thanks...

 

[Poseidon]

so are blue hippos or regal tangs.... there usally considered worse than powders... easy fix... get a cleaner wrasse.... i had ich on my tang all the time... i had a guy come down and he told me to get a cleaner wrasse... havent seen ich since i did...

 

[Duke]

a cleaner wrasse isnt going to get rid of ich its only going to remove the visible cysts from the fish which is only one of a few stages of the ich parasite, there will always be ich in that tank as long as theres fish in it, the only cure is to go fishless for 2-3months to break the parasites cycle.

 

[Darryl_V]

Right....I would say its near impossible to rid a tank of Ich...its almost always present just waiting for the fishes immune system to be comprimised by poor conditions or other stress and than it comes out.

so are blue hippos or regal tangs.... there usally considered worse than powders... easy fix... get a cleaner wrasse.... i had ich on my tang all the time... i had a guy come down and he told me to get a cleaner wrasse... havent seen ich since i did...

Not true.....powder blue tangs are worse for ich.  And I agree with Duke...a cleaner wrasse may help a little but will not solve any problem.