Moorish Idols are reef safe???

[quazi]

I read that moorish idols are reef safe.  Does anyone have experience with them in a reef tank?  I thought they ate sponges, polyps and tube worms. ???  

 

If you are interested in one, check out:

 

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/order1.html

 

They have them for $29.99 including shipping (with a $75 minimum order.)

 

Has anyone else dealt with Saltwaterfish.com??

[michaelg]

Mike- am not sure if you are aware that the survivability of these animals is extremely poor- thus they are seldom seen in a reef tank.  They starve to death as no one has figured out what their specific diet is....They can frequently be found quite cheaply as they are found in schools in the wild and likely pretty easy to catch.  I would never recommend them to someone.

[dgasmd]

Michael is right about survival rates been pretty low. Nevertheless, there is quite a few people that are able to keep them for extended periods of time (2 year+). As far as their diet, it is well known they eat sponges, veggies, and just about anything else. Rarely if ever do they pick on SPS or LPS, but have been known to pick on some of the softies.

I did an extensive search in RC and the concensus seems that they require large amounts of swiming room. Most people that keep them have 180+ gal of open water for them to swim. They also seem to be pretty easily intimidated by other fish. The key is to find an specimen that is eating well, swiming about, picking at things and looking around curious. They have the best survival rate as low as it may be. This is a fish I would NEVER get mail order.

Like I said, there a replenty of people keeping them, but you just don't hear about it much since like me they get crucified in RC when even mentioning the name of the fish. Do a search there and you'll find plenty of good info after you get passed the hostile replies to some posts.