Moorish Idol

I saw a Moorish Idol in my LFS today. What a beautiful fish. Someone was thinking about buying it so they fed it some frozen mysis and it went after it like crazy.

Anybody have luck keeping one for more than a year or two? I've read that even if they eat they will still waste away because they aren't getting their nutrient requirements.

Are they reef safe?

 

DO NOT BUY THIS FISH. They are a butterfly fish so they are not reef safe. They will eat soft coral, stoney coral, tube worms, and other sessile inverts that I may be forgetting. They will not survive. If you want something like this, people occasionally have success with keeping Black and White Heniochus in reef setups, but thats only once in a while. Heniochus look very similar to Moorish Idols. They MI will likely not survive short term and almost certainly won't survive long term.

 

They are most definitely not reef safe. You'll also need a heck of a bigger tank than a 72g
And as stated their survival rates are poor at best; but some have had success

 

I agree with them, very hard to keep, I dont recommend getting one. Luna

 

Thanks. I wasn't thinking about buying it for my 72g. It was more of a thought for a future FOWLR tank if anybody figured out how to keep them long term. The books I've read said they are best left in the sea. Was wondering if anybody had figured out how to keep them and meet their nutritional requirements. I believe I read they ate sponges.

 

Extremely well put. I love the moorish idol but I'd deffinately settle for the banner fish (Heniochus).