New Fish Challenge: The Moorish Idol

Why do I always do this to myself. I get served with another giant plate that I didn’t order. But for some reason, I do want to eat it. That’s how I feel about the Moorish Idol, and its daunting task of keeping it in an enclosed system. It is something that I am now fully engaged in, thanks to my reefing drive!

There are very few reefers that have been able to keep these glamorous fish for more than 2 years in captivity. A task that is not achievable, so far, by most intermediate reefers. But fear not folks, I will be determined to fully succeed.

First, I needed to make sure that it had enough swimming and personal space (320 gallons for one specimen.. check). As well, had to make sure that it was eating in the LFS’s holding tank (ate mysis without a problem.. check). Finally, provide enough nutrition for it to thrive for a long, long time (isn’t why I am doing this post?).

So what does it eat in the wild? Could I find its nutrition somewhere on a store shelf? Here is some research data showing the Zarclus cornutus’s (MI) strict diet in the wild: Full Chart Here

Diet %	Food I	Food II	Food III	Prey Stage
84.50 %	zoobenthos	sponges/tunicates	sponges	juv./adults
11.30 %	plants	other plants	benthic algae/weeds	n.a./others

(source FishBase.gr)

Almost 85% of its food diet revolves around sponges, 11% algae, and the rest are benthic inverts. So that poses a dilemma, how do you provide a specific sponge diet to this fish? I managed to supply the 11% of the algae intake, covered in the form of Veggie Flakes. But what about sponge?

Hikari, a leading manufacturer of frozen and flake food for the industry, has a product that contains a mixture of many essential ingredients for picky eaters (such as the MI, and angels), which includes sponges. Here is an excerpt from their website:

MEGA-MARINE™ ANGEL Is High In Freshwater Helping Your Fish Purge Salt From Their System & Digest The Food More Completely With Less Energy – Expect Faster Growth & More Vibrant Colors.

Sponge, sea algae, sea urchin, sea worms, ocean plankton, krill, shrimp, clam, mussel, squid, spirulina, algae extract, cod liver oil, vitamins and minerals.

But is that enough?

Since I already have a good population of green, white, red, yellow, and orange sponges growing within the rocks, I do not think that they can grow fast enough to provide the Zarclus cornutus the necessary self-sustaining food. So, what I am seriously considering, is to stock up the reef with as many sponges that I can find at the LFS. I haven’t seen a MI eat a sponge before so the rate of consumption is still unknown to me, but if I supplement the reef with enough sponge (with the regular feedings of the Hiakri Sponge Food, I can possibly sustain the levels of required nutrition for this amazing specimen.

Will update you all with how this is progressing as we move forward. Currently he is eating mysis (which he loves, but i fear gives him very little nutritional value), and HBH Veggie Flakes (again, he gulps these with the fastest eating fish). I have to train him to eat the Hikari, as he is not crazy about it yet.