Morish Idol

[jegel]

Whats the survival rate like with these guys??
I have a book that talks a little about them as having a low survival rate and they don't belong in tanks.
The book is a little old and has some out dated info so I don't really feel I should trust it.
Any more recent info on them???

[Alice]

I know of 1 (one) person who has one. He bought it at a trusted LFS, they got it as a trade in and it was eating prepared foods. Most "fish people in the know" still say Moorish Idols have very poor to non-existant survival rate and are not for reef tanks. Heniochis, "Poor Man's Idol", which are hardier and look very similar might be worth a try but they aren't recommended for reef tanks either.

~Alice

[Spanky]

There's a rumor that the ones collected from Hawaii have a much better survival rate and we have a old knowledgeable friend that swears that the only way to keep them is in schools of 4 or more. All that said, he has 8 that he's had in a 800gal SPS reef tank for over 12 years. No other fish in the tank and he runs a nuclear powered UV.

Shrug
Jerel

[Alice]

All that said, he has 8 that he's had in a 800gal SPS reef tank for over 12 years. No other fish in the tank and he runs a nuclear powered UV.

Yowza, that's neat!

Just goes to show, never say never. Then again, I don't know many people with 800 gallon tanks