Moorish idol Care? It is a very difficult fish to feed, so first let’s identify them ….
The Moorish idol is a saltwater fish with a characteristic color and shape typical of tropical fish. At first glance, it looks like a butterflyfish, but it is close to Nizadai and swims around very quickly. It is a little difficult to feed, and it is easy to get sick, so it is difficult to breed, as a member of the Nizadai, it is a little weak, and you need to be careful about swimming.
There are also problems such as the risk of eating coral. Considering these things, it is not suitable for beginners to raise, but it can be said that it is an attractive fish that one day you will want to keep. Let’s try to raise it after gaining some experience raising other fish.
- Scientific name – Zanclus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- English name – Moorish idol
- Classification – Ray-finned fish, Perciformes, Acanthuroidei, Moorish family, Moorish genus
- full length – 20cm
- temperature – 22-25 ℃
- Aquarium – 90cm
- Mixed swimming – Somewhat quiet. Be careful of mixed swimming among juveniles.
- Breeding with coral – Hard coral may peck.
What kind of fish is Moorish idol?
The Moorish idol is a fish of 1 family, one genus, and one species included in the Perciformes, Moorish idol family. A Moorish idol was also known in the past, but this is now known as a Moorish idol. At first glance, it is similar to the butterflyfish family, but it is a different family and is considered a fish of the suborder Acanthuroidei.
Depending on the picture book, it may be included in the Tangaceae family. The characteristic is that the dorsal fin is very long, and there is a black stripe pattern on the body side, and the beautiful color that the body side turns yellow, it can be said that it is a typical fish of tropical saltwater fish.
It is often regarded as an ornamental fish in Japan. Still, in the tropics, even in Japan, this species is edible in Okinawa, and it is considered quite delicious. In Japan, it is distributed over a wide area from the Pacific coast south of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture and Yamaguchi Prefectures to the Ryukyu Islands and the Ogasawara Islands tropical coral reef area is the center of the distribution.
The movie “Finding Nemo” appeared in the role of “Gill”, and it is often thought that it is famous as an ornamental fish because of its beautiful tropical fish appearance. It doesn’t seem to be very popular these days because of the risk and the tendency to get sick. Beginners want to recreate the world of “Nemo” in an aquarium, but breeding these “Gill” and “Dolly” (blue tang) is difficult for beginners, so first try breeding other fish and gaining experience. You should try from. In addition, Moorish idols, blue tangs and yellow tangs (bubbles), swim well and grow large even in captivity, so they cannot be bred in small aquariums.
Difference from Pennant Coralfish
A fish that closely resembles a Moorish idol is the pennant coralfish of the butterflyfish family. However, the pennant coralfish has a yellow caudal fin, while the Moorish idol has a black caudal fin and a white rim on the trailing edge and has orange spots on the snout. In addition, although a school bannerfish is closely related to the school bannerfish, the school bannerfish and the Moorish idol can be distinguished by the same characteristics.
Breeding environment suitable for Moorish idols
You should have at least a 90cm aquarium. Ideally, it should be bred in a 120 cm or more aquarium. Moorish idols are close to Nizadai, and they sometimes look calm and swim. Therefore, a relatively large swimming space is required.
Water quality and filtration system
The Moorish idol is a fellow fish close to Nizadai, and like the Nizadai fish, we want to raise it in clean seawater.
It can be bred in the upper filtration tank, but the recommended filtration tank is to make it an overflow tank and filter it with a sample. It can also be bred in the Berlin system, which is a system for breeding corals, but it should be noted that LPS such as Oobana coral and Kikumeishi may be eaten (described later).
Water flow
Create a stream of water using a submersible pump, etc., and try to avoid creating stagnant water in the aquarium as much as possible. When using a submersible pump, it is necessary to use a type fixed to the aquarium with a magnet, not a suction cup. This is because the type that uses a suction cup will fall off at the end of the life of the suction cup, and there is a risk of rolling up sand. If the sand is rolled up, not only will the sand fall on the coral, and the coral will die, but it may also lead to diseases such as white spot disease.
water temperature
The water temperature is indeed kept at 25 ℃. Moorish idols are susceptible to white spot disease, so it is essential to keep the water temperature constant (even for other fish, it is essential to keep the water temperature).
Suitable foods and additives for Moorish idols
Although it is omnivorous, it mainly preys on algae and attached organisms. It is advisable to feed mainly vegetable feed such as “seaweed 70” and occasionally feed compound feed such as megabyte red. Still, sometimes it is difficult to feed the compound feed, so it adheres to live rock, etc., at first. Sometimes you have to feed the creatures you eat.
Brightwell Aquatics’ additive imported by Marfeed is called “Angelixer”. Angelixer is the best additive for feeding at the introduction, supplying amino acids and proteins to fish. In addition to Moorish idols, it is ideal for fish challenging to feed, such as sakkos and butterflyfish.