# sexing the idol



## fish fever02

does anyone know how to sex the Moorish idol


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## coralbandit

Sorry to say it appears impossible!Along with long term keeping(more than one year).
Here is a link that after all the bad news says they may just change sex (like clowns and many other salt water fish),if juvinelle pairs are aquired.
Still Impossible After All These Years: Keeping Moorish Idols | Details | Articles | TFH Magazine®
You'll find the sexxing info I mentioned in the specimens and behavior section(near end).
And good luck with yours,sometimes individuals can beat the odds (but they seem stacked against you and the idol in captivity).


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## fish fever02

yeah. so far mine has done amazing. I also havnt had him long, but hopefully everything will be fine. I know people that have had them for up to 4 years. ive just been doing more maintenance to the tank to keep the parameters extremely accurate


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## coralbandit

BIG time good luck!Especially since your was already eating.
I will(again) quote Susankat though;"success is measured in years!"
Wish I had found that link before you purchased,but probly would not have swayed you.From reading that link I can only say that is fish #2 I will never get.
GOOD LUCK THOUGH AND WE ONLY CAN ONLY ACHIEVE SUCCESS FOR ALL BY TRYING WHAT OTHERS HAVE FAILED AT.


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## fish fever02

thanks bandit. ill see what happens if I lose him then I guess at least I attempted to keep an amazing fish


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> yeah. so far mine has done amazing. I also havnt had him long, but hopefully everything will be fine. I know people that have had them for up to 4 years. ive just been doing more maintenance to the tank to keep the parameters extremely accurate


Great job, I'm impressed. The odds were against you and you're beating them! I've never kept one, but my brother successfully keeps idols. He believes he has a mated pair and that one has morphed into a girl the same way clowns do. Honestly though, I'm not certain how the boy/girl thing works with idols and I doubt he knows for sure either as he tends to just wing it when it comes to that sorta thing. Half his battle was getting them on a captive diet. Space and good water is a given but from what I've read your husbandry practices are spot on. Beyond that, exercising good judgment will go a long ways...such as do not expose your thriving idols to newly purchased unquarantined fish. At this point, it's just not worth it. You have something that's very rare. Protect it.


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## Goby

Is your Idol captive bred or is it from the ocean? Is there any such thing as captive bred Moorish Idols?


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## fish fever02

from the ocean. idk of any captive bred idols. I think if there were any we wouldn't have the trouble we have with them now


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## Auban

has anyone ever tried gut loading a sponge before feeding it to morish idols?

it seems odd that they are so difficult to keep long term even when they are eating well. i would think that they need something special in their diet, like a lot of HUFA.

i know nannochloropsis algae is pretty much essential in raising some larval marine fish... raise your rotifers on yeast and larval clown fish that you feed them to will all die. raise the rotifers on nannochloropsis, and they all live. the biggest difference is the HUFA.

i wonder if morish idols have an important dietary requirement that is difficult to meet. i would think that it is likely that they do, and if we could figure out what it is, they would become much easier to keep.

hmm... got me thinking...


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## fish fever02

ive heard from a guy that would go and dive with them, he seen them eating bright green sponges all the time


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## coralbandit

Selcon my friends.Soak any food in it!
Selcon - Your Fish Stuff Store


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## fish fever02

im thinking about buying some sponges and put them in the tank and see if the Moorish will eat them.


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