need an idea marine gods

[mikej2336]

i went to my LFS here and found a moorish idol and to my understanding this fish is really hard to keep and im only a ROOKIE is there any truth about this guys? plus, i want the whole crew of the movie "finding nemo" like the royal gramma basslet, black spotted puffer, moorish idol, 2 clownfish, regal tang, yellow tang and i'll add yellow tail damsel coz of her color..now my question would be this, what will be the sequence in buying them? i have 75g bow..thanks n advncd. marine gods esp. biff and all the rest its been a big help readin the forums here..

[dustin_P74]

moorish idols should be left in the ocean and a regal tang will be two big for a 75g, and i would skip putting any damsel in your tank, they are bastards

[mikej2336]

wat will be my starter fish then?

[Oscarsdad608]

Just send your money to me. If you buy a moorish idol it will die. I don't think any puffers are really reef safe and a regal tang will get way to big for your tank.

[dustin_P74]

clowns are always good starters and the yellow tang wouldnt hurt, but it might outgrow the 75 also, and i would pass on the puffer unless you wanted a predator tank and i dont think thats what your going for

[cgoodman381]

The whole finding nemo 'crew' wont do well.

To summarize what the 'gods' will say;
Dont buy the moorish idol.
The whole crew is to much for your tank.
I dont think the puffer would get along with em.
You could probably go with the clowns, yellow tang, and royal
You forgot about the shrimp (pepe or something)

[mikej2336]

is the moorish idol same as Heniochus Black & White Butterflyfish

[McCrary]

Heniochus are called the poor mans moorish idol because they are usually not as expensive and are easier to keep, but they both require tanks larger than a 75. I kept a moorish idol for about a year, until it outgrew my 110, they are not easy fish and can be very finicky to get feeding. When you get more experience and upgrade your tank to something more in the 6' long range than they can be a very good fish, but most people simply don't have the system for them. Not to mention that they tend to pick at coral.

[Bifferwine]

Definitely skip the moorish idol. Not a fish for a beginner, or a small tank. McCrary -- you are the only person I know of that has managed to keep one for more than a couple months!

A 75 gallon tank is too small for all those fish.

Puffers are not reef safe, but if you want to go with a fish only tank, then you could keep a puffer.

You could keep the yellow tang and regal tang, but they'd outgrow your tank eventually. Plus, regal tangs are very prone to ich, and are usually difficult fish to keep also since they get sick so easily. And once they get sick, your whole tank's got it. I would not put a regal tang in there, but it's possible.

[McCrary]

When I did decide to get one, there were no other fish that could be considered aggressive, I had the resources to be able to pick one from dozens that was small and in very good health upon arrival. I have had a pretty good amount of experience with tricky fish, including Regal Angels and was able to devote the time to get it eating. Rob actually got the fish from me and was able to find it a new home. This was when he had just opened and a couple months later I asked about the fish and he said it was still alive and doing fine. So, they seem to be fairly hardy once acclimated and eating, but they don't seem to compete well for food and are not good shippers. There are a couple guys on RC who have great success and have them for years and years before they die of old age or whatever. A trick seems to be to get "soft and moist" pellets and put a dish down at the bottom, use an airline to target the dish and feed the idol, so that they don't get out competed. Keeping them in a pair was also speculated as another factor that could help them, but I have no idea how true that is.