Moorish Idol

The Moorish Idol, is a medium-sized fish, which looks a bit like a cross between a Heniochus and an Acanthurus. These beauties have a pure-white base colour with a large bright yellow patch on it and two broad pitch black vertical bands on it. Over their long mouth lies an orange patch with black outline and they've a very long white filament/banner on the dorsal fin.

These fish are quite peaceful to most other fish, but might haress similar looking fish. Juveniles are often found in small groups of 2-3 individuals, where adults live mostly solitary or in pairs and sometimes in large schools. In an aquarium they can best be kept alone unless your tank is large enough to house a group or a proven pair can be found. They're real omnivores but feed mainly on encrusting animals like sponges and sea squirts. This makes them quite hard to wean onto aquarium food and they can best be placed in a tank covered in sponges until they accept alternative food. Feed them a varied diet of frozen en live meaty foods, but also make sure to include high quality algae based pellets or flakes, to make this fish really thrive!