Morish Idol vs. Heniochus Butterfly

clown boy

clown boy

Active Member
I am trying to decide what my next fish is to be, and I love Moorish Idols, but I heard that they are hard to keep. I noticed that the Heniochus Butterfly looks similer. I want to gather information on both. I have a 135 gallon long reef tank. The inhabitants are:
1 Purple Tang
1 Blue Hippo Tang
1 Foxface
1 Possum Wrasse
1 Orange Hogfish
2 Maroon Clownfish
1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp
1 Blue Urchin
Lots of Coral, Live Rock, and Live Sand
Thank you all in advance!
 
clown boy

clown boy

Active Member
What I am wondering is will it bother my corals? Will I not be able to get an anemone in the future?
 
aquatics24

aquatics24

Member
you kno im not too educated on that, but i have done research because i am looking to get 3 or even 5 of the butterflies and i have found that they wont harm your corals, but then i was told, nothing is 100% so you should watch for a couple of days
 
L

lpuzon

Guest
neither, henis are mean. i have one, i shld know. esp. :mad: with new additions to the tank. but with me, he always wanted to be touched!
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
I guess you didn't search for threads here about Idols.
A Moorish Idol won't live long enough to bother your coral. I've been keeping marine fish for 25 years, I showed fish for 5 years, worked for a large fish distributor for 7 1/2. I know over 300 lfs owners, several marine fish show judges, and, 8 or so public aquarium curators, But I've only ever met one person who kept Moorish Idols alive for more than 6 months.
 
hifi

hifi

Member
I know someone who has a idol ,it's a beautiful fish, but he had to take him out of his tank with corals in it because he started nipping at them. The idol is a fare sized fish so I don't thing it would take hime long to finish of a coral. He got lucky the idol started eating as soon as he got him home so its really healthy. I like the idol better but its a gamble if he will eat food & Im sure he'll go after your corals. I voted Butterfly because your corals stand a better chance
 
hifi

hifi

Member
:notsure: You know Im not really sure I know he had for at least 1 year, its huge the long fin is crazy long. After it went after his coral he put it in a tank with his eel & some sponge growing on his live rock, they like the sponge.
 
hifi

hifi

Member
BTY he's a aquarium Engineere, he knows his stuff. Plus he addmitted he got luky with it becasue it started eating right away.
 
L

lpuzon

Guest
Originally Posted by My Way
Did you honestly think one person here would vote for the Idol?


ahahaha right?
 
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