Aquarium hobby sucess rates?

[AC1211]

It would be interesting to know what peoples sucess rates in the aquarium hobby are for both fish and corals? Consider sucess a year with growth of the organism or two years of slow growth. In this senario I have noted about an 84% sucess rate between freshwater and saltwater tanks that I have kept. (Note rate would be higher but aggressive freshwater fishes territoriality was tough to manage)
I believe hat tracking sucess rates can lead us to see both improvement and what not to keep again (for example if your on your 20th hammer coral and you only have two sucessfully then something in your reef does not suit hammer corals and you should not try them for an extended period of time.

What are your individual sucess rates (estimate) and what do you keep?

 

[Big G]

Bump

 

[AC1211]

It would be interesting to know what peoples sucess rates in the aquarium hobby are for both fish and corals? Consider sucess a year with growth of the organism or two years of slow growth. In this senario I have noted about an 84% sucess rate between freshwater and saltwater tanks that I have kept. (Note rate would be higher but aggressive freshwater fishes territoriality was tough to manage)
I believe hat tracking sucess rates can lead us to see both improvement and what not to keep again (for example if your on your 20th hammer coral and you only have two sucessfully then something in your reef does not suit hammer corals and you should not try them for an extended period of time.

What are your individual sucess rates (estimate) and what do you keep?

I guess no one tracks there sucess rates

 

[LesPoissons]

I dont think anyone tracks this. Not only are there a lot of factors that could cause a loss in a tank that are very individual to each tank or species- most refers rely heavily on research to prevent loss, and usually know the cause and what to avoid or change for the future. Theres a lot of tracking data that goes into reefing, I dont think analyzing your own percentages is common.
Additionally, most reefers with healthy tanks may try a coral once or twice and if it doenst work they move on. No one would buy 20 of the same corals or fish if they kept dying, so most percentages of sucess for individual species would probably be 100% or 50% or maybe 33%. No idea how you are coming up with 84% so not sure what you are asking or how you are determining this percentage.

 

[Ernie C]

I don’t know what my success rate over all is, but I’ve been at it for over 20 years starting with a 30 gallon hang on back filter to a 55, 270, 90, 100 and finally now a Red Sea reefer 350. I’ve had ups and downs, lost interest, then obsessed again. I have to say that even now I’m still learning but I’m still in the hobby and so I’d say I’ve been pretty successful overall. As far as livestock, I’ve had my green bubble for about 20 years now. He’s seen his share of ups and downs but pretty happy at the moment.

 

[AC1211]

I dont think anyone tracks this. Not only are there a lot of factors that could cause a loss in a tank that are very individual to each tank or species- most refers rely heavily on research to prevent loss, and usually know the cause and what to avoid or change for the future. Theres a lot of tracking data that goes into reefing, I dont think analyzing your own percentages is common.
Additionally, most reefers with healthy tanks may try a coral once or twice and if it doenst work they move on. No one would buy 20 of the same corals or fish if they kept dying, so most percentages of sucess for individual species would probably be 100% or 50% or maybe 33%. No idea how you are coming up with 84% so not sure what you are asking or how you are determining this percentage.

The 84 is my sucess rate across 2 tanks with the note that some fish simply never did well on the freshwater side.

Idk it just seems to me that people should take note of how consistantly well they are doing.

I guess the end result matters more than what it took to get there

 

[Paul B]

This is a tough one, too many variables. I think I have about a 98% success rate with fish because they almost always die only of old age. The other few percent jump out. Never from disease. You have to keep a tank long enough to know the lifespan of fish.
Corals I don't do as well. Now I do very well I think as I moved to a new house a year ago ( I brought everything with me in tubs including the rocks, gravel and water) and totally revamped my lighting and now I use 100% NSW which I couldn't do before.

I can't judge my success rate here but it is not 100% because i did lose one or two corals so far, but all my SPS are growing like crazy. I only have maybe 9 or 10 of those. The LPS rate is about 95% because I did lose my pulsing zinnias.

This guy so far is over 10 years old


These spawning fireclowns are about 28 but they can live into their 30s.



I keep queen anthius, mandarins, Janss pipefish, bluestripe pipefish possum wrasses, hippo tang and a bunch of things that I don't know what they are but I prefer less common fish

 

[dwest]

I’m having a had time understanding what a success criteria might be, especially for corals. For example, I’ve had corals die for sure. But I’ve also given away lots of frags over the years.

 

[andrewkw]

I just looked at pictures from my main display from 1 year ago. I've lost 2 colonies (Hammer and Elegance). The hammer actually melted pretty recently and it was somewhat concerning since I rarely lose an established coral. There was no obvious cause. It struggled for maybe 4 months before actually dying. The elegance was consumed by sponge growth on the actual skeleton. I let it get too bad before trying to clean it up. I have no idea how many colonies I have in my tank but I would say at least 50 which would be 96% success over the last year. I had the hammer about 2-3 years but I had the elegance much longer. The elegance is dead now, but it lived for at least 5 probably more years, survived a long distance move ect. It's a failure because it's no longer with me, but I did have it thrive for a long time.

I also lost at least 2 frags but probably more. I am less concerned with losing frags as sometimes they just don't adapt, or they get knocked over, or the most common they get overgrown by something else. To me anyway most of these things are less concerning then an overdose of alkalinity due to a dosing pump error or worse forgetting to refill the bottles ect. - The point I'm making here is there are different levels of failure besides alive / dead, or even thriving / existing.

I recently had my blue throat trigger get stuck in the rocks. This would have been pretty tough to avoid unless you really plan out not only your rock work but the size of all fish. She was not full grown so a larger trigger may not have gotten stuck, but an older trigger may not live as long as well. I feel like this fish death was less my fault then the above but I also feel worse about it.

I don't keep stats but I do photograph my reef every single month at least once and shoot a video. I do go back and check them and see "oh wow this piece really grew" or "whatever happened to...". If you start at the beginning this may be easier to do, but for instance I have a mushroom that I originally got back in 2005 that still pops up from time to time. The colony is long gone but there is always at least 1 or 2 hanging around somewhere in the rocks. I have a ballpark idea for most pieces but not everything.

 

[AC1211]

What might seem wierd to me is that I have noticed much higher sucess rates in saltwater aquaria than freshwater aquaria. Including in my own tanks. The mid to high 90s I am being told here seems to somewhat confirm that. A bit wierd that freshwater did worse than saltwater, perhaps its the equipment or the issues with managing aggression on the freshwater side but why freshwater is lower than saltwater might be the opposite of what is usually thought perhaps.

 

[AC1211]

This is a tough one, too many variables. I think I have about a 98% success rate with fish because they almost always die only of old age. The other few percent jump out. Never from disease. You have to keep a tank long enough to know the lifespan of fish.
Corals I don't do as well. Now I do very well I think as I moved to a new house a year ago ( I brought everything with me in tubs including the rocks, gravel and water) and totally revamped my lighting and now I use 100% NSW which I couldn't do before.

I can't judge my success rate here but it is not 100% because i did lose one or two corals so far, but all my SPS are growing like crazy. I only have maybe 9 or 10 of those. The LPS rate is about 95% because I did lose my pulsing zinnias.

This guy so far is over 10 years old


These spawning fireclowns are about 28 but they can live into their 30s.



I keep queen anthius, mandarins, Janss pipefish, bluestripe pipefish possum wrasses, hippo tang and a bunch of things that I don't know what they are but I prefer less common fish

High sucess rates

Good sample size too

 

[ThunderGoose]

What I'd love to see is what is the overall success rate for certain species. For exampl I know feather stars are (nearly?) impossible but how about filefish? I've lost two - one swam into a powerhead! The other disappeared during a mysterious fish mass disappearance phase. Do I try again?

 

[AC1211]

What I'd love to see is what is the overall success rate for certain species. For exampl I know feather stars are (nearly?) impossible but how about filefish? I've lost two - one swam into a powerhead! The other disappeared during a mysterious fish mass disappearance phase. Do I try again?

I wish there was a way for fishkeeper to report it and before you obtained a species you could juat check your phone and see oh wait this fish does poorly in captivity. It could help with bad impulse buys

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

I guess no one tracks there sucess rates

Probably because you are also asking for a failure rate

For every reefer that has had corals. Has had extensive coral reef tanks in the past.

And are in the process of getting a new system up and running. Say have taken a hiatus.

Those people have killed every coral they have had. With a failure rate of 100%.

And I suspect a LOT of experienced reefers have gone through this. Probably most.

I would also assume that virtually every experienced reefer has had at least one tank that has crashed. I do not think that there are very many experienced reefers, are running their very first tank right now.

Maybe this is why not everyone has come rushing to take your success survey.

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

What might seem wierd to me is that I have noticed much higher sucess rates in saltwater aquaria than freshwater aquaria. Including in my own tanks. The mid to high 90s I am being told here seems to somewhat confirm that. A bit wierd that freshwater did worse than saltwater, perhaps its the equipment or the issues with managing aggression on the freshwater side but why freshwater is lower than saltwater might be the opposite of what is usually thought perhaps.

Same point regarding freshwater

Virtually every reefer that has moved from freshwater to salt water, and no longer has a freshwater system, has killed everything that they have put into their past freshwater tanks. 100% failure rate.

This is kind of like asking a sexually active woman with an IUD for 5 years how many abortions she’s had. Which is probably close to 60. She doesn’t want to talk about that.

 

[Jon Fishman]

 

[AC1211]

Probably because you are also asking for a failure rate

For every reefer that has had corals. Has had extensive coral reef tanks in the past.

And are in the process of getting a new system up and running. Say have taken a hiatus.

Those people have killed every coral they have had. With a failure rate of 100%.

And I suspect a LOT of experienced reefers have gone through this. Probably most.

I would also assume that virtually every experienced reefer has had at least one tank that has crashed. I do not think that there are very many experienced reefers, are running their very first tank right now.

Maybe this is why not everyone has come rushing to take your success survey.

Perhaps I can refraise this to this point then after keeping a coral or a fish sucessfully for a year after that if it dies it has already been considered a sucess. Only initial faliures which show the animals suitability for aquaria better are faliures. I would assume that in most cases if it lives for a year especially if it grows then it is a sucess and suitable for aquaria.

 

[Paul B]

I would also assume that virtually every experienced reefer has had at least one tank that has crashed. I do not think that there are very many experienced reefers, are running their very first tank right now.

I am still on my first tank and waiting for that crash. But it is due soon.

 

[ycnibrc]

2019 Present tank on top 2008 tank on the bottom I never have problem with Sps. It's a same formular I don't mix species so my focus is just sps therefore my equipment and water chemistry are Tailor to only Sps. Keep the alk as stable as I can. Have a good population of fish and feed 6x a day

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am still on my first tank and waiting for that crash. But it is due soon.

I don’t think any of us wait for or prepare for a crash but rather perform maintenance to avoid such occurrences.
If you are doing the right steps and monitoring such as you go along, you will not have to think about problems with your system