Success rates with wild acro colonies

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SamMule

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For those of you that have rolled the dice on wild acro colonies, what is your success rate?

25%, 50%, 100%?

How many have you purchased?
 
I have 5 out of 9. 2 have been reduced to small frags but they are still alive and 2 did not make it.
2 of the 5 are still small compaired the the other 3.
One got the size of a softball and was removed and fraged.
I still have a few in my frag system and I put 2 frags from it back into the 120.
This is one of them.
20201002_180625.jpg
 
Define "success"? i
If you're are talking about the recent wave of indo acros and you're defining it as barely alive, very unsightly, Just holding on I'd say 30-40%. If you're talking the same indo acros and looking great, thriving, colorful, and good PE I'd say 10%.

*Info* As of recently have purchased about 11 and 3 are alive and one is starting to look good.
I do have to add I have never picked up any in store with any color or looking healthy. I'm sure others have better sources.
 
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I have about a 60%-70% success ratio on Maricultured colonies. Wild colonies are even more difficult. One of the problems with any colony including moving an aquacultured colony from one tank to another is that they become used to flow and light conditions that have allowed them to grow to their large size. When you take them out of those conditions bad things can, and often do happen.
 
Very interesting. Even experienced reefers are having such low survival rates. Makes me feel better about my own failed attempt, but at the same time, it makes me question the ethics of buying and selling wild colonies.
 
From my 2003 to 2009 reefing period probably 60% success rate for wild. Once they made it past the first month they were likely fine but some of them RTN rapidly, like hours to a bare skeleton.

I haven't had the desire to try wilds in the modern era as tank raised frags for me are sitting at a closer to 97% success rate.

Also less pests than wild.
 
100% success for me on all the new indo colonies and frags I’ve purchased. But I rarely lose any corals.
 
100% success for me on all the new indo colonies and frags I’ve purchased. But I rarely lose any corals.
Now, that is awesome!
Is it safe to say you run your system(s) at NSW levels?
What is your water/light acclimation process?
 
Honestly success is about 40% for me. I think the most important thing is to avoid tenius, those die easily compare to other acro species.

•If they are dying you frag them until they are a small colony and that really isn’t worth the hassle

•They ALSO don’t color up as easily as captive acropora, for example you get a $80 maricultured colony, it didn’t do good and you have to frag until 2 inch frag left to stop it from dying. Then even when it grows out it still doesn’t color up. At this point, the $80 WD you picked up would have already grown to a nice size and color up way better and you would wonder why you got a mariculture colony.

so unless you have connections that can get you a few colony at a unbeatable price, it really isn’t “fun” at all to raise wild/mariculture stuff
 
2 stage qt that I only test alk 7.0-8.0 target
Neither have a skimmer and par for each is 200-300 par. First qt is for observing for 3-5 days and then I dip and watch for another couple days. I dip again and move to the 2nd qt where they sit for a couple weeks. Then I dip and put them in my main system frag tank where they get full body skin checks from a 6 line wrasses and 5 peppermint shrimp.


New plug mounts after every dip
 
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I am in that close to 100% range. I had one tenius that came in that was a little stressed and I lost 3/4 of the colony. I have probably put in close to 40 colonies now over the past 5 months. 1 of those being aussie the rest are Indo. My parameters are pretty rock solid. Alk stays between 8-9, Ca 420, mg 1430. Phos is .02 and nitrates are undetectable even though I am dosing nitrates. I am also running a larger system 375g display tank.
 

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