What's your mortality rate?

[Mackenze]

10 months into the greatest Hobby of my life Ive lost (losing candy cane kryptonite) and a shrimp in the very beginning. Out of 12 soft corals and 3 fish.

 

[Wazzel]

Really depends on how you look at it. I have lost one coral that was new to my tank, but several frags that did not do well when clipped. Lost a few fish 1 jumper, 3 deaths. All the death happen a few days after introduction so not sure if my fault or if they were on the way out when I got them. Also lost a few snail, not sure the count.

 

[Bent]

For every one fish you successfully QT, put into the display and get to "thrive," probably 30-40 died in transit.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/aquarium-fish-death.html#cr

This is a selfish hobby, no two ways about it. Any argument to the contrary is simply delusional. This hobby kills hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of fish each year that would have lived longer in the ocean. We aren't doing these fish any favors, and deep down we all know that, or should at least.

This post really makes me not want to do this anymore...

 

[BrandonFlorida]

Yeah, truly sad article but the truth hurts.. That is why breeding and ORA are so important to this hobby. If I can buy a fish that was captive bred then I will always go that route but lots of beautiful fish are unavailable that way..

I love the hobby and will try my best to keep the fish happy and healthy.. That's really all we can do..

 

[ericarenee]

There have been occasional threads on this subject, and the conclusion is that the vast majority of fish do not live out their natural maximum possible lifespan in the hobby. Inverts may; and corals are another story. Many reef fishes have the potential to outlive most hobbyists time in the hobby. There are folks here who have 15 plus year old tangs. I've never lived a anywhere long enough to keep a particular setup that long - and when I move, I typically sell off the livestock and start anew.

My own definition of success is getting a fish through QT, and keeping it for at least 3 years in my display. Arbitrary, perhaps, but not unreasonable.

Here is my opinion about this.

Most of the fish we keep in our reef that are NOT Captive breed Come from the ocean. Most are small . Most will die long long before they have a chance to live out there "natural life span" .

So who really knows the Natural life span of any said species.
The ocean is a tough place to live Compared to OUR Cute glass Boxes.
I know i had a Lawnmower blenny Die not long ago. We seen that it was less and less active over a month or so and eating less... We got it at a adult size 4.5 inches long.. had it 3 years they live 3-5 year in the wild.
So does this count as loosing a fish.. it could have died for a number of reasons...

Anyway I do not think there is a way to really determine the life the FISH COULD have had..

:bounce3:

 

[nmotz]

Anyway I do not think there is a way to really determine the life the FISH COULD have had..

:bounce3:

I agree with this to at least some extent and wanted to expound upon it a little. Excluding irresponsible aquarists, and there are many, I actually think that many fish/inverts in our displays probably have a relatively safe and easy existence compared to life on your average reef. The carnage that goes on in the ocean is truly unbelievable.

While I absolutely agree that the hobby kills many, many animals in transit that would not have died so soon otherwise, the reality is that those fish that do make it probably have a higher percentage chance of survival (again, assuming they make it into a well cycled tank that is run by a responsible, knowledgable aquarist).

I can't and won't be held responsible for other people's negligence. I can only take care of myself and choose to live responsibly for the sake of my marine livestock. I only say this stuff because I don't think we should all have to hang our heads in shame because we keep fish and corals and stuff. We have a right to choose how we are going to live: responsibly and respectfully towards nature, or not. I choose to be responsible, and I also choose to see that while some livestock that have died in my tanks did so prematurely, many others lived long and safe lives that they might not have had if they were left on the reef. I don't know, just a different perspective.

In response to the OP's question. I've been in the hobby for 3 years and have had 5 separate tanks in that timespan. I don't count animals that were eaten by other animals in my tanks because that is natural predation and happens on the reef all the time.

Losses: Mantis shrimp x3 (2 unknown causes, 1 due to shell rot), Coral banded shrimp (ground up in powerhead), maybe 5-6 turbo/cerith snails (most likely starvation/lack of sufficient algae), 2 emerald crabs (lack of sufficient algae), 3-4 sps corals (combo of nudibranchs and inexperience on my part)

 

[snorvich]

My own definition of success is getting a fish through QT, and keeping it for at least 3 years in my display. Arbitrary, perhaps, but not unreasonable.

Having been in the hobby, a very long time, my definition may be different. I have lots of fish that have lived with me longer than five years, some longer than 10 years. But the problem is that I don't know how old they were when I acquired them (except one juvenile Imperator Angel).

 

[Bolivian Ram]

I have never lost individual fish. I have what can be considered mass wipeouts. So far I have had 2. The first I had when I was new to the hobby. The second after 4 years when I introduced a fish which I thought was fine. Yeah I didn't quarantine the new fish cause I got the fish from a good LFS. Basically I thought I would be OK after 4 years of no deaths. Boy was I wrong. I got overconfident and it sucked.

Anyways I'm on my 3rd generation of fish and so far my 5 fish in my 90 gallon tank are doing great. Im not adding anymore fish to the tank. I have achieved a balance. And well the risk of things going bad is just too high. :/ So far mortality rate is 66%?