What % frags do you think have survived?
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Taxus812
Destroyer of corals
I’m coming up on nine months. My avatar says it. I don’t spend much on coral and lost quite a few. ( I even killed gsp). While I’m diligent on my care there are likely a lot of unseen factors that determine overall success. ( Biological stability being one. the source of the coral is another example )
I have a 10g bare bottom tank that is 3 months old And things just grow in it. My 45DT has been difficult for me and I lost a lot.
I wish I could pass on a standard for ya.
I have a 10g bare bottom tank that is 3 months old And things just grow in it. My 45DT has been difficult for me and I lost a lot.
I wish I could pass on a standard for ya.
This is just IMO here, but I believe that folks who have had tanks/been in the hobby for a long time can see the nuances of change in their reefs before there is a problem and can jump on it right away. People who are new to reefing may not notice a problem until things are on the verge of death. This isn't failure -- this is learning to throw the football in a straight line before getting that QB scholarship because you can call the plays. (I love a good metaphor. 
)
)
Erick375
Community Member
180G just past a year, have 39 coral and 9 fish (biased)...probably didn't add but 5 corals the first 6 months, but half survived, since then I've been too aggressive in adding although my water parameters are fairly good. Bought a par meter, recommend renting or borrowing one just to get a sense of your lighting, there is significant differences only inches apart.
Always interesting to me reading other post, how some corals like or don't like some tanks. Zoas are indestructible in my tank (to the point where I'm going to have to figure out how to destroy some), I have a hammer and a duncan that are flourishing, however I bought an aussie lord frag pack from WWC and 4 of the 5 were gone in two weeks. I've also had bad luck with softies whereas the two acros I recently added are doing nicely.
Couple of suggestions:
- Go slow (do as I say...)
- Buy cheaper corals (<$40) and see what kind like your tank. If you keep your tank stable, just go with that. If I saw a $200 zoa I would die for I'd pull the trigger. Wouldn't at this point spend more than $30 on a softie
- As someone else mention, buy a frag rack..I have one one the wall and one I keep down on the sand (although the gobies carpet bomb them constantly).
- DO NOT BUY A SEA URCHIN. Mine is super happy and it moves around the tank knocking frags over, grabbing hold and taking them with him...constantly wrecking havoc. I swear this is my number one piece of advice after year one. Anyone want a sea urchin in the Birmingham, AL area?
Always interesting to me reading other post, how some corals like or don't like some tanks. Zoas are indestructible in my tank (to the point where I'm going to have to figure out how to destroy some), I have a hammer and a duncan that are flourishing, however I bought an aussie lord frag pack from WWC and 4 of the 5 were gone in two weeks. I've also had bad luck with softies whereas the two acros I recently added are doing nicely.
Couple of suggestions:
- Go slow (do as I say...)
- Buy cheaper corals (<$40) and see what kind like your tank. If you keep your tank stable, just go with that. If I saw a $200 zoa I would die for I'd pull the trigger. Wouldn't at this point spend more than $30 on a softie
- As someone else mention, buy a frag rack..I have one one the wall and one I keep down on the sand (although the gobies carpet bomb them constantly).
- DO NOT BUY A SEA URCHIN. Mine is super happy and it moves around the tank knocking frags over, grabbing hold and taking them with him...constantly wrecking havoc. I swear this is my number one piece of advice after year one. Anyone want a sea urchin in the Birmingham, AL area?
LOL! I've been offering up my urchin for free for a couple months now. I have the same issues with him that you do with yours. He decimated my zoa garden and I'm not buying any more until I can rehome him.
stanleo
Valuable Member
All my corals do great, hammer, xenia, GSP, birdsnest, Kenya tree, hairy mushroom but the toadstool is awful. Never fully extends its polyps and hasn't grown at all in 8 months. The montipora does poorly too. Both of those are supposed to be beginner coral. So frustrating.
Jake_the_reefer
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I've only ever lost 2 corals. 1 acro frag and a zoa.
Katepete722
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I lost about 30% during my first year. Most of my losses were due to mishaps that happened on vacation (ATO not functioning properly being the biggest issue). I also think I would have had fewer losses if I had stuck with the really easy stuff until the tank was a bit more stable. Zoas, softies and mushrooms are a great starting point and you can add some of the more fun stuff down the road. Although now that I'm almost two years in the zoas are my favorite anyway!
RetiredDoc59
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90g tank. 3 yrs old. 100lbs rock. First year experimenting buying all types of corals. Prob lost 75%. zoas, acros. I’d buy beautiful packages and three weeks later bleach out. Thought all parameters very stable. But losses came from not knowing where to put them and not moving a piece when it wasn’t doing well quickly enough. Pieces would get knocked off and get lost deep in the rocks - usually the most expensive ones. Major tank crash summer of 2018. Tank reset. Now 95% doing well. I don’t buy acros or cyphastreas. All new additions sit on a rack up to three weeks. So...Coral not extending polyps, bleaching, move em. More/less light,flow. Feed them. I still can’t grow an acro or a mili but run a dirty tank and won’t try again. Buy from locals, reefapaloozas for best prices. Turkey baste the rocks and the corals weekly to eliminate the soil needed by algae.
MombasaLionfish
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I got all zoa and 75% survived.
Erick375
Community Member
one other suggestion, seed your tank with copepods. Expensive initially, but worth it. I don't direct feed any of my corals, couple a times a week add some reef chili or reefroids, but other than that just maintain the copepods and let the corals feed themselves.
WallyB
REEF Techno-Geek
That depends on a LOT of factors.
- It will depends on your setup.
- It will depends on your dedication to learn and take care of your reef.
- It will depends on if your doing this alone, or have someone as a Successful mentor.
- Accidents which happen to even the most experienced reefer can in a instant have total catastrophic failures.
- It will depend on WHAT CORALS you Choose
--------> If SPS frags then your chances could be 0% after 6weeks and most likely 0% after 6 months, if sensitive SPS frags, you could be 0% after couple of weeks, quite possible to be 0% overnight.
--------> If you get a (eg. A few Mushrooms, a Leather, or a Hardy LPS, etc), you might actually have a chance of 100% success. (With a bit of luck. Ok. Lots of Luck).
And I've only listed a few out of dozens and dozens of factors.
So do you homework, and start slow. Be patient. Expect failures, and take them as lessons to improve. Learn on easy, and cheap corals and you will be financially much better off, even if your stats for success take many iterations to get better (Experience).
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jtl
Well-Known Member
On my last build I lost about 30% in a 2 year span. Most of them early on. I had a mix of lps and sps and it took a while to find the right lighting intensity and duration to satisfy the needs of the different species. Trial and error can be expensive. There was also the attempts to fight off gha using Vibrant. In the end I found that manual removal of algae and a dip in H2O2 worked best. I made an effort to keep my params in check and avoided adding supplements I could not test for. Eventually, everything settled in and my frags became small colonies and then I exited the hobby and only lost 50% of my investment.
NanoDJS
Valuable Member
I have had a really good run so far. When I started we didnt frag quite the same either , it was alot of rip it off on the spot and chuck it in a cooler ( with all the other pieces) then try and mount them at home ( this is in the string and rubberband days ) no crazy glue was even thought of then. I have always been under the impression that these creatures are super hardy. I have lost frags that died in shipping before I ever got them , but we have been very successful at coral rehabilitation also , grabbing the pieces that get stung or hurt at LFS and "saving " them . At least 10 of our permanent residents started as a left for dead coral , including our rainbow Trachy . With that said we are super low tech over here , I dont have any reactors , I run no mechanical filtration except skimmer, no fuge , no water changes, I just dose manually for many years. What we do have is live rock thats 25 years plus running in reef systems collected from all over the world, actual reef sand like super fine fiji , and the entire ecosystem balance . Thats all I ever tried to balance was the water quality via natural methods / animals . Also sick zoas get better in this system , and fish do not get sick , a few old timers told me that I have bacteria from the atols they refer to as Godzilla , which is supposed to be some majic reef keeping legend. I have no idea if its in there but I have had much differant results than alot of people. But I also reef alot differant than the "new" school also. I also run about 1/8 th the light people think they need to grow coral these days over the course of 30 years I have probably lost maybe 5-10 coral frags , I think its bound to happen to anybody , and more so to people just starting up , the advice on a new system is not really so great about informing people how to just grow coral, its more like here is the newest cutting edge stuff and go figure out the coral part on your own, its so high tech you "should" be able to grow the biggest most colorful coral EVER !!!!! at 5k for an average 100gal system locked and loaded , they should focus on making things easier for the hobbyist not harder and less obtainable. Also we didnt go get acros , or chalices, or anything I didnt know I could keep alive , until I knew I could. That will be your best gauge , if you dont know you can keep it , dont . It will save you $$ and heartache.
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