Success with fishes = long-lived fishes?

[credenza]

Question 1 :
I was curious to know how far along people are in this hobby and does experience and increasing success translate to increased life expectancy for the fishes in their aquariums.
Also, I would like to know if the experts rarely see their fish die or rather only after the fish have lived their lives.

Question 2:
The cautious beginner that I am, do I 'have' to go through a phase where I may have fish die or can I be optimistic and hope that my fish can lead long happy lives if I manage to do things right?
I have a planted 55g (fishlessly cycled) for just under 2 months with a school of 6 zebra danios and a school of 8 espei rasboras in it for about 2.5 weeks. All the water parameters have been stable so far and they seem to be doing fine. :)

I would really love to hear what everyone has to say... coz I lost my first 3 dwarf gouramis (bought them from Walmart, wont do that again) and they all died :( within 4-5 days because of internal parasites. That was so upsetting that I am very keen to do the best for the fish in my care.

Thanks!

My tank: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=179652

[OrionGirl]

Yes, experience will help reduce the fatalities due to some problems. Quarantining new arrivals also improves success. But, there are still some deaths that will happen despite your best efforts. My last fatalities were my fault--I dumped in food that was old, or somehow toxic, and lost about half my tank to it. I haven't lost any fish since then--about one year ago. So, the rate of loss will slow as you become familiar with the needs of the tank and the fish, but accidents can happen.

You can take steps to avoid problems though--being cautious, researching before purchase, and sticking to a maintenance routine will help. I don't think losing lots of fish is inevitable, though it's probably the biggest cause of people getting out of the hobby.

[daveedka]

The best thought I could add would be this: Read Read Read, and don't panic. I read every book I can find at the library, this may seem redundant, because they all seem to say the same things, but you will pick up little bits and pieces from each that the others don't cover. Everyone has their accidents and bad experiences, but with the right knowledge and care your fish can live a complete life. The don't panic part comes down to not overreacting when something does go wrong. I have killed more fish trying to save them than I ever had die on their own. Make small carefull adjustments and never treat untill you know why and how for sure. good luck.

[aquariumfishguy]

Fish are fish, they will live to their life expectancy (or possibly longer) if you take care of them properly but in the end they will still end up living 10 years (give or take a year or so) if thats how long they are supposed to live.

I am also one of those people who don't believe you "need" to encounter a major problem or complication, however that doesn't mean it will all be a peice of cake for you either. :) Practice makes perfect...errrm, close enough anyways!

[RTR]

Experience does count, in part because you have already done most of the really dumb things and hopefully learned from them, and in part because you have learned to handle all the hedge factors- QT, compatability, water changes, stocking density with YOUR care (not some fuzzy rule of thumb), water changes, feeding, water changes.

You can tell an experienced hobbyist - when you visit their fish are the same as last time, and last year, and the year before that...

[dethjam316]

Originally posted by RTR
You can tell an experienced hobbyist - when you visit their fish are the same as last time, and last year, and the year before that... this is very true. when i had my first 10g, i had so much "turnover" (man, that sounds awful), but now that i've learned the basics and have been learning more and more through books, the web, and experience...i've run into a problem. i used to buy new fish to replace the ones that has passed on due to that overstocked 10g or my stupidity. now, when i buy new fish, i'm thinking, "oh no, i'm getting overstocked...need to buy a new tank..."

[RTR]

The "add another tank" corollary is a major hazard of the hobby.

[credenza]

Thank you so much for all your replies. It is quite heartwarming to know that with good information and proper care, something even a careful beginner can aspire to provide, fish can lead normal lives in our tanks.

:)

[RTR]

Not just normal lives, but frequently longer and healthier lives than in the wild. Mbuna from Lake Malawi commonly grow larger than in the wild, and certainly live longer. Neons are essesntially annual fish in the wild, but can live up to ten years in tanks. Lack of competition and good folk and water may be, for those lucky individuals, safer and healthier than "at home".

[aquariumfishguy]

Originally posted by RTR
Not just normal lives, but frequently longer and healthier lives than in the wild. Neons are essesntially annual fish in the wild, but can live up to ten years in tanks.

VERY good point which nobody (including myself) remembered to mention! When I said that they will not live much longer, I should have added that compared to when in the wild, they generally live much longer in well-cared for aquariums. I was trying to say that the average life expectancy in the home aquariums won't change much because the life expectancy (for in captivity) is set at "ideal conditons" so therefore if you are taking good care of your animals, in theory they should still live around 10 years, if thats what is documented as 'average'.