Life spans- is there a rule to it?

[Maroonostrich]

Just wondering if there are any guideline rules as to fish life spans?


Do the bigger ones usually live longest?

How short lived can they be? How long does a neon tetra live if it doesn't get some kind of horrid illness/eaten by another fish/ sucked into a filter etc.?

 

[GSD]

i think the general rule is the bigger the longer it lives.well i read that somewhere anyway

 

[CFC]

The general rule is that bigger fish live longer, after all it takes them longer to reach full size and sexual maturity. However there are some exceptions to the rule such as for example some Corydoras paleatus which have lived for 20+ years.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yup, and neon tetras live about 10 years. It really does vary. Also is how inbred they are, this is why livebearers only live a few years.

 

[daudy_dojo]

wow... lol thats neeto

 

[Maroonostrich]

Having viewed them close up during my fish shopping I am amazed (though pleased) that such tiny fish as neons live ten years! I thought they maybe got to two!

 

[andywg]

I'll echo CFC that the larger fish live longer, basically because it takes longer to get there and to sexual maturity. By the time a Red Tail Catfish is a year old it is a foot long (probably a quarter of it's max size) yet by that point a male guppy will have grown to full size and have fathered around 6 million fry if mine are anything to go by (the randy little beggars).

Andy

 

[Synirr]

I've heard that some species of killifish only live a couple of months

 

[Bignose]

Found this on the web a while back... http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage..._Lifespans.html

 

[Maroonostrich]

Ooooh handy, thankyou. Little cichlids don't look to last long do they?!

 

[Fishy411]

wel at least my fish wil live for awhile. Most of the ones i keep can live to 10+ years.