Livespan Of Various Fish

[fish mad]

If a fish was to live a healthy life how long would they live? Im interested in the ones below:

Angels

guppies

platies

cories

common pleco

gourami

rtb shark any help would be welcome

 

[community begginer]

they say that guppies only live about 2 years or so ive heard but im not all that sure.
as for the other fish i have no clue, i guess it depends on how well you take care of them
regards community begginer

 

[The-Wolf]

all in the link below should be taken with a pinch of salt, IE don't rely on them 100%
http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginner.../a/lifespan.htm

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

all in the link below should be taken with a pinch of salt, IE don't rely on them 100%
http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginner.../a/lifespan.htm

it says a guppy lives 5 year well i really dont buy that maybe wild guppys but store bought guppys are soooo much weaker

 

[morgan]

Hi, I have read that the Common Pleco can live for 20 - 25 years. I have since read that they can live for 30 years! Yet the oldest one that has been posted about on a forum was 18 years old. I asked to see a photo (out of interest as mine is 1 and I would like to see what it might look like later on). I haven't seen the photo yet.

 

[dwarfgourami]

On the other hand, the 18 months- 2years you often hear for guppies may be a bit pessimistic. My oldest current female is certainly well over 2 years, and the other female purchased at the same time was approaching the same age, perfectly fit and would no doubt had gone on for ages, if I had not killed her with a stupid filter accident

I'd guess you'd have to be pretty lucky to get a dwarf gourami to live for years, but mainly because they are sickly from the shop. You did ask how long a fish would live *if it had a healthy life*, and I suspect that is the crucial point. So many of the popular and overbred fish you see in the shops are anything but healthy, they are genetically dodgy and have been brought up in tiny containers and dosed with antibiotics since the word go. Which is why so many of us find that our own tankbred second generation livebearers are a lot stronger.

If you were lucky enough to find a strong healthy guppy or dwarf gourami and kept it under good conditions, then these figures may not be that far out. It is just that statistically speaking this is getting harder and harder.

I have no experience of pearl gouramis but was surprised to find the figure that low. I would have thought a big gourami like that would live longer. Well, I'm getting myself a pair or trio in June, so watch this space, hopefully for the next 6 years or so.

Also individuals may always turn out to be strong despite adverse conditions. Even in the Middle Ages, when the general life expectancy was about 35, there were people who reached the age of 90, there were just fewer of them.