which of your fish has the potential to live the longest, and are you really ready for that???

[Magnum Man34 148]

so, along the same line of thought, I’d suspect old age could also be related to stress, or lack there of… some fish are more stressed out naturally than others, and some stress more from the glass box or tank conditions… for example, I think the flying foxes are naturally more stressed ( chasing each other around ) than SAE’s it could be said the same with lots of cichlids, and a solitary fish may live lots longer, ( or shorter, if the fishes life was too sedentary )… was thinking Beta’s when stress comes to mind, both from fighting, and the stress of the extra long finage…

 

[JuiceBox529]

so, along the same line of thought, I’d suspect old age could also be related to stress, or lack there of… some fish are more stressed out naturally than others, and some stress more from the glass box or tank conditions… for example, I think the flying foxes are naturally more stressed ( chasing each other around ) than SAE’s it could be said the same with lots of cichlids, and a solitary fish may live lots longer, ( or shorter, if the fishes life was too sedentary )… was thinking Beta’s when stress comes to mind, both from fighting, and the stress of the extra long finage…

I would believe this is a factor in many cases. Unfortunately my 11+ year old fish was in a horrible tank situation for about 4 years prior to coming to me. She was in a 55 gallon with red tail sharks, kissing gourami, giant pleco, angelfish, and other large and often territorial fish with almost no plant cover

However once she was moved to my tank, she had a 55 gallon mostly to herself for years after that and I saw her become much healthier in a short amount of time

 

[GaryE]

A lot of us have realized the "age is just a state of mind" stuff in media a few years ago was advertiser's garbage. Age is a process, and a not always pleasant one, he said, stretching his bones on a Tuesday morning. In fish, we have annual species being used by us to study the genetics of ageing, and how breakdown begins when we are no longer of useful breeding age. The longterm breakdown is in our DNA.

In my annual killies, it's an aggressive breakdown. They breed, then are rapidly destroyed by age no matter what we do or how we keep them. In my far longer lived non annual killies, it's more like us, a slower series of loss of abilities. They even get lumpy and change shapes. A lot of our fish live far longer than they would in the wild, where predators pick them off years before they die in well run tanks.

We probably shorten lifespans with stressful community tanks, poor choices of companion fish, and messing up as fishkeepers. If we stock lightly, provide stability, stock lightly, change water, provide targeted diets, did I say stock lightly and pay attention to our fish, we see the positive side of their lifespan. I am hoping my corydoras group species are going to live much longer now that I've decided to keep them in single species tanks.

I think we've developed a pretty good understanding of what we do that shortens fish lifespans.

 

[TwoTankAmin28]

I know that some of the B&W Hypancistrus plecos I have kept over the years can live well into their 20s. I also know that at least the males at that age can still spawn and raise young. This is not at the same rate as when they were much younger but that it continues at all at that age still amazes me.

Since I have been on the track of reducing tanks and fish I am down to still having only one species left. These came to me in Oct. of 2015 and at that time were in the range of at least 4-5+ years old. That means some of them are now in their late teens. They still spawn.

I know that my largest and oldest clown loach is into its 20s as it cane to me at about 4 inches in late 02 or early 03. I had one older that was lost a few years ago and was certainly in its early 20s at the time. Interestingly I have also kept sidthimunkis aka the dwarf chain loach. They seem to live into their 20s as well. I lost my early group last year and replaced them as they are one of my favorite fish. The ones I lost had to be 20 years old give or take a year or two.

I am a believer in the concept that many fish in captivity is kept in the proper conditions and given a high quality diet will have longer lifespans than they do in the wild. Between their being fed better, been able to live without the threat of being a meal for something else and then having the benefit of getting medications if these are needed all contribute to their living extended lifespans.

How many times have we read or been told that one of the greatest causes of illness in our fish can be blamed on stress? I know that for the last 20+ years I have been flash lighting my plecos in their caves to confirm spawning. I have never had this result in a dad booting or eating the healthy eggs or wigglers.

All of what I have experienced tells me that the fish I keep have fared better, on average, than they might have if they lived in the wild.

I have also had one great advantage that I know contributes to the longevity of many of my fish. We have had a whole house back-up generator for the past 16 years, maybe a bit longer. This mattered in 2011 and 2012 when hurricanes came up the east coast and hit us hard. Both times we had to supply our own electricity for 13 days.

Hurricane Irene making landfall near New York City on August 28, 2011
Hurricane Sandy hit New York City on October 29, 2012.

So high temps in the 90s were likely in Aug. 2011 and then the temps in late Oct. here can be into the 40s F (4.4-8.0 C range). It is easy to have battery powered air pumps in tanks but the real challenge in blackouts is usually temperature. The plecos I bred could easily handle high temps into the low 90sF (33+C) and even higher. But the rest of my fish could not.

 

[GaryE]

I think we misinterpret what stress is. A bright light in a cave is a shock, but I don't think it's stress. Poor water conditions, poor food choices, an inability to have necessary space because of inappropriate tankmates or stocking levels, a poorly designed or poorly placed tank - that's what the issue is. Having an inability to feel comfortable and healthy matters. I see no reason why that shouldn't be true in fish terms as it is in human ones. A boring, unstimulating alien environment is stressful, as is an overcrowded polluted one.

Stress as in needing to be alert and dealing with 'normal' territorial demands are probably not a problem. One reason I don't combine fish from different regions of the world is that they speak different languages. An African rainforest Cichlid signals differently than a South American one does. Is there an interplay between Cichlids, Characins and killies in long established colour and chemical communication evolved over millenia in the same habitats? I doubt it would work with fish from radically different biotopes. Why would it?

But there may be inherited recognition and communication within the species of a region, a river system, a lake... and some species don't know how to relate to others. I've seen small annual killies do really stupid things when confronted with larger fish. They're the biggest fish in their extreme environment, and have no fear or deference mechanisms when it comes to tankmates.

 

[CassCats10 7]

Average is about 10-20 years, but record I think is over 40 years. Average age gotta think about how overbred they can be and how most cram them in poor conditions which will impact their lifespan.

He's 6 years old now. He very well could outlive me if I follow along my family’s average life expectancy lol

 

[MuddyWaters3]

I looked up all the fish I have and here are the leaders- none of my current fish are that old, and it looks like, Lord willing, the only one that might have a chance to outlive me is one of my 2 clown fish- I know- saltwater- but I was surprised to see they can live 20+ years.

• Pterophyllum scalare (angelfish): ~10–15 years
• Pangio kuhlii (kuhli loach): ~10–14 years
• Sewellia lineolata (hillstream loach): ~8–10 years

If the kuhli loaches ( I THINK I have 2 still) live that long, I'll probably see them maybe 4 more times LOL. They only come out when I pull hardscape out of the aquarium to clean it.

edit:

I looked up info on the clown fish to find why it lives so long and part of it seems to be the relationship with the anemone. Since predation isn't as likely, its biology can focus more on long life rather than make-a-bunch-of-babies-before-you-get-eaten. That's interesting to think about. Tetras and the like are the party animals- sow your royal oats as much as you can because here comes the Peacock bass to eat your *ss!

 

[Innesfan32 16]

@TwoTankAmin has clown loaches in their mid twenties. As I mentioned earlier in this thread I have 'cories' also in their twenties and I have now and have had in the past other cory species that are well beyond a decade. This has been the pattern for me throughout my years as a hobbyist. Even in the early years, when I knew nothing, the cories survived and were often the lone survivors of the many abuses to which I inadvertenly subjected my fish. I know many other fellow aquarists with similar experiences. What is it about bottom dwellers and long life? Yes, I know there are some who struggle with bottom dwellers for whatever reason, but the other extreme--really long life-- is notable.

 

[gwand33 149]

I know some bottom dwelling humans that paradoxically have had a long life. Go figure.

 

[TwoTankAmin28]

I also know that a number of the plecos also can live a long time. I know for sure that male zebra plecos in their early 20s can still spawn.

Another thing to bear in mind when it comes to the life expectancy for fish species is that the information on this is usually for the species in the wild. There they face threats from predators as well as parasites or diseases. In our tanks we usually eliminate the predatory dangers and usually we try to treat sick fish so they do not die. Also, we control feeding in our tanks so we are able to provide a regular diet which is designed for the specific species we have. In the wild fish may not eat for a while for any number of reasons. Their food supply is not controlled by them.

So, in general the lifespan for any species of fish we keep should be longer ifor that species when kept in our tank as opposed to in the wild. Of course there are also some negligent or uniformed.inexperienced fish keepers whose fish will die young. But if we make an effort fto provide good care etc. for our fish, then they should do better in terms of lifespan in our tanks than they would in the wild.

 

[GaryE]

We focus on predators limiting our fish, but that's not the half of it. Our fish aren't usually in the Amazon or the Congo. They're small, and they inhabit smaller streams, tributaries, creeks and brooks in Amazonia or the Congo region.
Imagine a fish that hatches at the onset of rainy season. It has a flooded forest of food to thrive and grow in. Yes, there is predation, but they can teem in the millions as the rains have raised water levels by amounts hard for us northerners to understand. But the dry season locks in and the fish are concentrated into smaller and smaller rivers. The forests dry, and many fish don't get out in time.Then the rivers cease to flow and the fish are trapped in oxbow lakes. Evaporation continues, and it's ponds. Then puddles. Then dry air.

The survivors in deeper water are trapped beside predators in hotter water. That's how we get fish that can survive unfiltered, no water change stagnant tanks. Terrible times are a part of the rain cycle for them. Then the rains return, the rivers start to flow, and thirty feet of water floods the Amazonian forests again. The survivors spread out and breed, and the cycle begins again.

I'm still in wonder at what I saw in Benin, where the killies we caught were breeding at sizes they wouldn't in captivity. The males hadn't developed their finnage, yet they were fertile and all these tiny almost stunted fish were breeding. Even the Parachanna predators we saw were small. Humans fishing had a lot to do with that, but nature was brutal.

We trudged through relentless sun on dusty paths, but in rainy season, we would have been knee deep in a huge shallow savannah lake. The fish we caught were late hatching fry grown to juvenile size, hanging on by the skin of their teeth as the rains were promising to start.

Conditions in the tropical dry season probably kill many times more fish than predators do.

 

[Boundava9]

I have a Peppered Cory and a few Bushynose Pleco.
Peppered corys are a small catfish species ... Lifespan: 10-20 years, up to 25 years in exceptional cases.
Bushynose (or Bristlenose) plecos typically live between 5 to 10 years in captivity. However, with optimal water parameters, a high-quality diet (including natural driftwood), and a stress-free environment, many dedicated aquarists report them thriving for 10 to 15 years, and occasionally up to 20 years.

My Peppered Cory is already about 6 years old. My Pleco are only about a year old. With me being a senior citizen, they may outlive me. Maybe I should leave them in my will like people do when they have parrots like @jaylach has.

I had an albino busy nose (Ghost) which I got as an itty bitty baby. He grew up int a giant adult and fathered many clutches of offspring, around 1,000. He lived a good 17 years, moving with me to 3 homes. He always was out in the tank, throwing his weight around. Loved his pink spots telling me he was ready to be a dad again.
I kept 2 of his offspring, an albino female that unfortunately passed recently, and a velvet black male who hides all the time.

I even customized a DIY foam background for him when I had a 75 gallon. He liked to sit under wood/rocks and fall asleep. Being asleep he would let go and lay on his back looking dead. I built a backwall of ledges some larger than others to accommodate him.

RIP Ghost

 

[Herpin Man]

Not a fish, but...
I have a snapping turtle that I hatched from an egg in 1986. I was 23 years old. He turns 40 this year, and I fully expect him to outlive me. In fact, I have several herps that will outlive me, and no, I'm not really ready for it.

 

[simonas]

I love tales of old fish but turning 50 I have never thought about what if but you have planted that seed in my head and its a scary thought.

I have a young fly river turtle so he is the one that will hopefully still be here when I am gone and I guess if I am lucky enough to reach an age where I can take control of decisions he is something I would need to rehome sensibly at some point unless one day the kids take over my tanks etc. Who knows but a sobering thought nonetheless

 

[JuiceBox529]

I wouldn’t be surprised if my corn snake outlives me. She is young still!