Fish lifespans

[Lynnmw1208]

I was thinking today that I don't know how long some fish will live in a captive environment. Is there a thread somewhere that discusses this? if not, I think it'd be an interesting topic as I know some fish will live a really long time.

The LFS told me that the typical lifespan of jawfish is 2 years and it got me to thinking about my other fish. What about my carberryi anthias? how long will they live? I know mandarins haven't been known to get too old. what are some of your experiences with different fish?

[ENTMogul]

Well.. I have had some fish in my tank for 5 years in August (Clown Trigger, Yellow tang, etc.)

A woman I know in South Florida had a French Angelfish in her tank for, are you ready... 27 years!

I also think I saw a guy on here who has had an eel in his tank for something like 30 years?? Hopefully he will chime in.

Many experts out there can tell us more.

[Lynnmw1208]

wow that's amazing! I would love to see my fish stay alive for so long! I just remember buying fish constantly when I had freshwater. It just got to the point where I was sick of replacing them!

[Pallobi]

Fish, even small ones, can live a surprisingly long time if well kept and conditions are kept up... its hard for anyone to put an exact number on, but it is quite possible.for.most fish to easily make it 10 years at least in captivity... in many cases, many more than that...

[Hormigaquatica]

We had an Annularis Angel that died around 24-25 years old. I have a friend with a Percula Clown that is approaching 20 years; I hear of 10-15 years for clownfish fairly regularly. I have seen a 13 year old Foxface, a 15 year old Purple Tang, 6 year old Blue Spot Jawfish (though I suspect they could live much longer), quite a few shrimp in the 10-15 year area (I know these aren't fish, but still...)

I would have to say that most fish in captivity live less than 10% of their potential lifespan.

[falconut]

I had two female Lyretail Anthias that lived around 4 years. They seamed great in the beginning and around 4 years they just started to look old. The first one died just before the 4 year mark and the other one died just after the 4 year mark. So, from my experience, if asked, I'd have to guess that's about their lifespan.

My current ocellarus clown pair are over 6 years, with I believe many years to go.

I really haven't had any other type of fish multiple times that faired the same to make and other observations on their lifespan. Good luck with this thread. There doesn't seam to be much info. in this area.

[K916]

Not so long ago, a member here mentioned that his clowns were close to 30 years old:hb2:

[NCSUsalt]

I had a maintenance client whose tank was nuked by a faulty marineland heater back in Jan/feb timeframe. It killed a yellow tang and a purple tang that he bought in 1994. The yellow was starting to look a little skinny and some fins were ragged but the purple looked fine and I don't doubt they would have lived for many more years

[scchase]

All large angels seem to easily get to the 15-25 year range, most gobies and such around 5-8 years. Shortest lived I have seen is mos tthe Anthias fast matabolisms and after a few years they seem to all start getting that old look seems like 5 is good and old for an anthias.

[NatureNerd]

There was a thread a while back on this topic. I have had my occ clown pair and their LTA for over 15 years. They still routinely spawn. There were several other people who had older ones. I have no idea how long they live in captivity. I wonder if I'll have to will them to my children.

[NatureNerd]

Some of the small goby species only live a couple/few years. Neon gobies, for example, are short lived.

[Moort82]

I've read a paper on tangs saying 25 years is fairly normal and another about clownfish where the average age of those studied was believed to be around 30 years.

The problem with wild caught fish is that you don't really know how old they are all ready.