Aging Fish

[litsoh]

What telltale signs would there be that a fish is starting to reach the end of its lifespan? In this case one member of my dispar/ignitus anthias group was hiding/not eating for a couple days now despite looking perfectly healthy only for it to end up dead a couple days later. They were a small group of 1bartlett and 3 dispar/ignitus that have been together for about two years with a clear male and the normal social squabbling. The dead dispar looked perfectly healthy, no torn fins, clear eyes, however it didn’t look as vibrant as the others. Considering the fact that I got them as adults/pretty close to full size would I be able to rule this as natural causes?

 

[mcarroll]

More than likely. Getting a necropsy of one would be the way to be more sure.....difficult to do in a reef tank tho since they don't tend to present as dead....they just don't show up for breakfast one day.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

For me I did not ever notice any different behavior, just one day they sit in corner and don't move, and then the next morning or the morning after I wake up to nass snails all over it.
My clingfish was the only fish that behaved different, he spent 6 years clinging to the glass, then one day he was on the sand in the corner and I knew, he passed on the second day. That was my hardest fish loss, that was a great fish.

 

[Paul B]

I wrote an article about this about 5 years ago.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-tell-if-fish-is-dying-of-old-age.771068/#post-8138428

 

[litsoh]

For me I did not ever notice any different behavior, just one day they sit in corner and don't move, and then the next morning or the morning after I wake up to nass snails all over it.
My clingfish was the only fish that behaved different, he spent 6 years clinging to the glass, then one day he was on the sand in the corner and I knew, he passed on the second day. That was my hardest fish loss, that was a great fish.

That’s really how it was for this anthias. One day she was out shoaling with the others and eating as actively as usual, and then the next it picked out a couple holes/crevices to hide out in. Such a bummer too, she and my other anthias are pretty curious fish. They’d come and stare at me for a while when I’m looking in the tank and would swim right up to my phone camera and hang out

 

[litsoh]

More than likely. Getting a necropsy of one would be the way to be more sure.....difficult to do in a reef tank tho since they don't tend to present as dead....they just don't show up for breakfast one day.

Yep, left work in the morning with it hanging out in a cave and when I came back it had passed on

 

[exnisstech]

My experience has been is It's not unusual to have a fish that appears healthy and eating one night to be found dead the next morning. It's happened to me more than once. I gave up trying to figure out why and just accept it. It's very random and doesn't happen often. I had a hippo tang for 5 years turn up dead overnight with no indication anything was wrong while all other fish were fine.

 

[litsoh]

I wrote an article about this about 5 years ago.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-tell-if-fish-is-dying-of-old-age.771068/#post-8138428

They are definitely a thriving group of anthias, the male looks so good when his ventral fins are fully extended. I have an autofeeder go off multiple times a day so they’re all fat and practically max size. They’re probably got the most personality out of all the fish in the tank