Blenny lifespan survey

[Zionas]

I have heard that quite a few Watchman Gobies can live for over 10 years, but I’ve never really heard much about the lifespans of blennies. Fellow reefers who own a blenny / know others who own Blennies, how long have you had yours / did you have yours? How big was it?

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Bump. @ReefSquad

 

[Sump Crab]

longer than we "know" is likely

 

[madweazl]

We purchased a tailspot blenny 6/19/2017 that is still going strong (3 years and 2 months now).

 

[mort]

I asked this question about salarias blennies a long time ago because they never seemed to live longer than 2-3 years for me. The answers I got were anything from my experience up to 7-8 years so far.
I'm not sure if I was unlucky as the three I had (2 lawnmower and a starry) were all big when I got them but most offered for sale seem to be.

The smaller ecsenius have done better lasting 5 years plus but they do come in younger. I also find them far more hardy but slightly more of a risk with corals depending on which one you go for.

 

[Zionas]

Hmmm perhaps size does have something to do with the lifespan of the Salarias. I’ve also read that some people have theirs wither away regardless of how well they seemed to be eating etc.

 

[Zionas]

What’s the longest you’ve had Ecsenius blennies live for?

I’m especially curious about the Midas, Tailspot, Bicolor etc.

 

[Zionas]

Wonder if anyone’s kept a Blenny over 10 years.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

The small ones are reef food.

 

[Zionas]

Still waiting for that 10-year old blenny haha.

 

[ssharp2000]

Wonder if anyone’s kept a Blenny over 10 years.

I have a snowflake blenny that I've had since 2009 almost 12 years. His eyes are getting cloudy be he still swims around

 

[Zionas]

Wow. How big was he when you got him? How big is he now?

 

[Jekyl]

Wouldn't surprise me if @Paul B had a 20 year old blenny

 

[Kiophy]

My first marine fish were two baby salaria pavo blennies, and although I've only had them for a few months they are definitely some of my very favorite fish! They act with such curiosity and intelligence, and have unfathomable patience when observing anything.

That's why this thread was interesting. I wish the blennies would have the same life-expectancy as my galah cockatoos

Are there any new stories of old blennies?

 

[Dave1993]

Had my midas blenny nearly 3 years now 1st fish i got

 

[nereefpat]

I recently lost a lawnmower to what I think was old age. I *think I had it about 4 years. It was maybe 3" when I bought it, so who knows how old it was already.

It just started to swim less and less, and eat less aggressively. No matter how much I fed, it sort of withered away. Almost zero chance that it was any kind of disease.

 

[EricR]

Old thread but figured I'd tack on my ONE blenny experience...

Bicolor blenny died unexpectedly last night.
Fine and swimming around normally a couple/few hours earlier.

I'm hoping it was just old age but I didn't see any signs of slowing down, not eating, or anything like that.
I bought him fully grown and had him for close to 2 years,,, so age is unknown.

Nothing visibly wrong when examined -- just found him kind of laying at the base of a rock structure with some bristle worms and nassarius snails just starting to snack.

Weird but no suspected disease (nothing visible/behavioral and no recent additions) -- that's vague but will stop there.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Old thread but figured I'd tack on my ONE blenny experience...

Bicolor blenny died unexpectedly last night.
Fine and swimming around normally a couple/few hours earlier.

I'm hoping it was just old age but I didn't see any signs of slowing down, not eating, or anything like that.
I bought him fully grown and had him for close to 2 years,,, so age is unknown.

Nothing visibly wrong when examined -- just found him kind of laying at the base of a rock structure with some bristle worms and nassarius snails just starting to snack.

Weird but no suspected disease (nothing visible/behavioral and no recent additions) -- that's vague but will stop there.

I found my blenny yesterday the same way. The Day before he passed away i was cleaning the tank inside and he was perching on me. It was almost like he was saying his good byes. Definitely hit hard more than i expected. They truly are our animals we become attached to

 

[Sweet Reef Corals]

We lost our little Starry today. We had him almost 8 years and he had to be pretty old when we got him because he never got any bigger. Sad Day at the farm….

 

[nereefpat]

That's a darn good run.