How long do different types of fish live?

Daniel@R2R · Nov 17, 2020

Is there a database somewhere that tells how long different fish usually live in captivity?

Doctorgori · Nov 17, 2020

Great thread topic .... In a perfect world our pets would die of old age, too bad that rarely happens

ShepherdReefer · Nov 17, 2020

Yep, we have a clown fish that is over or close to 20-years old.

Soren · Nov 17, 2020

I would greatly appreciate this while planning the fish for my 90-gallon reef. Chalk bass originally made my list but I am reconsidering since I read they may only live a year or 2. Confirmation would be great!

Nano sapiens · Nov 17, 2020

Daniel@R2R said:
Is there a database somewhere that tells how long different fish usually live in captivity?

The best article/resource I've seen on the Web:

https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-fish-longevity/

More:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure...milies-Estimates-were-obtained_tbl1_325013852

https://www.researchgate.net/public...Fishes_with_Special_Reference_to_the_Gobiidae

stanleo · Nov 17, 2020

Keep in mind when looking this up the "lifespan" listed is based off of data from many different personal accounts of fish keepers and some of them are novices. For instance, anywhere I looked, bamboo shrimp (FW) live for only one year but I had two of them for 5 years. Same with oto catfish. Again freshwater, I don't have years and years of personal experience to draw from. So you have some people who can only keep a certain fish alive for a couple months and others who can keep them alive for a couple decades. All of those accounts are considered when a certain source states the "average lifespan" of that fish.

Reefing_addiction · Nov 18, 2020

I had a beta fish (fw) for 5 years. It lived in a castle (10gal for 1 fish) and for a variety of food for its diet. I cried when it died. Then I decided it was time to go saltwater

CaptainCooke · Nov 18, 2020

I have a 16 year old clown fish still going strong.

gregcoyote · Nov 18, 2020

I have several older fish. Three yellow tangs are almost 20 years old. A coral beauty that is 23 years old and some clowns that are 15 years old. These fish on a varied diet in a stress free environment can live a really long time.

afuel · Nov 18, 2020

I have no science to back anything but personally had a sohal tang that lived well over a decade and only died by managing to jump out of the tank

vetteguy53081 · Nov 18, 2020

A lot will depend on type of fish, tank conditions, diet and stress free environment

lba4590 · Nov 18, 2020

While I personally don’t have a lot of experience, my mom has had a single fowlr tank for 30 years. She has a blue hippo tang that is 26, turning 27 next year, and a pair of maroon clowns that are 22. Her male lyretail anthias that was 18 died 2 years ago. Seems the smaller the fish, the shorter they lived in general, but I think almost any fish should live at least 4-5 years in the right environment.

CanuckReefer · Nov 18, 2020

My Yellow Tang and Ocellaris have been alive since year one. 18 years . They say hold my beer to numerous others....or actually that was probably my fail....

WRB · Nov 18, 2020

Foxface, 16 yrs old !

Jeffcb · Nov 18, 2020

What ever it is in captivity they are truly blessed. In the wild most are snapped up as dinner at an early age!!

code4 · Nov 19, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
A lot will depend on type of fish, tank conditions, diet and stress free environment

And how old it is when you get it. My first mandarin was a 4 inch male. I had it for years. No idea its age when I got it.

Zionas · Nov 19, 2020

I really hope to have my fish around for a long time! I want them to last until the time I become a dad, at least some of them.

If only this darn coronavirus would end soon enough, currently trapped abroad and unable to go home n start my tank. Shame coz I’ve already made so many threads and posts but still not able to have my own tank.

It seems that Clowns, Tangs, some Angels, Pajama Cardinals seem to appear relatively frequently when it comes to long-lived fish. Other fish I’ve seen here and elsewhere living over 10 years: Damsels, Cryptocentrus gobies, Six-Line Wrasses, Royal Grammas, Hawkfish, Marine Bettas, Triggers and a couple others. Some Puffers too. 10 years is the cut-off mark for me, the minimum of what I’d define as success for most fish barring accidents / size at which they were bought. For Clowns and Tangs I’d be looking at least 20 and 20+. For most of the smaller fish I’d say 12-15 years would make me happy. For Halichoeres wrasses, 8-10 would be considered a success. For Fairy wrasses 6-8, for Flashers around 6.