Wondering how long can I expect my fish to live.

[kdx7214]

I had a black percula clown that lived at least 25 years.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I had a black percula clown that lived at least 25 years.

There was an article on here about one that lived 42 years I think

 

[Zionas]

I think on average, Tangs, Clowns, Angels and Butterflies seem to have the longest lifespan. I’ve also hard of Damsels living 10+ years, Gobies (usually the Watchmen), some larger wrasses (like Harlequin Tusks), not sure what else.

So on average I think it’s these four families of fish that tend to have the most potential for a long lifespan under good care:

1. Tangs
2. Clowns
3. Angels
4. Butterflies (assuming they live)

If @Timfish and his 24+ year old Purple didn’t die in the power cut, it would be the same age as me, maybe even a bit older.

@outerbankClown pair and Yellow are both older than me.

There’s also a South African guy who used to go on RC with a very big tank that has fish almost as old / older than me. His Purple is 27 I think and actually managed to grow to max size, he told me it started at 4” with him and is now 9-10”. His tank’s huge though, 3m long and 2m wide (120” x 80”).


His Yellow Tangs are 24, so, a year younger than me.

A 42-year old Clownfish sounds like the combined age of me and (hopefully) by then, a teenage kid or two.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I have a Yellow Tang , Ocellaris and Three Stripe Damsel that are all 18 years old and did one move with them 16 years ago. These are still 3 of my 5 current fish in a 90 gallon.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I have a Yellow Tang , Ocellaris and Three Stripe Damsel that are all 18 years old and did one move with them 16 years ago. These are still 3 of my 5 current fish in a 90 gallon.

Damsels are quoted living 25+ years. My 4 stripe is 10+ (we don’t know for sure) and he is satan when I try to clean the tank but super nice to other fish and everyone else he sees. Evil never dies

 

[Justin_Reef]

Currently my oldest are a Pakistani Butterfly at 9 years and a PJ Cardinal at 7 years.

I had a pair of clowns that I rehomed at 20ish years. I got them when they were 10 and had them 10 years.

I QT and have not lost many fish to diseases, but I used to have open top tanks and regret that I have lost some fish to jumping, including a Hippo tang that was about 6 years old. Was a very hard loss over something so stupid.

 

[Zionas]

Awesome seeing our fish live longer than cats and dogs.

And knowing many of them wouldn’t live nearly as long in the wild due to competition and predation.

It’s like a comfortable but more limited life versus an exciting but more dangerous and unpredictable one. I’m inclined towards the former since the past year or so.

 

[Zionas]

Kudos to you for keeping a butterfly long term. I heard feeding and disease are major issues for them.

 

[Timfish]

at this point i'm wondering how long i can expect myself to live...

Since watching your aquarium reduces stress I'd say it depends on how much you watch your aquarium.

 

[Timfish]

. . . If @Timfish and his 24+ year old Purple didn’t die in the power cut, it would be the same age as me, maybe even a bit older. . . A 42-year old Clownfish sounds like the combined age of me and (hopefully) by then, a teenage kid or two.

I'm happy to say the purple tang is still going strong! It was purchased in 1994 so assuming it was 2-4 years old it's 30+ now. @PaulB has clowns over 40 years.

 

[Zionas]

NICE! How big is it?

 

[Paul B]

It was purchased in 1994 so assuming it was 2-4 years old it's 30+ now. @PaulB has clowns over 40 years.

I am not sure but I don't think my fireclowns are 40 yet. I think they are about 38 or 39. I have been looking through my old threads and can't find out exactly when I got them but I kept a Log book many years ago so I will try to look through that to find out exactly how old they are.

I can see him here all the way to the left under that bubble coral. This picture was taken by a film camera because cell phone camera's are only about 20 years old. I don't know how old the picture is but because of the bubble coral, it can't be to old.



They are still spawning so I know they are not feeble yet.

 

[Zionas]

This is amazing!

 

[Justin_Reef]

Kudos to you for keeping a butterfly long term. I heard feeding and disease are major issues for them.

I had a pair but sadly the male passed away this year. He seemed to be on the decline for a few months and then he stopped eating and slowly passed away. I think it was 'old age'....

I have found these Pakistani Butterflies to be really tough. They do eat coral all day but it's never enough to kill a colony.

I feed my fish a lot of manila clams, squid, oysters, salmon roe, octopus, mussels, and other frozen foods I can find. I think this makes a big difference. I feed mysis and pellets as well but my fish never look at vibrant and thick without feeding fresh/frozen seafood.

 

[Justin_Reef]

Before the male passed away:

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve had a Hippo Tang and Purple Tang in my reef for almost 15 years. Some of my large Angels in my FOWLR are approaching 10 years with me.

I buy juveniles and let them grow. With proper care, QT and husbandry, no reason to expect your fish to live short lives.

 

[Ajayabb]

These are all such amazing stories. To know that these fish and their owners have enjoyed such amazing longevity in this hobby gives me pause

 

[Zionas]

What are the sizes on those fish?

 

[Tmrvstyle]

I am very curious to know what is the life expectancy of the fish we keep in our aquarium and did not find any discussion about it. Does it vary with the species?
My oldest is a damsel who is over 10 years old, but my firefish lives were much shorter, may be 2 years. I just got 2 new ones and hope they will live longer than that. What is a normal lifespan for them though?
Some reef2reef members say that their fish dies of old age, how old is that? I certainly aim for that too, but how do you know they died from old age? My Eibli Angel must be about 6 years, and so is my rabbitfish. How much longer can I expect them to live? Except for the 2 firefish that I got about 6 weeks ago, my youngest fish are an hyppo tang and a sixline wrasse, I bought 2 years ago, shortly before Covid.

I had a clownfish that I had to pass off to a friend for 5 years in a hiatus from the hobby then got back, in rough shape, kept alive/healed for another 3 years. Within the time I got it to when I lost it (my fault, parameters) I had it for 17 years.

 

[DIYreefer]

I have a clownfish that I've had for going on 15 years and a yellow tang that I've had for about 7 or 8 years. The tang's previous owner had him for at least a few (probably 3 or 4, iirc) years that I know of.

I had a ~10 year old foxface that randomly jumped about 6 months ago. I really miss that fish, he had an awesome personality. I now keep a tight-fitting canopy on my tank that makes it almost impossible for any of my other fishes to jump out.