Average lifespans of tropical fish

[Scrumpy]

I got this off the web, and wondered if it seems about right in peoples experience?

Cyprinidae (small)
Cherry Barb, Rosy Barb, Tiger Barb, Giant Danio, Leopard Danio, Pearl Danio, Zebra Danio, White Cloud Mountain Minnow: 5-7 years

Catfish (small)
Banjo, Bumble Bee, Cory, Glass: 5-8 years

Callichthyidae (large Catfish)
Armored Catfish, Pleco, Banjo Cat, Rafael Catfish: 7-15 years

Anabantoids (Gouramis)
Blue, Chocolate, Dwarf, Honey, Kissing and Pearl Gourami: 4 years

Poecilidae (Livebearers)
Guppy, Platy, Mollie and Swordtail: 3-5 years

Cyprinodontide
Killifish: 1-2 years

Characoids ( Tetras small)
Neon, Cardinal, Glowline, Silvertip, Bloodcave, Bloodfin and Rummy Nose Tetras, Glassfish, Hatchet Fish, Rasboras: 5-10years

Characoids (Tetras Large)
Black, Bleeding Heart, Silver Dollar, Pacu and Leporinus: 8-12 years

Cyprinidae (sharks)
Bala, Black, Redtail and Rainbow: 4-10 years

Cichlids (South America Large)
Convict, Discus, Firemouth, Jack Dempsey, Oscar, Severum and Angelfish: 10-18 years

Cichlids (South America small)
Rams, Apistogramma and Checkerboard: 3-5 years

Cichlids ( African)
Kenyii, Ps. Zebra and Frontosa: 8-15 years

Cyprinidae ( Goldfish)
Black Moor, Bubble Eye, Comet, Fantails, Koi and Oranda: 10-90 years

The reason I'm asking is that I can't buy another tank and I'm wondering how long it's going to be before some of my fish die (the ones I regret buying as a newbie) and I can add new ones. A long time by the looks of it! LOL

 

[revengeishere]

I think those are the fish's true lifespans....so they shud be shorter in home aquaria, cos they are prolly a few months old once you bought them.

example: bettas typically live 3 years in the wild. but in captivity, i read they live up to 2 years.

update: this isnt true in all fishes, tho...look at waynes post down there...

 

[wayne]

The seem a bit long, but not too far out. Africans I believe 2 years in the wild approx, up to 5 or 6 in home aquaria.
Cardinals - many die in drying out pools in year 1, can survive 5 years (some of mine are 3 +). Ditto apistos and cories, smaller L's dieing in drying forest pools
I see reports of syno's living 20+

I also see reports of some cichlids (geophagus) not spawning till they're 2 or 3 years old , ditto gold nuggets, zebra plecs, so they must get quite old

 

[Balance]

if you want to get rid of some fish, why dont you sell some back to the LFS or try to aquabid them?

there are quite a few LFS near me that are willing to give me store credit for fish..... I bought a Giant Danio at one store for about 60 cents when he was small, after he got full size he turned too agressive for my small tank, so the LFS bought him back for $3!

they were still able to sell him for a profit as a full grown Giant Danio...... (he was almost 5" believe it or not)

 

[Scrumpy]

I thought about it....but I'm rather fond of them.....except for my long fin zebra danios which are fat tatty old things and no one would buy them, and my grumpy old clown plec! LOL I'm beginning to regret the Betta too, and I never meant to have so many Cardinals. I was warned lots would die when I added them to my tank, so buy 50% more than I wanted.... but not one did.
Oh well....only another 5-8 years to go

 

[Jawz]

Its not always set in stone, check these opinions from a SW Board

I think the life expectancy of a fish has three primary variables.1. How was this animal removed from it's natural habitat? If it is tank raised then this should be a fairly stress free process. If it is captured using poisons, such as cyanide, the expectancy will be much less. Removal from habitat is the one side of that the consumer does not have complete control over. 2. Self education. The more you know about the fish the longer it will live. This process should not end after the pruchase either. 3. Monitoring current conditions. It does not matter how much you know about your fish if you don't know what is happening in its environmentIf the consumer knows these three things, a fish can live a long and healthy life. Otherwise...

Fish can live within the guidlines but i believe if given optimal conditions they can surely live alot longer.

as far as life span in general...who knows...there are too many variables...all I know is that i try my best to keep the fish i buy alive for as long as possible!!!IMO there are alot of people who get into the hobby looking for instant gratification, either they keep making mistakes and spending alot of money, or they start to educate themselves so they dont make the same mistakes they have mad or other people have made...Im not by any means justifying the death of fish, but it is reality. I dont think anyone intends to kill a fish, perhaps they just think its really pretty and just have to have it when the amonia is spiking, not even knowing that their tank has to cycle ~or~ the LFS owner sets a person up with $2000 worth of equipment and tells them they can put any fish that they want to as soon as the water goes in...alot of people will take the word of an LFS owner/worker over a hobbiest cuz they dont yet realize the $$$ in the owners eyes.

 

[Angelfish]

Yes like Jawz said variables are involved. However, I think a few of those were a little long except the gouramis, Ive read from a few sources that their life expectancy is 8 years, which is double the one listed here. Besides that I think its great that we can all now look up how long our fish will live, thanks Scrumpy =)

 

[Anike]

Eh. Looks like I'm stuck with my zebra danios for a long time. *grumble* Er, zebra danios are great! I love mine! Ladedala...

 

[tetra girl]

neons only live for about 2 years at the most due to imbreeding, bad shipping and a supressed inmune system. It is best to get wild neons as they will usually live much longer then their domestic counterparts.

 

[Escapade]

I only established my tank a while ago. Went through the fishless cycle and stuff. Everything working a treat with all of my fish happy healthy and active. (Iwas given some great advice by reading other threads on this site, so thanks guys!!)
However England is currently in the midst of one of th hottest heat waves that we have ever known. So I can state catergorically and some degree of experience that the life expectancy of a Neon Tetra is exactly 82f'. (not sure what that is in C')

 

[Scrumpy]

Hooray! Another Brit!
My fish are ok, but their water temp is off the themometer scale (max 28) and my kitchen thermometer claimed it was 39 degrees on Tuesday.
I'm sitting here in front of the fan being bad tempered and wondering if I should make some decholorinated water ice blocks to float in the tanks. In fact I think I will.
I'll let you know if it all goes pear shaped

 

[kimbo]

my african cichlid is almost 4 years old. he was only an inch when I bought it. he's now almost 5 inches.

 

[Escapade]

Scrumpy,
That's a bloody good Idea. Must be sure not to posion the girlfriend!

 

[mac]

it's a sad, sad world when two brits are complaining about a heat wave at the same time as i'm shivering my @rse off in australia (4 degrees at the moment).

anyway...have any of you run into issues with ice packs and curious/stupid surface dwellers?

 

[Scrumpy]

LOL...the temperature rises. 36 point something yesterday 4 degrees in Australia Mac? Yikes! I'll think of you as I sit in the garden with my beer watching the BBQ this evening.
Well my decholorinated iceblocks haven't had any dire repercussions...and have dropped the temp to around 28 degrees. All the fish had a good look, my rainbow fish being most fascinated, but that was it. Im pondering trying to drop the temp further but it's not easy keeping enough ice blocks on the go!

 

[tetra girl]

yeah its bloody cold here in NZ too! I cant wait till summer! I have a couple of friends in germany that are complaining about the heat too - they say its even hotter there then in england! Its not fair

 

[Scrumpy]

LOL Actually it's really gruesome. It's humid heat and of course we're not set up for it....no air conditioning, shops selling out of bottled water. The tarmac on our road is all sticky. Bloody horrible...and loads of sweaty blokes going around half naked. It's never the nice ones is it? Sweaty sunburnt beer beer bellies or pimply hollow chested 17 year olds.
Apparently 50 people have died in Paris because of the heat
You can't please us...you know. It's either too hot or too wet or a handful of snowflakes have brought the country to a standstill
Hose pipe bans on the way any minute....they'd better not try to ration water for my fishtanks!