Osama the Gramma finally kicks the bucket

[Mariner]

The first fish in my 75g when I set it up in 2003 was what I thought to be a royal gramma. I named him "Osama". After an early bout with ick, he settled in and grew and grew and grew... after awhile, I learned that he was actually the slightly bigger cousin of the royal gramma, the Brazilian Gramma. In any case, he was a large, beautiful, entertaining specimen until I found him dead yesterday. I suspect that at 7+ years he literally died of old age. Anyone else ever have a gramma live this long?
Here he is cruising the reef when he was about a year old.

Mariner

 

[stunreefer]

Gorgeous fish, sorry for your loss.

Seems to have had a great run though!

 

[theitalianczech]

have had mine going on 6 years...he has been in a few different tanks over the years and is still going strong

 

[rholguin]

Sorry to hear about your loss but at the same time congrats on keeping him alive that long.

 

[Sheol]

Beautiful fish, but when it comes to Grammas or any purple & yellow fish, my tank is cursed. None survive more than 6.5 weeks before some evil fate befalls them.
7 years sounds like a great run for a small fish, but sorry I know you must have formed a lot of feelings toward him over the years. Condolences..

Sincerely,
Matthew

 

[betamed]

Mine lived 6 years. they're great fish.

 

[LisaD]

mine lived 7 year. and it died prematurely, in a tank wipeout due to velvet. I kept it with much bigger fish, and it always held its own. it was in a tank with a zebra moray (the sole survivor of the wipeout of 2005), harlequin tusk, emperor angel, and other large fish. they never bothered it. I still miss the little guy or gal.

 

[Mariner]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sounds like 7+ years is a good long life for these fish, if not near the max.
One of the peculiar things about my particular fish was his size. He was nearly four inches long and much thicker than my big thumb. When I had our reef club over a couple of years ago several club member were impressed with his size too. Certainly the biggest gramma I've seen anywhere.
Mariner

 

[Romewhip]

Sorry to hear he's gone, mine was about 6.5 years old when he passed. I haven't found a good quality one for replacement yet, but when I do the tank move I'll really be on the lookout for one. They're neat little fish!