Who has the oldest fish?

[psilentchild]

I know certain fish can live 20+ years.But has anybody kept a fish that long?Who has the oldest fish?I want to know how long you have had it.What kind of fish is it?How big was it when you got it and how big is it now?

 

[namxas]

i had a snowflake for like 15 years, and lost it to a power outage (old GFI popped). 24" at death. about 6" when i got it.

had a volitans for 10 years. 3" at acquisition, close to 12" at death.

 

[LukFox]

Zoom has some really old fish. Hopefully he'll pop in this thread. There's also someone on RC who has a 27 (or somewhere close) year old undulated eel. Another RCer has a 30 year old pair of maroon clowns. I forget their usernames though .

 

[AdamTang]

Just sold someone some fish a few weeks ago, they gave me a brief description of their tank:

It's not a refer "œshow" tank. I've had this tank for 12 years and a 300 gal for 24 years"¦I'm into easy maintenance, corals and fish that LAST, etc. I have a breeding pair of Clowns that I bought 24 years ago. They still lay eggs monthly! A damsel is also laying eggs regularly lately.

 

[humaguy]

my 220 was solid for 15 years...got Brooklynellosis, I think, last Jan or so...couldn't kill it off and watched it kill my fish over a 6 week period...lost a 15 year old Blue Face-got her around the size of a haslf dollar- she grew to around 1 foot long and 1.5-2.0 inches think...13 year old Pinktail 10 inches, Huma around 6- they do grow S L O W , and Domino who was massive and not to be screwed with...

 

[small alien]

That sucks humaguy

 

[humaguy]

tell me about it...that was worse than the time my girlfriend was helpinmg out and feeding my fish when I went away for the weekend back in 1991. I guess I didn't stress the importance of turning the pumps back ON after feeding enough...she did remember the next day...gone were my Juvi Clarion- bought for $400 from a place in Arizona, Juvi Queen that was changing insanely fast- trying to beat the Clarion??? and breeding pair of Flame Angels that were laying eggs all the time and I felt I was finally close to rearing the fry...the Flames were purchased in NYC on 26th St- one of my lfs for $120...

 

[FishyMel]

I have a 9.5 year old albino sailfin pleco, a 6 year old banana moray eel, and a 5 year old purple tang. I think the purple tang is coming close to dying of old age though. His belly is pinched, he was XL when I bought him, and I don't think they live that long. He is probably 10 years old, including time spent in the wild.

 

[JHemdal]

The oldest captive fish overall is the Australian Lungfish at the Shedd Aquarium - over 75 years old IIRC. I took care of it for a time when I was an aquarist there. I think they call it "Grandpa". There was also a tarpon called "deadeye" that was well over 50 years old when it died.

One of our longnose gars is supposedly over 50 years old (unconfirmed) and we have a number of fish dating back 20 years (Abramites, Pacific black tip shark).

I'm working on a "fish mortality rate" article - here is a list of animals that I have first-hand knowledge of - not that they are "records", more likely normal ranges:

Black tip reef shark - 20 years (still alive)
Clark's clown - 8y 4m
Cuttlefish - 13 months
Deep sea isopod - 8 years
Diamond butterflyfish - 12 years
Giant Pacific Octopus - 27 months
Leptogorgia sp. - 16 years (cuttings 20+ total years in captivity)
Marsh killifish - 4 1/2 years
Neon goby "“ 4 ½ years
Photoblepharon flashlight fish - 17 years (still alive)
Ocellaris clownfish - 4y 3m
Orbicularis batfish - 18 years
Slipper lobster - 8 years
Sailfin tang - 12 years
Squirrelfish - 10 years
Tiger cowry - 7 years 3 months (acquired as an adult)


Jay Hemdal

 

[KafudaFish]

I have seen that lungfish. I watched it for around 15 minutes. Most people looked at it and said, "What an ugly fish." Finally someone asked why it was there and I pointed to a plate on the wall explaining it.

The person was more impressed after that.

 

[psilentchild]

Wow.Over 75 years that all i can say.Did you happen take any pictures of this fish while you were there?I would love to that fish.

 

[sunfishh]

Have seen it too KafudaFish. It is a beautiful sort of ugly.

 

[sanchoy]

75 years.

That is way before many of our time...

 

[candeewolf]

I know sturgeons at the monterey bay aquarium have lived for a long long time there. Sturgeons live to be around 70-80 I think...

 

[JHemdal]

candeewolf,

That's where the Shedd Aquarium benefits - its been around a lot longer (1929/30). Monterey opened in 1984 or so, so their oldest possible fish would be a bit over 25. While researching an exhibit for Lake Sturgeon, I came across an age estimate of 150 years for one found in a cold northern lake.


Jay

 

[KafudaFish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15489772#post15489772 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunfishh
Have seen it too KafudaFish. It is a beautiful sort of ugly.

Yeah my wife asked the deal with the fish and I explained about its biology and then started laughing. She asked what was so funny and I explained the joke about cladistics and the lungfish on their journal cover. She just shook her head and moved on.

It is ironic that she is a high school biology teacher!

Yeah I am a fish nerd sometimes.

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15484077#post15484077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LukFox
Zoom has some really old fish. Hopefully he'll pop in this thread. There's also someone on RC who has a 27 (or somewhere close) year old undulated eel. Another RCer has a 30 year old pair of maroon clowns. I forget their usernames though .

The yellow tang is 17 years old the percula is 15 i lost my 16 years old PBT last year the purple tang is only 11.
They not that big of a fish they been in the same tank for 17+ years now .
I saw a yellow tang in Hawaii that was 10+" long my is only 7" and is not growing any more.

 

[danorth]

My coris will be 4 in my care in 1 week.

 

[SHOW ANGELS]

My queen angel will be going on 11 years.

 

[Grouperhead]

My oldest current fish is a black ocellaris I've had since 01.