life span of cichlids species

[RED PRINCES]

I would like to know how long does cichlid fish live, is there a difference in life span between species, is there a difference between tangs and malawis ......

[Lisachromis]

Some species do not live as long.

I must admit that my 2 oldest fish species in my care are both Tang and Malawian. I have 10 year old Julidochromis marlieri, and 10 year old Cyrtocara moorii.

[RED PRINCES]

anybody ............

Thomas ?? ..............

[Mark Smith]

If memory serves me corrrectly, Guy Jordan, one of the founding fathers of the American Cichlid Association once told me that he had a Parachromis dovii named Pablo that lived over 15 years.

On the other end of the spectrum, having worked with Bathybates and Trematocara species, I get the impression that they are relatively short-lived as cichlids go. They grew fast, spawned at a seemingly young age, and began to show signs of aging quicker than other cichlids I've kept. Perhaps 4 to 6 years for them?

[Thomas Andersen]

Isn't Tropheus supposed to be very long-lived, exceeding 10 or even 15 years? Another canditate for a Tanganyika cichlid with a long life-span would be Cyphotilapia frontosa.

In contrast many of the lek-breeding ectodines are rather short-lived, probably because it takes a lot of energy to constantly display for females and improve and defend their nests.

All the best, Thomas

[Mark Curmi]

There's a mod on another site who has a Syno Multi that he has had for 23yrs and its still swimming all over the place.
Just thought I would let you know.

[dogofwar]

I had a Syno. multipunctatus that I inherited from someone who had him for 10+ yrs and kept him for at least another 6...

I gave him to a friend when I left for college, so who knows...

[Dalton]

This is a picture of a friends T. duboisi that's 10+ years old. I took this picture about a year ago, and I think it's still alive.

[sidguppy]

a breeder I know on a personal base had a huge Burundi frontosa by the name of Bob
Bob made it well beyond 25 years and if I remember it right even reached 30 years.....he passed away less than a year ago.

another place that might ring a bell is Verduijns' place. the importer, yup
they used to have a granulosus that arrived as the first fish that went into their 10.000L showtank and it passed away lasdt year. it's been in the store as long as it exists! that would make it well beyond 30 years, probably 35 years old and granulosus are caught as subadults.

myself I've bought a group of Mochokiella paynee in 1986. this is a tiny relative of Synodontis from Sieraa Leone.
and I bought them as subadult/half grown abnimals, at least 2 years old, given the growthrate of this species.
the last one's still kicking the bucket in a tank of a good friend......that tiny 2" fish is at least 24 years old and this is a fish that has a maximumsize of 7 cm or so.
some Synodontis nigriventris that I bought in 1984 at an age of 2-3 years (they grow as slow as petricola's) have been around until 2007, wich makes them reach some 26 years give or take a bit.

I've seen old substrate brooders, esp the larger ones from South and Central America, and frontosa's owned by people who claim their fish was 20-25 years old or more.
some fish do last, even small ones!

on the other hand, I've known plenty fish (catfishes too) that are really ancient and worn out at 5 or 6 years. some don't even last that long despite good care.