Oldest Fish You've Kept?

[Mike]

What is the longest lived fish that you have personally kept?

Mine is a yellow tang - 8 years old

 

[Feohw]

Mine is only about 2 years. Neon tetras, starlight pleco, amano shrimp, a few others from my first aquarium. All around the same age. I haven't been in the hobby long enough for an older one.

 

[Dennis57]

Had 2 angels that were 12-1/2 1 died and within 3 days the other went. I had other fish in the tank.

 

[coralbandit]

Clown loaches may out live me !
I think some of my 16 are like 20+ years with me ..

 

[david1978]

I would have to say may Oscar. He was well over 10 years old and doing good till he decided to blow out the side of his tank.

 

[aquafrogg]

A year! Only because that’s how long I’ve been in the hobby hopefully my betta will last 5+ years. He is very healthy and happy!

 

[kallililly1973]

My 5 Serpae tetras have been with me since I started my 55 over 2.5 years ago. Don't believe anything you hear about these guys they are awesome . Ive only been fishkeeping for about that long and they are all still going strong. I'de get em again in a heartbeat!

 

[jjohnwm]

I had a Synbranchid Eel that was purchased when it was about 5 inches in length; back then they were available fairly regularly and were sold as Golden Eels. I had it for several years, until it was roughly 24 inches long. A good friend was so enamoured with this fish that I gave it to him, and he kept it...his only fish...for another 7 or 8 years. It outlasted his marriage, and when a move made it impossible for him to keep a tank he gave it back to me. It was over 30 inches, not exactly attractive but certainly impressive. I kept it in the sump of one of my large tanks for almost a year before setting up a tank devoted strictly to it.

It soldiered on for another 5 years, just eating and growing and delighting my friends and freaking out my wife. It met a sad end one day when it forced open the heavy lid of the tank and escaped to the floor. This wasn't its first escape throughout its captive life...but it was the first time that it encountered a protective 140-pound Great Dane X Mastiff during the course of its unauthorized terrestrial vacation. We measured the mangled corpse at a hair over 40 inches, and estimated that the missing head would have added at least another 4 inches to that. Total time in captivity: well over 15 years.

I haven't seen these for sale in a long time. If I ever do I will buy another in a heartbeat, simply out of nostalgia.

 

[plecodragon]

I have some bronze corydoras that are more then 12 years old, got them as full grown adults and they gave me fry, their fry are 12 years old-boy time flies.
I also have some long finned African tetras that I got as fry in 2007 so they are 12 years old. Started with 12 and now down to 5. These tetras are 4" long and still feisty. You rarely if ever see them anywhere- got mine from a breeder at an aquarium auction.

 

[Elkwatcher]

King Kong Cichlid 13 yrs.

 

[lilirose]

I had a pair of Angelfish that were nine years old the last I heard about them- I moved and had to send them to a new home as the landlord wouldn't allow a big aquarium in the house I was moving into. I was heartbroken- I kind of wish I'd found a different landlord rather than giving up those fish! I have no idea how long they survived after that.

 

[fishplace]

I just have a 29 gallon tank and I just got into the hobby but I think I know a lot about fish. the oldist fish I have kept in a molly her name is puppy I have owned her for 3 months or more now and I love her she lived by herself for a while then I got a pleco. also I need help with my molly I think she is dying. pls help me

 

[TheFishmonger]

I had a Black Moor that lived with me for 9.5 years. So I guess it was about 10 years old when it died. Didn't give him a name. I am pretty sure it was a male. Only fish that moved me when it passed. He was such a cool fish. He would swim around happy to see me, like a dog when you come home and it wags its tail. I would pet him on a daily basis too.

 

[MissPanda]

No outstanding number of years for a single fish, but we did catch a salamander when I was 5 and that thing lived for over 20 years.

 

[ProudPapa]

I've only had aquarium fish since September, but I've had goldfish live many years outside in cattle troughs. Unlike my aquarium fish, they work for a living, keeping the algae and mosquito larvae under control.

 

[MacZ]

Had a yellow lab, in my first MalawI setup, that made at least 8 years. No idea how long it lived after I gave it away, though. In any case it must be dead by now, because that was 20 years ago. Next would be a female Maylandia zebra with 7 years and a pair of Neolamprologus brichardi, that I kept for 5 years. I got all of them as juvelines. The zebra died in my custody, because it was brooding all the time. The others I gave away at one point so no idea whether they grew even older afterwards.

Right now a cardinal tetra I have for 3 months now, but it should be 3-4 years old at this point.

 

[wheatbackdigger]

I’ve got a couple of my original Frontosa that I’ve had for 16 or 17 years. The colony has changed over the years. Fronts have been added and fronts have been removed.

 

[phnx314]

Less than 2 years, but I’ve only been in the fish hobby since January 2019

 

[wd67]

Not with the current tank but have had pet Oscars that lasted around 12 years. He was the longest I ever had. He was about 15 inches long. a Nice Tiger striped!

 

[TWiG87]

I adopted an old Jack Dempsey many years ago. He came with the 90 gallon tank I bought off of Craigslist. He just looked old and was never very aggressive. The guy I got him from said he was about 6 years old and then I kept him for about 3 more years before he passed away