Lifespan of dwarf cichlids - your input desired

[Jayhawk]

I realized this morning I've had my pair of L. curviceps for about 8 months now. I'm assuming they live longer than blue rams, but it made me realize I had no idea about the average lifespan of most of the dwarf cichlids, so I thought it might be fun to see if anyone here could post their experiences with the lifespan of the dwarfs they've kept. I've only kept dwarf cichlids for about a year now, but I know most of you have kept them longer...

I'll start the list, but feel free to add other species. As I said earlier, I have no idea what the lifespan is for any of these fish...

Blue Rams
Bolivian Rams
L. curviceps/dorsigera
Keyhole cichlids (maybe not a true dwarf - but I've not seen one over 4" in aquariums)
Shell Dwellers
Apistos (same or different for each type?)
Checkerboard dwarf cichlids
Nannacara anomola
Kribs (are all the Pelvachromis the same with regard to lifespan?)
African Butterfly Cichlid (A. Thomasi?)
N. brichardi (Fairy cichlids)

 

[Kevin]

Life spans

In the aquarium you should expect the life span of your fish to be substantially longer than in the wild. In act, the fish in the wild are generally not expected to live -- only one fish should survive per one parent. this will flctuate but in a system that is at equalibrium -- this will generally be the case.

It is not unusual to have aquarium fish live for five to ten years in captivity depending on their care and diet. I know the Steinhart (in San Fransisco) has had a fish live over 50 years and the Japanese claim to have some koi last over 300 years -- of this I am very skeptical. All the fish you have listed can easily make five years of age if you keep them in "clean" and appropriate water and feed them a well rounded diet and avoid extremes in temperature, hardness (softness -- there is such a thing as too soft!!) and organic build-up and they should last many years at least.

Is this about what you were looking for?

 

[Jayhawk]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I was after more of a what's our experience with regard to keeping the various species. Since I'm new to keeping dwarf cichlids, the most I could tell you is that my L. curviceps pair is nearly a year old now (I remember when they came into the LFS, didn't sell very quickly, and I was able to find a nice male & female who hung out a lot together - at least I was pretty sure they were a pair until recently I saw them spawn, but the eggs were eaten by someone).

I know Z-man has been keeping many of the dwarf species for years & I thought he could chime in with some of the ages he was able to keep the various species. I'm sure nearly everyone else on this board who has kept dwarf for 5+ years has their own personal estimate of the captive lifespan of the fish they've kept.

Just thought it would be fun - not a bragging contest but a chance to see how long these fish could live under, hopefully, good conditions.

 

[Z Man]

Not one of my tanks is a display tank. I try to breed every species I acquire usually just one pair to a tank. After a year when they are fully grown their fry production drops off drastically and I usually sell them at auctions or to the local store. Some of my friends show a lot of fish and I give some to them. It's very unusual for me to keep a fish two years tops.

 

[jowens]

I seem to remember Neil answering this before in another post someplace. I think I recall him saying that you're lucky if your apisto lives much past two years. Other dwards, like Bolivian Rams, grow slower and have longer lifespans.

 

[Kevin]

Old fish

Neil likes to breed his fish and they breed like mad -- this will reduce the life span of a fish by "burning" them out. If they are bred occassionally it will lead to longer living fish. Lower temperatures will add life to a fish. Feeding the fish a plant protien diet will increase the life of a fish. I have zero scientific evidence to site for these assertions but I would love to see someone site a scientific paper that disputes these items.

 

[jowens]

Neil likes to breed his fish and they breed like mad -- this will reduce the life span of a fish by "burning" them out.

Well, if you're going to die anyway, you might as well...