firefish life span?

[treesprite]

Anyone know what the average in-captivity lifespan of the typical firefish is, not counting leaping from aquariums or dying from a disease? I looked around the net a little and couldn't find the information. Thanks.

[Coral Hind]

3 years is what I have heard over the years. I have never had one live more then about a year and a half.

[treesprite]

Interestig how there is no answer to this question anywhere. When I was searching around for one, I came across the question in the form of a Reef Central thread and guess what? As big as RC is, no one answered that guy's thread either.

[lanman]

Interestig how there is no answer to this question anywhere. When I was searching around for one, I came across the question in the form of a Reef Central thread and guess what? As big as RC is, no one answered that guy's thread either.

 

So perhaps nobody has ever owned one from baby to adult, that they thought died of 'old age'.

 

bob

[hypertech]

I've got a purple one I've had for about 2.5 yrs so they live at least that long. I haven't seen it in about a week though that isn't unusual. It likes to hide in a hole.

[Matt LeBaron]

Hopefully no one minds me resurrecting this thread but I went looking for the same answer and Google found this thread (and very little else). My little Firefish, Vince is a bit over 4 years old now. I was wondering this afternoon how long they live since he was the very first fish I got back when I started with a 55G. He's still in good health as far as I can tell dispite some injuries over the past 2 years from trying to hide with my gobies and pistol shrimp. The Pistol Shrimp doesn't appreciate it and you can hear him snapping at poor little Vince and he usually has some fin damage or minor wounds afterwards. He always healed up without a problem though.

 

I recently lost one of my first seahorses to as far as I can tell old age, Theoria was just short of 4 years old and didn't show any signs of illness other than slowing down a bit before she passed so it's gotten me thinking about how long some of my original inhabitants will live. My first three non invert inhabitants were Theoria (female seahorse), Stevie (male seahorse), and Vince (Firefish). Stevie is still doing well but he seems to be getting a bit snile in his later years as he still knows the clear plastic tube means food but has gotten that it comes out of the bottom of the tube not the side or top.

[treesprite]

I just responded to this post and when I hit to post it, my entire window closed.

 

At anyrate...

 

The only thing I don't like about thread revivals is that I end up having to do updated research....

[treesprite]

purple firefish says 3 years: http://www.fishlore.com/profile-purplefirefish.htm

 

blue gudgeon (another type of dartfish) says 8 to 12 here! I had no idea they have such a long lifespan - maybe I will re-visit the notion of getting some. http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Ptereleotris_heteroptera

 

Seems like stuff keeps taking me to pages about gobies. Firefish are not gobies, people!