With guppies it is really difficult to judge, as it really depends on their genetic strength. The fancy guppy strain has been severely weakened in genetic make up for many yrs now due to "line breeding"/inbreeding. How inbred they are can play a large role in life expectancy. Average life span can range from 1 - 3 yrs, but I have had a few that lived beyond 4 and others that barely made it a year beyond purchase.
Neon tetras, on the other hand, tend to fall prey to a few specific diseases that cull their numbers more heavily than many other tropical species, thus their "sensitivity". Their environment also plays a large role in lifespan. Neons who live in a nearly bare 10 gallon tank with a group of 2 - 3 are not going to have the same life expectancy of neons who live in a 100 gallon, fully planted tank, in a group of 30 - 40.
Overall, if they are in good health and properly kept, neon tetras can live up to 7 - 10 yrs. My longest lived was 6+, and oddly enough he was the only neon in the tank.
Overall, its very difficult to predict such things because so much factors into the equation. Level of care, environment, genetics, nutrition, and overall health all have to be considered. When buying a fish from a pet store, we have no idea where it came from, and usually no real accurate idea of age. We also don't know what trauma those fish may have experienced in transition to the pet store, be it direct from breeder, or from breeder to wholesaler. Shipping methods, handling methods, even extreme temperature and water chemistry fluctuations along the way can make a difference in life expectancy. Often damage is done that we can't see just by looking at the fish, the only sign we get is short life span... but then to do an autopsy on those bodies tells a bigger story. I have done the autopsies, yrs worth on many different species, and sometimes the results just blow my mind. The number of otherwise healthy fish that die of organ failure
and show signs of organ damage or organ deformity is really much higher than the average person may think. The differences in captive bred fish vs wild caught also shows up during necropsy and lab work. While we eliminate the risk from predators by breeding/raising captive, what it does to their immune systems and overall genetics over time can be drastic in some species.
Dawn
Dawn Moneyhan
Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
To learn more about me go to
http://www.helium.com/users/449334
--- On Fri, 7/29/11, suemfrancis <peterelectrician@tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
From: suemfrancis <peterelectrician@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: [tropical fish club] life expectancy Guppies and Neon Tetra
To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, July 29, 2011, 12:41 PM
Hi
What would be the average of life expectancy for say, guppies and neon tetra. I bought 4 fancy male guppies body measuring over 1", so not babies, what would others think life expectancy to be? Also, neons, does anyone know what sort of age these should achieve.
Sue
England
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
No comments:
Post a Comment