Long-lived tropical fish

[nohorn]

My son has three black-nosed elephant tropical fish.
They are 14 years old. Is that unusual for them to live for so long. What would be the record for them to live? That is, in captivity? Just wondering.

[terambulan]

Is that a sort of cat-fish?

[nohorn]

The species is Gnothonemus petersii. If you google the name, black-nosed elephant fish, lots will come up.

[terambulan]

Electric.....and they haven't fused yet; sounds like ur doing a find job with them.

[hammerman]

Ir's one of the few fish that ive never kept but that's a pretty impressive amount of time you've kept them for. Why not write into practical fishkeeping magazine and see what they have to say about it.

[nohorn]

Hammerman: That sounds like a great idea! Could you give me the name of such a mag. I am not knowlegable in that area He really does take good care of them. I often worry though about an earth quake where power goes off, that would sure do them in quick. In fires/quakes, noone ever reports whatever happens to wonderful home acquariums and valuable fish Thanks for responding!

[Schutzengel]

congratulations on your son's long lived fish. Regarding power cuts, we had one 3 weeks ago, due to a storm. I have a tank of assorted tropical fish. So I wrapped the sides of the tank with two layers of bubble wrap, and then a soft blanket. The power cut lasted 36 hours, and the tank temperature only dropped two degrees, and am pleased to say the fish were fine. If you live in an area where power cuts are sometimes expected, it might be as well to by a roll of bubble wrap and keep it in stock.

[hammerman]

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/page s/home.php is the PFK magazine and there's a pretty good, friendly forum http://www.uk-aquarist.com/index.php

Good luck