View Full Version : 11 year old Pseudotropheus interruptus
Pareeeee
03-19-14, 09:37 AM
This is him when I bought him back in 2003, he was small, probably 1.5 to 2 inches or so:
http://i.imgur.com/DuN23tr.jpg
and this is him now, at about 4-ish inches:
http://i.imgur.com/9TACdv9.jpg
He is at least 11 years old and is the oldest pet I have. He is very tame, like a fish-dog. He will eat right from your hand, jumping out of the water to grab the food. He's very trusting and gets excited when you enter the room.
I've read that they are only supposed to live 4-10 years, is this true? Is he some sort of record-breaker?
He's been alone for most of his life, since he is one of the most aggressive African cichlids I've ever seen. He will kill ANYTHING, including other cichlids (even females of the same species).
He's also the only fish I own that has a name. Plain and simple "Blue".
Mikoh4792
03-19-14, 09:49 AM
Damn 11 years is a pretty good record.
Jim Smith
03-19-14, 12:03 PM
Beautiful fish. Have you ever considered giving him a girl friend. They're fairly easy to breed. That way you can have Son of Blue for the next decade or so.
Jim
Pareeeee
03-19-14, 01:37 PM
Beautiful fish. Have you ever considered giving him a girl friend. They're fairly easy to breed. That way you can have Son of Blue for the next decade or so.
Jim
He's been alone for most of his life, since he is one of the most aggressive African cichlids I've ever seen. He will kill ANYTHING, including other cichlids (even females of the same species).
:) :) There you go.
Jim Smith
03-19-14, 01:59 PM
My bad, I should have read your original posting a bit more carefully. I guess he's just a cranky old fish, and with his attitude, he'll end his days as a lonely cranky old fish. I worked in the import/export tropical fish industry for a number of years way back when and I never remember any of the Cichlids living that long. I bred a number of species including South American Leaf fish Monocirrhus polyacanthus before they were normally bred in captivity. I really enjoy keeping aquariums, but I'm afraid that I've maxed out my wife's tolerance with pets when I talked her into me keeping five Honduran Milk Snakes. While I do miss watching an aquarium full of interesting fish (I preferred species from South America), I guess it's a fair tradeoff as the snakes are also loads of fun.
He's gorgeous! I've always liked cichlids, they have such cool personalities and are so vibrant. Too bad he kills the girls off, would be cool to keep the lineage going!
alessia55
03-20-14, 04:01 PM
Very cool, Paris... So awesome that you've had him around for that long!!
Wow, he is old (but doesn't look it). I love his colors - they remind me of the blue morpho butterflies that I saw in Costa Rica. It is too bad he would literally kill the ladies instead of being what they call a "lady killer" in a good way.
Tsubaki
03-21-14, 08:12 AM
Nice looking fish! and that's old :D
guyabano
08-28-14, 09:16 PM
Impressive!
SnoopySnake
08-28-14, 09:29 PM
He's gorgeous, that's so cool that you've had him for so long. I love cichlids, one day I hope to set up a cichlid tank. I really like Hemichromis bimaculatus-jewel cichlids and Rocio octofasciata-Jack Dempsey cichlids.
Pareeeee
08-28-14, 09:47 PM
He's started to go blind over the last couple months, and now hides most of the time. Poor old geezer is starting to show his age.
11 years is longer then I have ever been able to keep a fish, and it is a long life Hopefully he will be able to still find his food and be able to adjust. Is he still eating?
Jason
Pareeeee
09-06-14, 02:50 PM
@Boots, yeah he still eats. He really has to feel around and randomly bite at things to find the food though. Poor little guy.
guyabano
10-17-14, 06:53 PM
@Boots, yeah he still eats. He really has to feel around and randomly bite at things to find the food though. Poor little guy.
Aww. . . Old creatures give me all the feels.
Pareeeee
10-18-14, 06:01 AM
Aww. . . Old creatures give me all the feels.
Yeah, you just want to help them, but there's nothing you can really do.
Now that he's gone blind, his pupils got really tiny. It looks very...strange.
fishingfool
01-23-15, 09:59 AM
Great looking fish what size set up you.got him in
Jacktar
01-26-15, 01:26 PM
Very cool. I love the thropheus genus.Is this a Tanganyika cichlid? I have a 15 year old Frontosa that I've had since 2000. He ate my Tropheus Moori
Pareeeee
01-26-15, 02:43 PM
No, it's a Malawi cichlid. 15 years is amazing! I don't know if Blue will live that long, his belly looks hollow even though he eats lots every day. I think the old age is starting to catch up with him.
@fishingfool, he's in a 10gal.
Years ago when I had my cichlid tank, I threw him in a 5gal and intended to get rid of him because of his extreme aggressiveness. Once he was by himself his personality changed - he became extremely tame and trusting, and that's when I decided I would keep him.
Before he went blind he used to get excited every time I entered the room, would jump out of the water to grab the food from my hand, and he even trusted me enough to let me "hold" him, and let me lift him out of the water (I would only do it for a couple seconds).
Jacktar
01-26-15, 02:54 PM
No, it's a Malawi cichlid. 15 years is amazing! I don't know if Blue will live that long, his belly looks hollow even though he eats lots every day. I think the old age is starting to catch up with him.
@fishingfool, he's in a 10gal.
Years ago when I had my cichlid tank, I threw him in a 5gal and intended to get rid of him because of his extreme aggressiveness. Once he was by himself his personality changed - he became extremely tame and trusting, and that's when I decided I would keep him.
Before he went blind he used to get excited every time I entered the room, would jump out of the water to grab the food from my hand, and he even trusted me enough to let me "hold" him, and let me lift him out of the water (I would only do it for a couple seconds).
His longevity has surprised me but he could live 25 years. I had him in a community tank when he was a baby but the other fish ganged up on him and completely chewed his fins off. He was basically just a torso. I put him in a 5 gallon tank by himself, thinking he wouldn't make it but he came back with a vengeance. When he healed and gained some size, I put him in a 20 high and eventually a 55 gallon. He was cool as a community fish for a while but eventually started eating everything including my brichardi, yellow labrodichromis, tropheus moori, even a large plecostomus. I recently started feeding him live fish and he's unexpectedly put on even more size. He has a bad eye but other than that he's a healthy old fish
fishingfool
02-01-15, 10:32 AM
O cool tens a nice little tank size i miss my albino tiger oscar i had as a child that thing was awsome looking but in true child fashion one got sick and died and then the whole tank caught it and was gone in less then a week :(
Pareeeee
08-01-15, 10:16 PM
Blue died this past week at approximately 12-13 years old. I buried him outside under some trees - weird - I've owned a lot of fish but never felt the need to bury dead ones. I got strangely attached to this little guy who would get excited every time I entered the room, and who became so tame he would let me pick him up out of the water. I've never seen a pet fish get so old that it got cataracts. Poor little guy.
pet_snake_78
08-01-15, 10:56 PM
One day that will be me, wandering around the kitchen biting random things to find the food lol
SnoopySnake
08-02-15, 06:50 AM
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that :( Sounds like he had a long, good life though.
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