11 year old Pseudotropheus interruptus

[Pareeeee]

This is him when I bought him back in 2003, he was small, probably 1.5 to 2 inches or so:


and this is him now, at about 4-ish inches:


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]

Damn 11 years is a pretty good record.

[Jim Smith]

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]

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

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

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

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]

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.

[Hurrok]

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]

Very cool, Paris... So awesome that you've had him around for that long!!

[lisas]

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]

Nice looking fish! and that's old

[guyabano]

Impressive!

[SnoopySnake]

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]

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.

[Boots]

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]

@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]

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

@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.