Mandarins keeping alive for more than 6-7yrs

Iv read many forums and most of them have kept mandarins alive for 3-4yrs. In reality mandarins live for 10-15yrs.. i would like to know from people who have kept mandarins alive for more that 6-7yrs or maybe 10yrs and more, and have been successful (bred in tank)..... would like to know how they took care as i dont like my fishes to die early due to my fault or carelessness.....

 

I'd be surprised if Mandarins lifespans are only 10-15 years - most salt water fish can live for much, much longer. I IMAGINE, Mandarins are no different.
However, I have no proof...

Given the right conditions, there should be no reason you can't keep one for 10+ years.

 

LIFESPAN: Green Mandarinfish

 

I have had mine for 3 years. Keeping them fed is the most important part. I supplemented the tank with pods many times in year one and was able to ween it onto frozen foods which is most of his diet today.

 

Do you know of an article or website that did research showing that most marine fish live much longer than 15 years? I have always wondered about this and never found anything that sounded like anything more than guesses.....and most of those guesses were less than 15 years.

 

does anyone has a mandarin thats been in ur tank since 7+ years (single or pair)?

 

As it is impossible to know the lifespan of fish in the wild without a comprehensive long term study being done, the lifespan information you will find is mostly based on captive lifespans, which may be very different from fish in the wild.I know for certain that Maroon Clownfish can live for over 20 years ( because I had one for that long). It would be pure speculation whether or not that is comparable in a wild setting.I am sure it would vary somewhat by species.IMO Mandarins eventually decimate the ammount of available foods and alot depends on the feeding and maintenance habits of the owner and whether or not they will accept prepared foods or not.

Heres some good links about Mandarins.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-month/mandarin-dragonette-fotm-may-08-a-47991-4.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/tropical-fish/how-long-should-i-wait-get-mandarin-113142-3.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-food/mandarin-dragonet-feeding-117256.html

 

Nice threads.. The biggest problem is that i dont get live pods here in my country..... i do have some in my tank and my clowns keep on picking on them.. i read that Nutramar Ova and newly hatched brine shrimps... also read about training them to frozen food... but i wana know if they lived for 7+ yrs... didnt read that anywhere

 

Even weening them onto frozen eventually leads to there downfall, mandarins metabolisms are NOT designed to take a big meal then wait for another the next day. they are designed to be constantly be eating.

As for the mandarin question, my LFS has a mated pair that's been around for at least 5 years.

 

yup.... this is what im talking about...