# Life span of Zebra Danios



## guitarsrmine (Mar 15, 2007)

Hello. I have a lone Zebra Danio that I got 4 years ago when I set up my 1st 55 gallon tank.I got 9 immature zebras to cycle the tank, and there's one lone survivor of the 1st bunch of fish I got. Is 4 years a long life for a zebra, or any tropical fish? I'm curious as to the ages of some of our members fish.:icon_lol:


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I've got 2 tiger barbs and 2 clown loaches that I've had for about 8 years ATM. The Tigers are the sole survivors of a school of 8, and they've definitely slowed down over the past 2 years; last year I had 4 so I'm pretty sure these 2 won't last that much longer. The clown loaches are only about 6" and going strong- so I expect they'll probably live at least another 8...


----------



## aznkonner (Oct 18, 2007)

i think the clown loach life span is pretty long. i mean considering how big they get and how long they take to get there. i've had mine for...over 6 years i think and they're not even half the size of some of the adult sizes i've seen. right now they're at around 4-5 inches each. i have about 9 of them and i want to get them a new tank but my house is small and if i get something bigger then a 75 mom's gonna kill me. you can be sure when i move out those guys are gonna get a nice 300 gallon tank to swim in 

back onto the subject of danios...i don't think they live that long considering how they reproduce and their overall size. i would think 4 years is starting to push their limits. 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SL3Fpt4tspc
we can only hope our fish live that long. unfortunately goldie died at a ripe ol age of 45...2 years after that video i think.


----------



## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

I had some danios that lasted nine years, which I think is close to its lifespan.


----------



## Convict Mark (Jan 3, 2004)

I had a giant danio for 7 or 8 years until he jumped out of the tank. My cousin had a giant danio live for over 9 years. Seems like giant danios have found the secret to long life. Both my giant danio and my cousin's acted the same way. All day everyday did nothing but swim laps, from one side of the tank to the other, come feeding time they both would only eat 2 maybe 3 flakes, while all the other fish would be gorging themselves until every single flake was gone these giant danios just would grab a couple and stop. I always wondered how 2 flakes of food provided enough energy to constantly swim laps 24/7. hahaha, they are crazy, fun, but very stupid fish, haha.

I've had the regular zebra danios live for 2-3 years.


----------



## aznkonner (Oct 18, 2007)

i think the danios are stupid in general  the glofish (genetically modified zebra danio) that i have are just swimming aimlessly in my tank. they do add some nice color but their activity level is making my calm plant tank look...weird. 

on another note i think giant danios and zebra danios are two different fish. i dunno if they're in the same family or not but i wouldnt' really compare their lifespans. a giant danio is much bigger and bigger fish tend to have longer lifespans. the zebra danio...we'll they're small and reproduce like crazy. my lfs at one time were selling them as feeder fish. i brought 20 and i forgot what i did with them. some died some were eaten some were given away...


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Yes Zebra and Giant danios are different species. Leopard, Zebra, and Glofish are all the same species, however. If you're interested in the bazillion different species of danios that are out there, Fishbase.org is a good place to start: http://www.fishbase.org/ComNames/CommonNameSearchList.php

Zebras are considered an "annual" species in the wild, similar to Cardinal tetras, they are so prolific that their populations die off and grow back every year based on the rainy/dry seasons.


----------

