Melanurus aging out

[nereefpat]

My wrasse is starting to wither away. I got the fish somewhere between 6-7 years ago, I believe. I'm bad about keeping tank journals. Bummer. It's been a great fish.
Bad picture attached.

 

[punchy7080]

I just got one of these last week, already one of my favorites. I’d say you got the most out of yours at 6-7 years based on the life expectancies I’ve seen.

 

[jda]

When I lost mine, it looked like that and then laid on the bottom for a few days before passing. Mine was like maybe 5 years in captivity - who knows how old they were when we got them. It was a good 4.5 to 5 inches and almost an inch thick.

I plan on 3-5 years for most wrasses. Happy to get more.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My wrasse is starting to wither away. I got the fish somewhere between 6-7 years ago, I believe. I'm bad about keeping tank journals. Bummer. It's been a great fish.
Bad picture attached.

There is such a thing as old age and often fish will reduce the amount they eat, they are less active and skin starts to lose color and normal texture

 

[i cant think]

My wrasse is starting to wither away. I got the fish somewhere between 6-7 years ago, I believe. I'm bad about keeping tank journals. Bummer. It's been a great fish.
Bad picture attached.

Old age is a hard thing to watch in some fish. 6-7 years in a Wrasse is good though! The most I’ve managed out of a wrasse so far is 4.5 years with my Jade (5 in March/April).

 

[RedReefer]

Sorry to hear that sucks. I have the same wrasse going on 4 years old.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Oh such a beautiful fish . I also have one and love them . 6 to 7 is a good age

 

[nereefpat]

I just got one of these last week, already one of my favorites. I’d say you got the most out of yours at 6-7 years based on the life expectancies I’ve seen.

One of my favorites too, for sure. He's had a good run. I'll never have a tank without one of the smaller Halichoeres. I've got a chrysus (yellow not-so-Coris) in QT as an eventual replacement.

When I lost mine, it looked like that and then laid on the bottom for a few days before passing. Mine was like maybe 5 years in captivity - who knows how old they were when we got them. It was a good 4.5 to 5 inches and almost an inch thick.

I plan on 3-5 years for most wrasses. Happy to get more.

This one's still cruising around, just a lot slower and loses wait despite still eating well. This one reached a little over 4", by my estimation. These are really good looking fish, after they spend about a year as a bit of an ugly duckling.

I'm happy that it lasted this long as an adult. As a lot of us see, after you've been in the hobby long enough, if you're successful, you'll see your fishes die of old age. I try to see it as an accomplishment.

There is such a thing as old age and often fish will reduce the amount they eat, they are less active and skin starts to lose color and normal texture

Yep, I'm confident that it's just old age. Happens to all of us eventually.

Old age is a hard thing to watch in some fish. 6-7 years in a Wrasse is good though! The most I’ve managed out of a wrasse so far is 4.5 years with my Jade (5 in March/April).

Yep! He had a good run. I think he would have been eaten by a grouper by now in the wild.

Sorry to hear that sucks. I have the same wrasse going on 4 years old.

Nice. Great fish. If you have sand, one in this group is a 'must have', IMO.

Oh such a beautiful fish . I also have one and love them . 6 to 7 is a good age

Yep

 

[nereefpat]

Well, that's it, it appears. Didn't come out yesterday.

 

[jda]

If that fish was 6-7 years old in your tank, it had a great life.

You going to get another one? All of my wrasses aged out and I have not replaced any of them yet... need to.

 

[nereefpat]

If that fish was 6-7 years old in your tank, it had a great life.

I believe that's right, but I could be misremembering. I have a timeline in my head. I did some major reworking to my 125 gallon the winter after my older son was born, so that would have been early 2017 at the earliest...but possibly later 2017. I changed my Dual Dursos to Dual Herbies and got rid of my tangs, (actual) Coris wrasse, and angel to get smaller stuff. A Melanurus, long nose hawk, 2 yellowtail damsels, and orchid dotty were my first group that I added after that. I actually lost the damel about 6 months ago too.

You going to get another one? All of my wrasses aged out and I have not replaced any of them yet... need to.

I think I'll always keep at least 1 Halichoeres wrasse. They are just such great fish. I have a yellow (common H. chrysus) in a QT/Growout. Been there a few months. If my not-so-local fish store happened to have a melanurus, or biocellatus, claudia, etc, I would be really tempted.

I do have sort-of short term goals of replacing the carpet in the basement with LVP, and I want to tear my 125 out of the wall and get a different tank that's easier to work on. My tentative plan is either a standard 4x2 120 or maybe a more expensive 5 x 2 that I can actually reach 3 sides. I've also toyed with the idea of a smaller tank, like a 3x2 that would be cheap and easy to light/flow/maintain. But I have a Scopas, tomini, and foxface that are all decent size and no place to go with them. I have been slow to add my 2 QT fish (striped blenny), for fear of having to catch them soon.

TLDR: Halichoeres are awesome, so yes, always. Not sure what my plans for the next 6 months will be.