How long do blue gouramis live?

[minka-1974]

Hi all

I put a post under general freshwater but then realised would be more appropriate here. I have a blue gourami who I have had for 8 years but has started over the last few weeks to lose scales around his head and across his back. Otherwise is healthy and happy but I asked my local aquarium shop if they could think of an illness that he might be suffering from and was told that he was just old (with a look of amazment that he was still alive!)

So is 8 old for a blue gourami?

 

[Jspigs]

8 does seem to be pretty old for a blue gourami. I have not heard of scales being lost due to old age though so there may be another cause of that.

 

[Jumko]

8 is pretty impressive. I have a golden gourami at ~ 4 years old and I've been wondering what the average lifespan is as well.

 

[petluvr]

8 months is old for most gouramis that are out there today. I would think that at 8 he has lived a full life and is probably in his golden years.

 

[minka-1974]

Thanks all for your comments. I am pretty confident about his age as we moved here 6 years ago and I had him for a while then ... might be older!

I can't see any signs of disease on him so think it might be old age Guess it comes to us all in the end! He is behaving differntly too ... swimming around in the open a lot more and I have just seen one of my angels having a go at him so wonder whether he is swimming around more and the scale loss is due to contact with the angel.

 

[oo7genie]

According to what I found on the web when researching my gouramis, 4 years is about average. 8 years is certainly impressive!