I was just wondering, how exactly a fish dies from old age... I mean, I know they will get old and die, but... what does it look like?

Do they tend to be weakened and die from another disease when they are old? Do they just stop eating and fade away? Do they start to swim funny and then die?

I've never had any fish die from old age yet, and I've got some Cards that are about 1.5 years old, and just wondering what I should look for. I don't want to end up thinking they have a disease, and then treat the whole tank for contamination, when it's just one fish dying from old age.

Thanks for the tips.

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I've never really paid attention to that. I know I have some cories that are 8 years old, guess I should keep a closer look at them as 8 to 9 years is the average life span of them.

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"Do they tend to be weakened and die from another disease when they are old? Do they just stop eating and fade away? Do they start to swim funny and then die?"

Yes, what you said plus a lot of times they start to look real ragged in both the body and fins. Sometimes they seem fine and then just die. Heart attack maybe.

I had an Otto that I had watched swimming around the tank looking OK and 10 minutes later I saw him sitting on the bottom not moving. He still had his color but was dead.

DLH

Thanks for the responses. I was kinda' hoping they 'just die' and don't get other diseases from weakness first....'cause that means treating the whole tank for whatever they dying fish has..... :S

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Good morning holly...

I've had corydoras die after a few years in the tank and I've noticed a couple of things; One, the fish's color changes a little. They look like the color fades and they're much less active, spending a lot of time on the bottom. So, other than a color change, they start to lose their energy.

Another thing I've noticed is they appear to retain water. Sounds strange, but they look "puffy" and their breathing becomes faster.

There are a number of things that affect an old fish. These are just some of the things I've seen.

B

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