Bandit Angelfish Lifespan

[LAReefer4Life]

I've read mixed feedback on the lifespan of this species. How long is the lifespan for the bandit angelfish in captivity, any personal or factual experiences on the matter?

 

[Wrassefan78]

I've read mixed feedback on the lifespan of this species. How long is the lifespan for the bandit angelfish in captivity, any personal or factual experiences on the matter?

Are we talking captive bred or wild caught? Generally speaking with bandits, cooler water increases their life expectancy as does their diet.

Bandit Angelfish Longevity - Reef Central Online Community

Bandit Angelfish Longevity Reef Fishes

www.reefcentral.com

Great thread on bandit angels.

 

[BigKid4788]

I had mine for over 6 years.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Are we talking captive bred or wild caught? Generally speaking with bandits, cooler water increases their life expectancy as does their diet.

Bandit Angelfish Longevity - Reef Central Online Community

Bandit Angelfish Longevity Reef Fishes

www.reefcentral.com

Great thread on bandit angels.

Wild caught. My tank runs 80 degrees. Why does cooler water expand life expectancy is this same for many wrasse? Just curious

 

[Wrassefan78]

Wild caught. My tank runs 80 degrees. Why does cooler water expand life expectancy is this same for many wrasse? Just curious

For the same reason a polar bear wouldn’t survive in the desert. It’s not its natural habitat. Most of the bandits that I’ve seen collected come from pretty deep water off the shores or Kauai. The water down there is in the lower 70’s . Could be a specific food (sponge) they eat down there or warmer water opens them up to more diseases. These are just a guess because I don’t know scientifically. I do know that most people that have kept bandits alive for a long time have them in colder water. Hope this helps a little. However, in my opinion 80 degrees is much too warm for long term success.

 

[i cant think]

Wild caught. My tank runs 80 degrees. Why does cooler water expand life expectancy is this same for many wrasse? Just curious

Yes, some of our rare wrasses come from cooler water, the Lenneradi is just one that prefers cooler waters.
The other wrasses however (Fairies, Flashers, Pink Streaks ect) they don’t come from cooler water but have short lifespans anyway. The reason for this is because they don’t actually have a job on the reef that isn’t to breed and die to keep other species that are more of a need to the reefs alive.
And it doesn’t help when we buy mature male specimens of them. Males have lived their whole life already so when we get them and put them in captivity just to have them die, they won’t usually make it past 2 years. It’s why every wrasse lover aims for juveniles or very young mature female specimens of any wrasse.

Pseudojuloides are a genus that’s not really researched however I believe some of those guys come from cooler waters and are more temperate species that tank to die in captivity due to more diseases. In cold water, diseases are much more likely to thrive as they’re in the optimum conditions. However in cold water these diseases are less likely to thrive. And it’s the same with their food sources.

All this is the same for most other Cold Water species. And also the bandits which I don’t believe you can get captive bred as there was one breeder who isn’t seemingly breeding them anymore. So due to them being unavailable in captivity and in the wild it’ll likely be a few years before we even see one reappear.