You know what, I can't even remember. Hes five now so he has been around forever. If I were to guess I would think around two years. It's funny, I got him from petsmart on the way home one day somewhat impulsively. While I was buying food at the local fish store a guy working there was singing their praises to me and showing me the one they kept in their shop show tank. Unfortunately they didn't have any for sale at the time. But the dude sold me. I passed a petsmart on the way home and doubled back. Got him at about an inch and since then he has lived a golden life. Never sick, never bothered by tank mates, never weakened by changes in the tank, never a problem at all. Hes like Zeus. The only constant in my years of fish keeping. And I got him from petsmart, go figure.