JAG ages? Mines getting pretty old.

[Loshmitchell101]

Weve had a female jag now since about 2000-2001 or so when she was tiny. Shes aged considerably and measures right at 11.5'' (tip of nose to tip of tail). Weve
noticed lately that she is starting to slow down considerably this year. Shes starting to staying in a half broken pot and backing end to it with just her face exposed to the front of the tank.
We lost our male a couple of years ago and she hasnt laid eggs in at least 5 years now. I have a question. Weve noticed small nips and damage to her rear fins a couple of months ago and some
small nips to her side fin, with her age im wondering if shes not healing as fast anymore. Shes not in a considerable less aggressive tank over the last year because she is one of my oldest and
special to us becuase of her age. Is she getting so old that shes not healing and doesnt have enough energy as she used to? I would love some advice here with her and experience in dealing
with aged cichlids. Im also curious to know if female jags get bigger than this, over the years she had produces closed to two dozen full batches of fry that we raised and sold over the years all being
under 5 years of age, ive wondered if she was stunted a bit. Still close to 12'' is still pretty big but i was curious.

Thank You guys.
Hello all,

 

[Wisconsinbadger]

Wow nice old jag, but what size tank and tankmates?

 

[cichlidfish]

She looks great especially for her age. It gets sad doesn't it? I've had a convict for 15 years, and an Oscar for13 (sold him).


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[cich78]

I think if anything you are the one who could give the advice on keeping cichlids to a mature age....my oldest fish is my midas who is going on 9 years old....In basic general profiles they tend to put 10-15 years as the life span for the large cichlids.... One thing I could add to what you already said and which i think goes along with it, is that when they get in or near that age, they become much less combative/aggressive to other fish.. they just don't want to or may not be capable of a good fight anymore....which may be the reason for the older fish being more reculsive / less active in a community setting....I noticed my midas stopped moving gravel around in large amounts a couple of years ago... which may be evidence that he is past his reproductive prime,which again I would say means a less active/ aggressive fish..ironic that you bring this up because I have a texas /jag hybrid in with my midas and although the midas is double the size ,it is the one lately with the split and torn fins. and this just started happening recently....if I am reading your post right you are saying your tank is not too aggressive, which would be a good setting for an older fish,however I do see a red devil midas or midevil in the pic and it could be starting to assert itself with your jag like my texas/jag is with my midas. it seems to me that some fish bide their time until they feel they can move up in the pecking order when they sense weakness in the other fish ...I may be having to put up a divider...at any rate you have been doing a lot of the right thing for yours (which you could tell everyone else ,food, water maintenance etc).... hats off for raising/keeping your jag the last 15 years and counting.....