Shellies are getting old

I don't know what the life expectancy of these little guys is, but looking back through my old pictures, I realized I've had them since at least 2006 and I don't know how old they were when I bought them, so more than 7 years old. They are both male Neolamprologis brevis (Katabe).

When they were young.
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And getting old.  
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As long as I've had these two, I have a few others that have been with me just as long or longer.

I wonder if you could find some females and make their generations live on?

Pic number 3 is hot..... well, for a fish. Great photos, as usual Betty. Sorry, don't know expected life span, but I know for sure that if properly maintained, and regularly photographed, they should live at least 7 years or longer

Thanks Anthony.  I hope they last a while longer.  It'll be a sad day when one dies.

Cory, I gave up looking for females.  At this point, I'd be afraid it would cause trouble between them after all this time getting along so well.  There used to be a female, but she died early on.  I thought I had bought a pair because they were hovering over a shell and dove into it when they went to net them out, so they just gave me the shell.  When I got home, I found another fish inside.  

The little female is in this photo.
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seven years makes them a family member! What are their the names of your little boys?

Don't FishLoverRon & Angelman have large colonies of these? I'm just saying they may have males if interested

Lloyd, believe it or not, I haven't named them.   Lucky for them since most of the fish I've named didn't last as long.

FishNAbowl, I know I've seen some others who've kept brevis, and I'm not positive, but I don't think they were Katabe.

I love the grumpy look on their faces, it makes them look distinguished and mature (not old). Larger cichlids seem to have a good 10+ year lifespan, I dont see why these little guys couldnt have that also.

my batch honestly could be one in the same, they were sold to me as minuta, but i havent found much info about them and to be honest they have a lot of the patterns yours have. just an idea, i have some pics of the parents (ron has them now)

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That one on the left does look a lot like mine.  Did they have the yellow spot above the eyes?

currently they arent showing any, but i swear the parents did. these guys are just getting settled into their new 10g. ill keep you updated if things change. got them from kevin ages ago. never got huge like some of the other species of brevis.

That's interesting. I got mine from Kevin as well!

I'm not really thinking about getting mates for these two old geezers. They seem to have slowed down a lot. They used to move sand around, filling in shells and uncovering others. They'd get after each other if one came into the others' territory. Now they are content with leaving things as they are.

I only have multies now. Traded some of them to give more room for growth of newer fry.
Traded the brevis out to do another group of fish...Rice fish...in that tank.

so, Anthraxx, just couldn't live without them, huh?!?!?

no i never actually sold any of those brevis fry, so technically i didnt live without them . just didnt care so they hung out in the fry tank

I remember that now! Forgot you had that fry tank. Cool beans, guy!

Great pictures Betty...and having them that long. That in itself is an achievement. Something to be said about these petite african fish...go africans!

Thanks Donna! I have so many old fish now that I feel like I'm running an old folks home.