Help Guess My Old Lady Rasbora's Age

[MegaraSai]

Does anyone have an idea what the general age of rasboras are when they're sold to LFSs, of any type? I'm trying to guesstimate how old Ryan, my single kubotai rasbora that I bought back in April 2023, is. She was half an inch back then and is now a good inch, but she's getting a little blue/silver and transparent with the curves in her spine becoming more pronounced, tho she's still very active. I'd just like to know how much longer she might realistically be around.

--MS

 

[lloyd378]

I think this is a great question as most are sold once they’ve matured enough to make them attractive to the eye. I have no actual knowledge on this topic other than when I have bred my cichlids and I notice their fry getting to the size the pet shop sells them after about 6-7 months.
The fact that I do not powerfeed or overly change out the water to expedite the growth line some wholesalers do, means I would guess these fish are about 4-5 months old given they are sub adult when I see them in a petstore.

I wonder if you could write to one of the larger wholesalers and ask and they would actually respond back.

The member with the best luck at getting responses from companies is Dmd123. He might be able to source the info your looking for.

 

[DMD123]

Not sure where to get the information on that…I would probably look at online sellers that breed their own stock. Imperial Tropicals has been good at answering questions in the past. I think your typical big box stores get their stock from Segrest farms, you could try to email them and see if they would give you an answer.

 

[MegaraSai]

I think I'll try and see if Aqua Huna will answer, if not Imperial Tropicals. Thanks guys!

I bought Ryan at my LFS who's owner has been reluctant to give me info about where their stock comes from beyond 'local breeders'. But based on variety of fish and invertebrates plus distance my guess is Aqua Huna which was sooort of confirmed when I mentioned I'd have liked to have tried to order through them a batch of too-dark emerald shrimp that AH considered unsellable (but I was no longer keeping shrimp by then - two too many shrimp torturers in tank). They also have 'rescue bettas' frequently enough and in numbers that I suspect they've got a secret deal like many LFSs to take unsold/unsellable Petco and Petsmart bettas.

--MS

 

[MegaraSai]

I noticed today that Ryan physically cannot pick up food when it is sitting on something, like when I sprinkle Bug Bites or pellets on the tiger lotus' leaves. Most likely due to the injury she sustained months ago when she was trying to bully Parona out of her territory, where that weird white bit on her lip that some kubotai have got torn, I'm guessing. Instead she either shoves it off the leaf or swims back and forth it until she creates enough current for it to float up, and then she sucks it in.

Its really interesting to watch supposedly 'dumb' animals problem solve.

Also no answer so far from Aqua Huna.

--MS

 

[MegaraSai]

I missed that Aqua Huna had replied a few days ago!

"Hello,
It sounds like she’s had quite the adventurous time with your Betta, and I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.
We don’t raise any fish in our warehouse, so we don’t have the exact ages of the fish we sell. However, in general, most fish are around 6-8 months old when we receive them.
Kubotai Rasboras typically have a lifespan of about 3-5 years under good conditions, so she may still have some time ahead, depending on her health and care.
If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help!
Thank you,
Aqua Huna"

I emailed Imperial Tropicals today to see if they might have a more specific answer since they're actually breeders.

I am hoping she was younger than 6-8 months when I bought her, but if not I did buy her assuming that she would last about the same amount of time as Sai (2 years) - but that was also before I found out that dragons are lucky to live more than 8 months like he has.

--MS

 

[MegaraSai]

Per Imperial Tropicals, they're usually just a few weeks to a few months old at most when they get them from breeders depending on how they were raised. So in that case she likely turned 1 in January this year (like a racehorse!) and is a little over 18 months now at most. Whew, that's much better than thinking she was over 2 already...

--MS

 

[MegaraSai]

RIP Tiny Queen, your Minions are confused without you, and Sai doesn't know what to do without his 'girlfriend' to impress.

Found her floating at dinnertime today. I installed a ceramic pleco cave for Parona (garra) yesterday, and knocked the spiderwood loose while rearranging the other wood and shrimp houses, which did stir up some of the substrate. She's joined Crawley under my fiddle leaf fig.

--MS