Lifespan Congo tetras?

[Shane]

Over the last 6 months my school of big Congos dropped from seven fish to zero (just found the last one dead).
No major changes, no new introductions, no markings on the bodies (although all had developed cataracts), no changes in maintenance.
Do I just need to accept that their lifespan is about six years?
Anyone have older congos?
I added two additional females to the school about two years ago and they are the only two left which seems to reinforce that the rest died of old age.
-Shane

[naturalart]

All I can say is that I've kept some of the small, south american Hyphessobrycon species for up to 5+6yrs. And Phacannogramus are a bigger tetra, I would bet they could live longer as larger fish tend to do. Do you know how old they were when you got them?

I've never kept Congo's for more than 3yrs as I find them a bit to aggressive for some of the smaller community setups I've maintained.

[Shane]

Did some research and average lifespan is 3-5 years (despite their size) so I guess that mine making it to six years was quite over the average of four.
Thanks for the reply.
-Shane

[naturalart]

Cool. Thanks for sharing the info.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Found my ~5 year old male dead earlier today, the day after I returned home from a short vacation.

Leaves me with four female Congo Tetras, plus the seven Alestopetersius sp.1s (2m5f) that are approaching 6 years old (in same tank, they have always schooled together).