Aquariums: Celebrating this 32 year old… loach?

Hi all,

When I was 10 I got really into fish tanks. I had a pretty good size tropical tank, full of tetras, angelfish, an algae eater, a few other randoms… and a couple loaches.

I did a great job keeping it up for a couple years, and then my teens hit and my interests shifted elsewhere. I stopped replacing the fish as they died off, and my cleanings become less frequent. My mom eventually got frustrated with my lack of cleanings and she took over, for what she assumed might be a couple months until the last ones died off.

Eventually all the fish died off, except for one of the loaches. To her immense frustration, this one refused to die, and so every night he was fed blood worms and every week his tank cleaned. Year after year she reminded me of the fish I abandoned and that she still is taking care of. Over time she has gone through four tanks, countless filters and supplies, and the fish has lived through multiple hurricanes and extended power outages.

Fast forward to today and I'm now 42 years old, almost 43, and that darn fish is still alive – but I think he's on his final day or two (occasionally getting stuck upside down, not swimming anymore, just sitting still breathing rapidly). Mom has never restocked the tank, and he has lived alone for at least 25 years – so we're pretty confident about his age.

I firstly wanted to share, as I get the impression this is pretty unusual? And I secondly wanted to see if anyone can confirm what specifies he/she is? I always called him a Kuhli Loach, but in looking at Google the coloring looks wrong.