ok heres a question that has been boggling me for a little while....

[artman230]

As stated above.....I was wondering if there is an average life expectancy of coral.....does it die at a certain age, or if you keep it in good conditions all the time would the colony just live forever???

 

[Krish]

Hmm...I would think some corals are like some trees. Hundreds of years old! If you look at the rate some grow, the size they start out and then how big some are in the wild like some brain corals here, you can see why! Just an assumption though

 

[tike]

Hmmm....not sure how long they live but since they spawn they definately die at sometime. I mean, what's the reason for spawning if you live forever!

That statement doesn't pertain to me!

 

[spongebob lover]

that's a good question and i agree with Willie.

 

[Krish]

Everything dies, but when is the question????? I say a long time for some

 

[tike]

I say KEEP SPAWNING! :badgrin:

 

[artman230]

yeah kind of a mind boggler huh? I agree they have to die at some point, but I really wonder how old some colonies can be you know???

 

[Skimmy]

i know that many corals can be hundreds of years old out on the reef, but considering the rate at which corals spawn producing daughter colonies and fragment, i dont know how you would determin age. i wonder if there are internal growth rings like a tree, which seems unlikely scince they grow so fast.
and what about anemones that just keep seperating, how old are they??

 

[shallowreef]

Ask Paul,

His tank is 30 something years old. See whats the oldest piece in his tank.

 

[artman230]

I know that there arent any rings on my kenyan tree , because when I fragged it, it just looked spongy inside.......

 

[Paul B]

I believe that barring unforseen circumstances, it would live forever. The coral skeleton is dead and only the surface polyps are visable, these are always being replaced by the new polyps that grow on top of them. The entire piece will get very old but each individual living animal has a definate lifespan which is not very long.
Paul