How long can an individual coral live in captivity?

DIYreefer · Dec 7, 2021

While reading through a similar thread regarding the life expectancy of fish in our aquariums I started wondering what the expectancy of corals can be?

Will a coral eventually die of old age? And since frags (and frags of grown out frags, etc..) are essentially the same age as the original colony, Will they inevitably die around the same time as well?

Take the Oregon Tort for example. It has been grown out in captivity for many, many years and given its unique and distinct coloration I think it's somewhat safe to say that the majority of "true" (all blue) Oregon Torts likely have all been grown out from the same parent colony. Will there come a time where this coral actually becomes less hardy in general and eventually fade out of the hobby due to old age?

Also, please post your oldest coral. Although I basically started fresh with corals after a recent move, my previous oldest coral was a Yellow Porites that I had for about 12 years or so. I bought the frag from someone who had a VERY mature system that was featured as TOTM on rc back sometime around '06-'07. His colony was massive so I'm assuming he had the coral for at least few years as well.

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

I was just wondering the same thing earlier today and it was before the post of how long do fish live. Haha. I was going to post a question to reefers who have had tanks for 15+ years (and still have their original coral) if they ever see the older parts begin to fade away or bleach from apparent old age. Everything eventually dies so is a coral colony relatively short-lived or are they more like the trees of the Amazon that are thousands of years old. Thanks for posting this!

Timfish · Dec 7, 2021

Age in corals is a very complex subject. There's the age of the genotype which may be millinia, the age of a colony which may just be a few years and the age of a polyp which may just be months. Senescence in polyps can show up in months in the case of some species or may be take much, much longer depending on species. One possible explanation we don't see much sexual reproduction in reef aquaria is constant fragging may result in polyps with poor reproductive health. Here's some research:

Senescence and dying signals in a reef building coral - Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Decreases in two physiological processes (reproduction and growth) have been shown to precede the advent of colony death in the branching coralStylophora pistillata. These diminutions were sometimes detectable even 6 months and more before any first visible sign of tissue mortality was observed.

link.springer.com

Senescence and dying signals in a reef building coral - Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Decreases in two physiological processes (reproduction and growth) have been shown to precede the advent of colony death in the branching coralStylophora pistillata. These diminutions were sometimes detectable even 6 months and more before any first visible sign of tissue mortality was observed.

link.springer.com

Age-related deterioration of a physiological function in the branching coral Acropora palmata

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com

https://wp.auburn.edu/chadlab/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Chadwick-Furman-et-al-2000.pdf

fish farmer · Dec 7, 2021

I have softies (green striped mushrooms and brown palys) that I originally purchased around 2000. All original tissue I though perished in a heat crash in 2003, except for some bleached palys which in some form still are with me. That batch of bleached polyps is probably gone, but have others from that colony. One green striped mushroom popped out of the rocks maybe months or a year later. Still have those growing.

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

Timfish said:
Age in corals is a very complex subject. There's the age of the genotype which may be millinia, the age of a colony which may just be a few years and the age of a polyp which may just be months. Senescence in polyps can show up in months in the case of some species or may be take much, much longer depending on species. One possible explanation we don't see much sexual reproduction in reef aquaria is constant fragging may result in polyps with poor reproductive health. Here's some research:

Senescence and dying signals in a reef building coral - Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Decreases in two physiological processes (reproduction and growth) have been shown to precede the advent of colony death in the branching coralStylophora pistillata. These diminutions were sometimes detectable even 6 months and more before any first visible sign of tissue mortality was observed.

link.springer.com

Senescence and dying signals in a reef building coral - Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Decreases in two physiological processes (reproduction and growth) have been shown to precede the advent of colony death in the branching coralStylophora pistillata. These diminutions were sometimes detectable even 6 months and more before any first visible sign of tissue mortality was observed.

link.springer.com

Age-related deterioration of a physiological function in the branching coral Acropora palmata

Error - Cookies Turned Off

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

https://wp.auburn.edu/chadlab/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Chadwick-Furman-et-al-2000.pdf

I just started reading these papers. It's very interesting!! Thanks for posting!

LuizW13 · Dec 7, 2021

I'd imagine they can live infinitely if the conditions in the environment allow it.

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

I have a branching hammer colony that is estimated to be around 30 years old. I'd imagine as long as conditions are met they'll keep on living. I do wonder if different types of coral would have different life expentancies though.

Hermie · Dec 7, 2021

LuizW13 said:
I'd imagine they can live infinitely if the conditions in the environment allow it.

compared to a reef tank age or a person's age that's probably true

N.Sreefer · Dec 7, 2021

Deep sea coral live to be thousands of years old one colony was over 4000 years old.

Deep sea corals may be oldest living marine organism

LIVERMORE, Calif. — Deep-sea corals from about 400 meters off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands are much older than once believed and some may be the oldest living marine organisms known to man. Researchers from Lawrence Livermore, Stanford University and the University of California at Santa...

www.llnl.gov

Reef building coral can also live an impressive length of time.

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From article
"
Australian scientists have discovered one of the largest and oldest coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef, which is the largest coral reef system on Earth.

The massive coral belongs to the genus Porites and measures 34 feet (10.4 meters) wide and 17.4 feet (5.3 m) tall, making it the widest and sixth-tallest coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkelers found the record-breaking coral off the coast of Goolboodi, part of the Palm Island Group in Queensland, Australia, and they named it "Muga dhambi" — meaning "big coral" in the language of the Manbarra people, who are the Indigenous people of Palm Islands.

The researchers found that the massive coral has been around for between 421 and 438 years, meaning that it predates the colonization of Australia. The colony has survived centuries of exposure to invasive species, coral bleaching events and low tides, as well as around 80 major cyclones, the researchers said."

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

Pic of part of the colony I was talking about. It's hard to photograph in the back of the frag tank where it's being kept at the moment.

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

jgirardnrg said:
Pic of part of the colony I was talking about. It's hard to photograph in the back of the frag tank where it's being kept at the moment.

That is stunning!! So are the other ones in that pic!

LPS Bum · Dec 7, 2021

I have some Kenya Tree soft corals that have been in my reef for at least 12 years. Probably more like 15. They’ve gone through several tank moves as well.

They’re not especially good looking but they’re super hardy.

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

Karen00 said:
That is stunning!! So are the other ones in that pic!

Thank you! That part of the colony has over 50 heads right now. There are smaller colonies that have broken off that each have 10+ heads. I can post a shot of the frag tank if you're interested in seeing the rest of what's going on in there.

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

jgirardnrg said:
Thank you! That part of the colony has over 50 heads right now. There are smaller colonies that have broken off that each have 10+ heads. I can post a shot of the frag tank if you're interested in seeing the rest of what's going on in there.

Yes please. I would love to see the others you have in there. I'm just getting started in corals so I love being envious of everyone else's success and hope mine will some day be 20+ years old! If I'm fortunate enough to have my corals take off and survive I'm beginning to think I will have to leave them to someone in my will. Like people do with parrots.

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

Karen00 said:
Yes please. I would love to see the others you have in there. I'm just getting started in corals so I love being envious of everyone else's success and hope mine will some day be 20+ years old! If I'm fortunate enough to have my corals take off and survive I'm beginning to think I will have to leave them to someone in my will. Like people do with parrots.

The hammer colony I bought from someone breaking down a tank. It was in very rough shape and loaded with Aiptasia and Vermetid snails. It's now super healthy and clean. Here's a video with the contents of that tank:

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

jgirardnrg said:
The hammer colony I bought from someone breaking down a tank. It was in very rough shape and loaded with Aiptasia and Vermetid snails. It's now super healthy and clean. Here's a video with the contents of that tank:

OMG! That is stunning!! The colors are mind blowing! What's amazing is all the different types you have in there which probably have varied nuisances in caring for them. Your coralline is also stunning! How big is that tank?

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

Karen00 said:
OMG! That is stunning!! The colors are mind blowing! What's amazing is all the different types you have in there which probably have varied nuisances in caring for them. Your coralline is also stunning! How big is that tank?

That tank is just a 40g breeder. The Coraline is insane... I can peel off sheets like corn flakes and seed other tanks. Some things in there I'm holding for a friend, others are in there until I get the big tank filled up, the rest are for sale or trade. I'm going to split up the corals into a couple of frag tanks soon. The SPS like a ton of flow, the softies do not... it's a balance having them all in the same tank.

Karen00 · Dec 7, 2021

jgirardnrg said:
That tank is just a 40g breeder. The Coraline is insane... I can peel off sheets like corn flakes and seed other tanks. Some things in there I'm holding for a friend, others are in there until I get the big tank filled up, the rest are for sale or trade. I'm going to split up the corals into a couple of frag tanks soon. The SPS like a ton of flow, the softies do not... it's a balance having them all in the same tank.

I can only hope/wish to be as successful!

I just got a teeny tiny frag of a supposedly slow growing type of xenia (hopefully). It was about the size of my pinky finger nail and it was all closed up because it had just been moved to a different tank in the store when I saw it. The guy said it's normally twice the size so I bought it, got it home, dipped it and placed it in my tank a couple days ago and it has nearly doubled in size which makes me happy. My first attempt with a Corky Finger didn't go so well. I hope to get mine looking like yours.

jgirardnrg · Dec 7, 2021

Karen00 said:
I can only hope/wish to be as successful! I just got a teeny tiny frag of a supposedly slow growing type of xenia (hopefully). It was about the size of my pinky finger nail and it was all closed up because it had just been moved to a different tank in the store when I saw it. The guy said it's normally twice the size so I bought it, got it home, dipped it and placed it in my tank a couple days ago and it has nearly doubled in size which makes me happy. My first attempt with a Corky Finger didn't go so well. I hope to get mine looking like yours.

It's a labor of love really. I keep water and things live in it... nothing more. Once you have a decent light and pay attention to the water everything else kind of falls into place. The rest is learning what each coral wants for light and flow.