Large sps colony dying from the bottom?

[rsisvixen]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

3 years is a very short time in the lifespan of a coral.

I was reading documentation about cumulative lifespans, they were discussing zoanthids specifically but I don't see why it shouldn't apply to all corals.
The premise is that a coral has a lifespan = to x years and that is built into the genetic code, so in theory you have the original colony, say its got a lifespan of 200 years, its 150 years old when Bob the diver takes a frag/whole colony. This then lives in a tank for x years, fragged, frags live x years, etc, but once those extra 50 years are up, no matter the age of the frags the timer is up and the coral and all its frags die.
The theory being that frags aren't offspring but still part of the original animal and thus subject to the original genetic code.
Was an interesting read.