How do you know if your corals are happy?

[the.introvertebrate]

I know for the most part if the polyps are extended they are happy but i've also heard that corals die slowly. Im new to coral keeping (3 months in to this hobby) and some of my corals look quite happy. My alveopora and gonipora are looking fluffy and happy, my two hammers are looking fluffy and nice. On the flip side my trachy looks pretty thin, almost always has its tentacles out and is wide/extended but not puffy, more like a flat pancake... My other red goni also has very short stems even when extended so i'm not sure if that's just the type of coral it is, if it's still considered an infant/frag or if it's not extending fully because it's not happy? Lastly my torch has extended tentacles but is getting very faded compared to when I first brought it into the tank (esp. when you look at it from a lower angle).

I am worried that while I THINK they're all looking okay/happy in reality might be slowly deteriorating, I have no way to measure PAR and flow is a hard thing to measure so i'm not sure if ive got it all right...

Question time:
Is there any rule of thumb or signs that says if a coral likes where it is or is going to grow/be happy?
How do I know if my coral is getting enough or not enough light and/or flow?
How do you know if your coral is slowly dying, how obvious/quickly will it be?

 

[Terri Caton]

Hmmm, that's a lot of questions.

Not happy if:
The color is bleaching
The tentacles are not extending
You start to see the edge of the skeleton like it's pulling away
Pieces start to flake off
If it looked better before and now not so much

Sometimes you see it quickly and sometimes not. No way to tell you that answer.

 

[CindyKz]

I think color changes can be a bit of a distant early warning, maybe of a parameter being a hair off or low levels of a trace elements or too much/not enough light. Hard to say for sure, but probably not imminent doom :) Something you can take your time to research before reacting.

OTOH, If you have extended polyps and/or tentacles and inflated tissue, without exposed skeleton you are likely on the right track.

 

[Alvaro_Spain]

Usually if it´s full of water and fluffy it´s happy. Although as an example I´ll show you how this goniastrea dragon soul changed color in 2 weeks.

In this case it´s fluffier than when I bought it, but it has needed to secrete a lot of proteins to protect from the 2 UV light LEDs of my lamp. Healthy? Yes, happy? I wouldn´t think so hehe