How long between moving a coral

[Yellow Eyes]

First, I tried googling this question, I couldn't find much info on it.

I bought a few corals yesterday, A frogspawn, bi-color hammer, acan, and 2 zoas. They are my first, and it may have sent me down a slippery slope.

Anyway I came home from work today, and the frogspawn, acan and zoas are all open and appear to be happy, close to what they looked like in the store. However the hammer was still a little closed up.

My question is two fold:
1) How long should I let him stay in his current position? (I could find the answer somewhere but while I'm asking #2 might as well ask too)
2) How long does everyone wait after they put a coral somewhere to decide to try and change it to see if it opens up/colors etc better?

The hammer is currently about mid-level of my 20g tank (higher than the frogspawn though), and my light is only maxxed at 45% for acclimation purposes. He has what I would consider moderate flow.

Thanks!

 

[Un5tab1e]

I started my hammer,frogspawn and torch at the bottom.

 

[Sk8r]

Starting at the bottom is fine.
If you've started higher, and they're happy, don't mess with success. The more you move them about, the greater the chance you'll injure one.

Corals HATE to move. If your frag wobbles in the current, it will inhibit growth. For best success, pick a good spot, confirm they like it, and then secure them there forever.

 

[Yellow Eyes]

How long should I wait to confirm they "like" or "dislike" the spot? 1 Day? 1 week?

 

[Sk8r]

If they spread out widely where they are, that's happy. I've also seen algae-covered button polyps refuse to come out for weeks, because that sort of coral can tuck down and seal itself up in bad conditions and is very, very cautious about unfolding. Usually starts with one or two eyelashes, and then spreads out. So there's no one true answer, but if the coral you have is opening just after being put in, your water must be pretty good and your lighting must be what it likes. DO always track your alkalinity: it can make coral very unhappy very fast.

 

[Jritter02]

My hammer was unhappy for a while and pretty much stayed closed for over a month. Many people told me it was dead or dying. I didn't want to believe them so I left it. I moved it back to the bottom of the tank and left it there. Over about a months tike it slowly started opening again. Now it's open all the time so I glued it to a rock as close as I could to where it was and now it's open all the time and looks great. I know it's hard but give it time. Sometimes it can take weeks to get an answer.