They're rather good at it.
One of the reasons many corals are tougher than fish when it comes to surviving adversity is that fish have to swim and breathe---no matter the condition of the water. Many corals can push out a lot of the water, shrivel up or tuck down in their outer skin, and wait for better conditions.
When you get a new coral, you may find they extrude one polyp or one tentacle to sample your water and light level. If they 'like' it they will expand more rapidly.
How rapidly depends to a certain extent on how long they've been 'shut down.' But be patient. And be sure they're stable: corals don't like to rattle around in the current. It's a negative. Many will stay shut down if they're wobbling back and forth. Or if the light is too much: start every new coral on the bottom unless you know that type of coral AND your tank.
My sig line has conditions that will make the average coral quite happy. Hit those by tests and supplements BEFORE you put a coral in your tank and you will have a happy coral much faster.
Most corals, softie and stony, get their food from the water and from the light (they photosynthesize, or rather some creatures living in their skin do [zooxanthellae] and they share the wealth) and don't need you flooding them with food. Some appreciate it. Some no-light corals like sun coral, etc, live in caves and need it. It's not recommended you get those as beginners. Stick to the common ones for a successful start. Note too, if you want stony coral, you must arrange a kalk feed---that's extra calcium, gotten by dropping a white powder (Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime) into your topoff water. Softies don't need it: there's enough in the salt mix.
Now if you see your corals tucked up and unhappy, first thing to check is your alkalinity. And your total water condition. They don't tuck up except in self-protection, and when its gotten bad enough hardy corals are diving for cover, your fish are far from happy.
There are some corals almost nothing will eat: hardy smooth mushrooms are a case in point---discosomas, the green-stripes, purples, greens, and reds and the kind of verdigris irregular ones. And even if you are otherwise a fish-only, a mushroom rock (apart from the rest of your rockwork unless you want them to spread onto it!) will be a very useful addition. If they ain't happy, you need to test your water. They also happen to be enthusiastic filter feeders, so if you wanted just to become a hardy mushroom reef, your fish-only would have a pretty potent filter operating.
Corals aren't for everybody, but as a long-time reef-keeper, I absolutely rely on them. Something's not right? My mine-canary corals tell me at a glance. If they're tucked up, it's the same as if sirens and bells were going off, saying Test Now! Urgent! Help! If I didn't have them, the tank would look perfectly normal, because the fish are swimming and the snails are crawling and the crabs look perfectly normal.
One of the reasons many corals are tougher than fish when it comes to surviving adversity is that fish have to swim and breathe---no matter the condition of the water. Many corals can push out a lot of the water, shrivel up or tuck down in their outer skin, and wait for better conditions.
When you get a new coral, you may find they extrude one polyp or one tentacle to sample your water and light level. If they 'like' it they will expand more rapidly.
How rapidly depends to a certain extent on how long they've been 'shut down.' But be patient. And be sure they're stable: corals don't like to rattle around in the current. It's a negative. Many will stay shut down if they're wobbling back and forth. Or if the light is too much: start every new coral on the bottom unless you know that type of coral AND your tank.
My sig line has conditions that will make the average coral quite happy. Hit those by tests and supplements BEFORE you put a coral in your tank and you will have a happy coral much faster.
Most corals, softie and stony, get their food from the water and from the light (they photosynthesize, or rather some creatures living in their skin do [zooxanthellae] and they share the wealth) and don't need you flooding them with food. Some appreciate it. Some no-light corals like sun coral, etc, live in caves and need it. It's not recommended you get those as beginners. Stick to the common ones for a successful start. Note too, if you want stony coral, you must arrange a kalk feed---that's extra calcium, gotten by dropping a white powder (Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime) into your topoff water. Softies don't need it: there's enough in the salt mix.
Now if you see your corals tucked up and unhappy, first thing to check is your alkalinity. And your total water condition. They don't tuck up except in self-protection, and when its gotten bad enough hardy corals are diving for cover, your fish are far from happy.
There are some corals almost nothing will eat: hardy smooth mushrooms are a case in point---discosomas, the green-stripes, purples, greens, and reds and the kind of verdigris irregular ones. And even if you are otherwise a fish-only, a mushroom rock (apart from the rest of your rockwork unless you want them to spread onto it!) will be a very useful addition. If they ain't happy, you need to test your water. They also happen to be enthusiastic filter feeders, so if you wanted just to become a hardy mushroom reef, your fish-only would have a pretty potent filter operating.
Corals aren't for everybody, but as a long-time reef-keeper, I absolutely rely on them. Something's not right? My mine-canary corals tell me at a glance. If they're tucked up, it's the same as if sirens and bells were going off, saying Test Now! Urgent! Help! If I didn't have them, the tank would look perfectly normal, because the fish are swimming and the snails are crawling and the crabs look perfectly normal.
