Do new corals die back before settling and growing?

[peterhos]

Hi All

When you buy a new coral and put into the DT does it die back a little while it adjusts to the slightly new conditions? Should you worry about a little loss of size early on? Or should a new coral take off rapidly?

 

[Spare time]

Sometimes depending on how stressful or damaging the transport was. As long as it comes back and shows polyp extension with no further recession then it should be fine.

 

[Alexopora]

Hi All

When you buy a new coral and put into the DT does it die back a little while it adjusts to the slightly new conditions? Should you worry about a little loss of size early on? Or should a new coral take off rapidly?

It truly depends assuming your tanks parameters are good and your tank has been established. If the coral is not in its tiptop condition prior to introduction (unhealthy/stress from shipping), then yes it may die back initially. But usually, I have seen corals that take off rather quickly after introducing. SPS generally have a higher chance of dying back but among the common (acros, monti, cyphastrea, stylophora, pocillopora, birdsnest), acros are the most sensitive. If we are talking about lps, generally in my experience they ship better EXCEPT Euphyllias. But if we are talking ab driving to your nearest lfs and bringing back a Euphyllia then its prob gonna do as well as most lps.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

what do you mean by "die back"? Corals are a little, I would say, "unhappy", instead of "die back".

But they normally open up within a couple of hours, sometimes within the next 1-2 days for moody corals like goni's for example.

 

[peterhos]

By ‘die back‘ I meant tips of corals turning a little greyish white. So, can one lose a branch of a coral and yet see good new growth and branches lower down?