How to tell if corals are doing well

[NotReefsafe]

How can I tell if my corals are thriving? How can I tell if they are doing poorly? Ive had a star polyp and a zoa for a few days now and both seem to be doing fine, but I'm a little paranoid that I wouldn't even know if they weren't!

 

[AydenLincoln]

Can you post a photo? If they turn white, lose color, lose their head, or are closed/shrivel for extended periods of time (depending on the coral) and don’t seem to open these are all signs of a dead/dying or unhappy coral. It’s also helpful to test your parameters weekly and post them when you ask things like this. Nitrates, phosphates, pH, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and salinity are all important things to monitor/test weekly if not more in a reef tank. In addition to parameters lighting/placement is important too and NOT being in a tank that is a few weeks or more after it finished cycling with harder to keep/more sensitive corals needing more established tanks.