a request to vendors

[Peter Houde]

How about some of you vendors posting images of your corals for sale under full spectrum daylight (i.e., "white" light) so we can see what they'll really look like in our tanks most all day? I'll tell you, I'm reluctant to buy anything online anymore because corals never look even close to the WYSISYG pictures online when they come home. I bring a flashlight when I go to the LFS so I can see what they'll look like when the UV/blue spectrum is overpowered by daylight. After all, full spectrum daylight is what most corals would experience in nature. Another reason to run full spectrum light is simply that fish display better.

I'm not hopeful that anyone will be sympathetic to my request, but at least it's been said.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Tidal Gardens I believe shows its corals under different spectrums.

 

[slingfox]

Vendors like to make money. What you propose would cause them to make less money so they have little incentive to do so. The reality is the people who spend more money on corals tend to run heavier blues which is why the hobby is the way it is.

 

[exnisstech]

JMO there is no amount of blue light that will make coral look the way they do on many vendors sites. Most are digitally manipulating colors and saturation to make the images appealing. Below is just one example I found that was shared here of an image posted on a vendors listing. No amount of blue light is going to make this coral look like the image IMO
Blue lighting doesn't turn frag plugs red.

The first thing I do is to look at the color of frag plugs, egg crate etc in the image. If those colors are off then the colors of the coral being displayed are inaccurate as well. I'm also not a fan of images being cut and pasted onto an all black background. There are only a couple of online vendors I'll purchased from a these days. There used to be a saying seeing is believing but that is no longer the case in the digital world we live in.

 

[Peter Houde]

Tidal Gardens I believe shows its corals under different spectrums.

Well, what do you know. Thanks for the tip, and good for Tidal Gardens. I'll have to give them more consideration when I shop in the future.

 

[Peter Houde]

Tidal Gardens I believe shows its corals under different spectrums.

Well, what do you know. Thanks for the tip, and good for Tidal Gardens. I'll have to give them more consideration when I shop in the future.

 

[slingfox]

JMO there is no amount of blue light that will make coral look the way they do on many vendors sites. Most are digitally manipulating colors and saturation to make the images appealing. Below is just one example I found that was shared here of an image posted on a vendors listing. No amount of blue light is going to make this coral look like the image IMO
Blue lighting doesn't turn frag plugs red.

The first thing I do is to look at the color of frag plugs, egg crate etc in the image. If those colors are off then the colors of the coral being displayed are inaccurate as well. I'm also not a fan of images being cut and pasted onto an all black background. There are only a couple of online vendors I'll purchased from a these days. There used to be a saying seeing is believing but that is no longer the case in the digital world we live in.

I hate pictures like this. I also try to avoid vendors who use this kind of crazy editing. Super annoying.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do like Tidal Gardens way of presenting. I wish more did it. My tank is far warmer in color than most reefers and most corals folks like would not look good in my tank (designed to mimic shallow water).

I sometimes ask hobbyists selling corals on our local reefer club site to post a new picture in white light, and that new picture has sometimes convinced me to pass on the coral.