Blasto or No Blasto?

[Marco S]

I recently purchased 2 Blastos from a reputable online source. After a few delivery issues I finally got my corals on Saturday with a bonus frag for my troubles, but the bonus frag was a Favia which added to my frustration because I do not want Favia in my tank, but that's another story for another time. My problem is that one of the Blasto's was nothing like the picture, (and it was a WYSIWYG coral) but it is a more expensive Blasto so I was okay with it. After dipping and placing it in my QT tank I noticed that it looked half dead. I figured I would give it some time to fully come out, but it has been two days and it is still not looking too good. So I decided to take some pictures to get a better look and I realized that the skeleton does not look like any Blasto I have. So I figured I would ask the experts...

Is this even a Blasto or is it something else???

If it is not a even a Blasto I will write a horrible review about this place and call it a day, but if it is a Blasto I think I will try and nurse it back to health and just never purchase anything from this place again.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edit: I figured that I would add that the way more expensive Blasto that I purchased did arrive very healthy and is looking great, so it was not a complete loss, but it is still disappointing because the only cool looking Blasto's I can find are online and this has shaken my experience with ordering coral online. :(

 

[Marco S]

Here is a pic with the lights fully on and it does look a little better. The smaller head looks to be fully intact and it does look more like a Blasto so I am a bit happier now. Even if I cannot nurse the larger head back the smaller one should be fine so I am okay with it.

 

[DJF]

Definitely a blasto

 

[Rincon_Reefer]

That's a blasto, and it looks pretty good to me. I order 90% of my corals online. Sometimes they take a minute to adjust from shipping.

 

[Rincon_Reefer]

You may already be doing this, but in case it helps. Since I get pretty much all my coral online I have had success with keeping them in very low blue only light for about 2 weeks while I quarentine them. They seem to like that. It doesn't stress them out as much from what I read. Even the SPS like it.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I’d shy away from ordering online if possible. Shipping is hard on corals. I know that’s not always possible but I much prefer buying from local reefers. Their stock is usually much cheaper and healthier than what you see online. Plus a lot of sites use so many lights to color up their coral you have no idea what it really looks like.