How to tell if a coral is dyed a different color?

YumaMan

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Anyone on this thread have a buddy scientist that works in a chromatography lab? A spectral analysis of the bluish or greenish dye might indicate a cheap, easily obtainable dye such as methylene blue or malachite green compound. On the other hand, if the dye is a synthetic ink of some sort (there are many such inks) then a crime would be difficult and expensive to prove.
 
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Tennyson

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@YumaMan I just posted this :) in case you missed it on pg. 3

The purpose of this thread was to find a definitive way to identify a dyed LPS coral and warn hobbyists of counterfeit goods. I think pink skeleton and failure to thrive are good indicators, but apparently not enough to convince suppliers. By all means, if there is proof that these are not dyed I would love to be proven wrong.

The most common counterargument I've seen that these are not dyed is that Black sun coral stain when you touch them too. So I've taken the time to extract pigment from the "blue sun coral", my black sun coral, and yellow sun coral and put them through chromatography. This tests how soluble their pigment is in water.

Screenshot_20200708-230519_Gallery.jpg

IMG_20200708_232212_735.jpg


As you can see, all sun coral have yellow pigment that is pretty soluble in spring water. The key difference lies in the green and black pigments. The average RF value (reference value) of the Blue sun coral is 0.27, black is 0.11, and yellow is 0.03. The blue sun coral has pigment that traveled almost 3x as much as the black pigment during chromatogrpahy. This very simple experiment demonstrates that the green pigment is being dissolved by spring water and traveling up the paper towel much more than black pigment. So much so that it suggests the pigment fades over time just by being exposed to water.

Screenshot_20200709-003937_Gallery.jpg
I invite you to see my story where I summarize the evidence that these are dyed and show how I collected tissue for chromatography.
 
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tehmadreefer

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You guys do know that lfs’s used to dye bubble tips, right? I mean this isn’t anything new... And yes those are most certainly dyed otherwise they would be for sale everywhere and well known.
 

YumaMan

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I do appreciate the post by Tennyson, and read it after my post as of 2 minutes ago.
 

Kyl

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I had no idea this was a thing. It’s a shame that there are people out there who do things like this. Sheesh!
This hobby is full of some of the scummiest people I have come across, at all levels, in any hobby I've ever been involved with.
 

Romeo Kilo

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I'm new to the hobby, new enough that I am still putting toghther my first tank. I have to ask what is the best way to protect my self from this? Have all counterfit samples come from one source?
 
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Tennyson

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This thread is super intense and paranoid. I'd say use common sense and stay away from anything that looks too good to be true

I can be intense, but it's because people are losing lots of money here. Sellers are saying these are super rare sun coral, and yet they're coming in every week like clockwork starting at $120 wholesale.
 

MiniCoco

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Lady's and gentleman. Yes they dyed them
If in fact you are sure that someone dyed corals; therefore misrepresenting and deceitful selling practices, please post who, what and where so other potential victims can steer clear of such coral vendors. I for one would not buy anything from anyone I could not trust emphatically. My display tank and all inhabitants are way too important to me.
 

Robert Ranciato

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Hey guys, how do you know if a coral is dyed to be a different color? I'm talking dyed LPS coral with hard skeletons. Are there any signs a dyed coral has and can you test if there's dye present in tissue? I think I purchased a dyed coral.
Dyed what are you talking about?
 

IKD

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If in fact you are sure that someone dyed corals; therefore misrepresenting and deceitful selling practices, please post who, what and where so other potential victims can steer clear of such coral vendors. I for one would not buy anything from anyone I could not trust emphatically. My display tank and all inhabitants are way too important to me.
I don’t think we can blame the LFS if they were also led to believe a false claim from the source and sold it unknowingly. They should obviously work a refund for situations but I wouldn’t write off the store on that alone.
 

EMeyer

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Nice work on the DIY home chromatography!

Anyone name the wholesaler yet? I will say that Quality Marine is *not* carrying these dyed garbage corals. Where are they coming from? I didnt spot them at SDC last time I looked either.

When a fraudulent product is being sold in the hobby, we should name names. Its likely there are only a small number of exporters shipping these and a small number of wholesalers selling them to LFS. Who are they?
 

somethinq else

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Unfortunately this is a cut throat hobby when it shouldn't be. It should be about helping one another and saving precious corals while also trying to get corals that are nearly depleted... to.grow again and become available. If I could afford to give everyone a cut of my corals I would, and often I do give people free corals, but sadly often I have to pay hundreds and sometimes intense thousands for a particular species that I want to obtain. This is a fact the holds true in 99.9 percent of every situation in life, including corals. BUYER BEWARE. IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT USUALLY IS. In this buisness there's hardly a ...ingotna fantastic deal sort of thing. Most people are out to line their pockets just as much as they can. If its not from a REPUTABLE SOURCE...i usually don't mess with it, because every time I stepped over that line, I got burned. If you receive a coral that been altered, and it dies the next day...thats just like that person taking your money...because they aren't giving it back, and honestly...every time you purchase a coral...you taken a risk of some sort.
 

danreefman

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This is what happens when you try to pay your bills from your hobbie. What's up with 2 hour DOA. And should should a buyer that recieved a dead or dying coral be responsible for freight. This is the only place I've ever seen where the buyer is always at risk. I've shipped stuff that died. I dont even ask for a pic. We should all be able to go off trust, and know that if you lie, its gonna come back to you.

I hope you get your money back. And I hope you can reveal seller as I'd like to know this great company that wont just give you a refund and accept fault, than figure out on there end where it went wrong without you being involved in the list of excuses.

Companies that take fault right from the beginning and figure the rest out later are good companies. Get your money back and blast em. They're making you stress and work way to hard to get a refund.
 

TriggerFinger

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I hope you get your money back. And I hope you can reveal seller as I'd like to know this great company that wont just give you a refund and accept fault, than figure out on there end where it went wrong without you being involved in the list of excuses.

Companies that take fault right from the beginning and figure the rest out later are good companies. Get your money back and blast em. They're making you stress and work way to hard to get a refund.
OP stated yesterday that the store is refunding their money.
 

tehmadreefer

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I can be intense, but it's because people are losing lots of money here. Sellers are saying these are super rare sun coral, and yet they're coming in every week like clockwork starting at $120 wholesale.

Where are these coming in like clockwork?? What “vendor” cannot tell the difference? If they cannot tell the difference between real and fake, they shouldn’t be selling coral in the first place.
 

tehmadreefer

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Id also like to point out this is not the LFS's fault. These are showing up at more than one wholesaler. It's the country thats sending them to us who is responsible, just like Tonga/Indo have done in the past with pink colt coral and yellow anemones.


Lol this is a well known fact from like 20years ago.... Again this has been pointed out several times already and isn’t a secret.
 

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