I'm not getting what I saw in the picture

[IamRit]

I'm wondering how many of you folks bought corals online, got really exicted when the shipment arrived but was disappointed to see the coral isn't the same as what was shown in the picture. Isn't this false advertising or is this the norm for this industry? What do you folks do when that happened?
I got so many of such experiences. I feel like I'm paying for someone's photoshop skill. To beat it all, in some cases, I found some underiable bugs hitchhike with the photoshop coral.

 

[ofblong]

uhh in this hobby you cant POSSIBLY expect the coral to look exactly like the picture shows in your tank because there are sssooo many variables esp when it comes to lighting. I mean even buying from a LFS the corals have never looked the same in their tanks that it does in mine.

 

[bkv1997]

unfrotunetly it seems to be the norm these days.

I don't purchase from online retailers anymore and now find local hobbiest, reef club members, and contacts i've made on forums like this to do all my trading with.

Brandon

 

[Azurel]

That depends, if it is a WYSIWYG then the frag or colony you get should be able to be compared to the photo and they should look the same. Of course lighting plays a role in it as well but only to the rendering of the colors. For example I just bought a high end chalice the other day from a site on the net. This thing is a new release by this site and I was the first to purchase a frag. The frag I got is the one that the site used for their pics. So when I get it I will know right away if it is the frag I bought....But that don't all ways happen sometimes the frag used on sites are for representing the polyps or coral that you will get. Zoanthids and palys are done a lot like that where SPS, LPS are usually WYSIWYG for colonies where frags might differ then the pic shown.....How is that for a rambling explanation...LOL

 

[IamRit]

Brandon, I'm starting to feel the same way about buying online unless I know what the coral looks like for sure. I guess that's one of the few reasons I'm going with the LE.

Azurel, sure the light plays some roll in the way the coral colored up but should it look completely different from the pictures shown. I thought I have a good lighting setup but still many of the corals I'm getting in isn't what I saw in the pictures. In some case, there is no slight resemblence whatsoever. I guess it's my lighting. lol
This I do know. Now that I starting to play around a little bit more with my camera and photoshop. I can make the coral looks supernatural.

 

[FaviaFreak]

I have bought thousands of dollars worth of corals online over the past few years and I can tell you that in most cases the frag will usually brown out a bit in shipping and unless it is a WYSIWYG then more than likely it won't arrive looking like the picture you saw. I have had frags come in looking like crap but overtime nursed them back and regained all the color they are suppose to have. Unless you order online from a vender that you trust 100% then chances are it's 50/50 you will get a fully colored frag. I personally believe more and more that the best way to buy corals is from local hobbyist at meetings or at your local frag swap, this way you can actually view what you are buying. Also, prior to swaps reefers will list what they will have available for the swap or meeting and post WYSIWYG pictures on the club forums, then you can prepay and pick-up at the swap or meeting. Like I said before I trust a handful of online vendors and I know that I will have no issues what-so-ever and if I do they usually will take care of it asap

 

[IamRit]

I guess, I used the wrong choice of words in the first couple of sentenses in my first post. Yes, I do understand about the brown out after fragging and I don't have a problem with that.
I guess the question I should be asking is how can I tell if the picture been photoshop to the max? lol

 

[JuniorMC8704]

Well to be fair, and im not saying this is what happened, but lighting makes a HUGE difference.

When i was using UV lighting brand T5's my acans all looked redish, and thats it.

When i switched to aquascience brand bulbs, all the orange, yellow, reds, etc came screaming out...

So that IS something that can make a big difference.

I think its so dumb when a shop goes crazy with saturation. Then the customer gets the frag, and it looks totally different.

Apparently those retailers dont care about repeat customers.

 

[Mr.Firemouth]

I do not believe shipping has anything to do with corals browning out or loosing color. It is actually the coral is what it is. I have shipped in thousands of pieces of coral over the years from tranship orders that come direct to wholesale orders out of Cali and Florida.
In 80% of the cases these corals are poorly packed IMO, are mislabeled, or are substitutions. Wholesalers don't always send you what you ordered, but do cover the dollar amount you spent. LOL

The corals come in as colonies(although in the last year and a half wholesalers have been chopping corals and sending out frags, especially with Blastos and Acans), and have excellent color. Mind you, these corals have been shipped at least twice, spent time in sub-standard holding facilities, and may of been recently fragged. Yet they still have good colors.

So it is NOT shipping stress that is making frags look different from what you see on your LCD screen when ordering. Shipping stress may upset a coral for a few days, but it won't lose that much color.

The problem is that most people frag and ship. The coral has very little time to heal(if any at all) and the added stress of shipping a recently cut frag makes the coral suffer more. Everything from the size of the frag to the type of cut made to frag it can be a disappointment to the buyer. So I recommend to have lower expectations.

Most of my friends will only trade or sell corals that are completely healed and have encrusted their plugs fully. Fishman, however will cut a frag for you while you wait. This is a practice that I don't personally agree with as I think the frag should heal first. That is a better situation for both the frag and the impatient buyer.

As far as Photoshoppe goes, well that seems to be a given. This and the amount of actinic/blue light you have will have a definite affect on coral color. For example, my friend Jim has a ton(I mean a ton!) of brown zoas with maroon rings in his tank lit with Daylight VHO's. Yet, if I put a frag of these in my tank lit by XM 20K's I get a zoa with bright orange and purple rings. The zoa looks drab in his tank and glows in mine.
To further explain a difference, If I take orange and grey corals from my tank and put them in Fishmans tank under 400w Radiums they become dark red and deep blue. They are totally different! It amazes me.

For the most part, I recommend that everyone support the LFS first. If you do not live by an LFS, then by all means pursue other ways to obtain frags. I have yet to buy a coral online that looked just like the pic. It is usually frustrating to pay some much for such a small piece and then not have the color you wanted.

 

[FaviaFreak]

I guess, I used the wrong choice of words in the first couple of sentenses in my first post. Yes, I do understand about the brown out after fragging and I don't have a problem with that.
I guess the question I should be asking is how can I tell if the picture been photoshop to the max? lol

alot of times if something looks too good to be true than chances are it is...if the colors are screaming at you, the reds and blues usually give it away that the contrast is being abused. I sure most online vendors use photshop to a degree, some just use it more than others. you can always read teh vendor feeback forums to gauge an idea of how their livestock looks, or you can always pose that question in the feedback forum

 

[Azurel]

Brandon, I'm starting to feel the same way about buying online unless I know what the coral looks like for sure. I guess that's one of the few reasons I'm going with the LE.

Azurel, sure the light plays some roll in the way the coral colored up but should it look completely different from the pictures shown. I thought I have a good lighting setup but still many of the corals I'm getting in isn't what I saw in the pictures. In some case, there is no slight resemblance whatsoever. I guess it's my lighting. lol
This I do know. Now that I starting to play around a little bit more with my camera and photoshop. I can make the coral looks supernatural.

That was my point.....Lighting only plays a minor role, the stuff you get should look like what was shown. I only buy wysiwyg frags or colonies this way I have a picture to reference back to on their site. Not just color but shape of the frag and if it's Zs and Ps polyp count. Never should they be completely different then what is shown I agree to that. If I was you and this happened I would get in contact with them about it and see what the deal is....

I am sure some will say it is the lighting, but lighting in the hobby is all pretty much the same. Yea there are different K ratings and variations in spectrum's with in light set-ups you should still be able to see what is represented under any lighting....PPE(example) should look the same under any lighting maybe they will be more vivid under a different lighting variation but you should still be able to distinguish that they are PPE(example) under any lighting....You are correct on that....

 

[reefboy]

This is why I still use my cannon 630A powershot instead of buying a better camera I know cam's can defiantly make the coral look better and would probably sell better but then you run into this type of misconception so I would rather get the quotes like"wow your pic's don't due justice" and " there way better then there pic's" then a nasty email saying otherwise.

 

[Reef Pets]

Lighting makes all of the difference in the world! I have a variation of lighting one a couple systems that I have. I can take a coral from one tank to the other and not eaven realize it is the same coral other than the shape of it. For example, if the photo is taken under 20K metal halides and then the coral is places in a tank with 12K metal halides with actinics then it should look close. If you take a photo under 20K and place it in a reef that has power compacts then the coral will look NOTHING like the photo at all. So, I would have to say that lighting is the biggest factor when it comes to the looks of coral.

 

[reefboy]

Lighting makes all of the difference in the world! I have a variation of lighting one a couple systems that I have. I can take a coral from one tank to the other and not eaven realize it is the same coral other than the shape of it. For example, if the photo is taken under 20K metal halides and then the coral is places in a tank with 12K metal halides with actinics then it should look close. If you take a photo under 20K and place it in a reef that has power compacts then the coral will look NOTHING like the photo at all. So, I would have to say that lighting is the biggest factor when it comes to the looks of coral.

I agree completely another factor I left out

 

[IamRit]

I can understand that the lighting will make a difference in how the coral will looks like. I can deal with that. We all had first hand experience about lighting but then most of us serious reefers know the best type of lighting for the display tank. We all probably have lighting that maximize the coloration of the corals in a given display. ie we are not going to use 10K or 15K bulbs for the display tank. So the lighting isn't be a big factor in this case.
The problem that I'm having is with a seller who would placed the coral in the most desirable lighting, took the shot and then photoshop on top of that. There is no way I can make that coral to looks close to the picture shown because of the photoshopping. I buy a particular coral on the assumption that it would looks as such under certain lighting condition but I can't never get the coral to looks like as shown in the picture because the coral never looks like that to begin with. It was photoshopped to look as such. See that's where I'm having problem accepting. I want to spend a couple hundred dollar for a very small piece of nice coral but not someone photoshop skill. That's just not right.

 

[Saltysteele]

when buying corals in a wysiwyg sale, pay attention to the eggcrate, sand, coralline, etc.

if the stuff that is supposed to be white, looks bluish/purplish, lots of actinics used, or colors boosted. if the sand is an unnatural color, coralline is more saturated, stuff like that, something's going on.

talk to your friends, see who they use and what their feelings are. i've only got 2 online vendors whom i've bought from, that i trust.

(reefboy, i haven't bought from TEC yet, but I WILL be trying ya at some point ).

 

[Reef Pets]

I know that some sellers are photoshopping the coral to make it look good just to sell it. I think that is horrible!! I am a vendor and I get pictures from the distributors from across seas that photoshop the coral. Being in the business I have come to realize that photoshopping has become a common practice of many online sellers. I dont understand why vendors do this because not only does it destroy the chances of the vendor having repeat customers but it destroys the trust of the buyers when it comes to purchasing from other online vendors.
Post editing has to be used to some degree when it comes to taking photos of coral or the photo will be cover in a blue haze from the lighting. But, in my opinion the post editing should be used to correct to photo to make the coral look the way it really does.
My only suggestion would be to ask around before making a large purchase. This way someone might have experience with the online vendor and can offer a review of there experience.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the technology of cameras and macro lenses are amazing. With a good combination of camera and lens the photo will show details that the naked eye can not see. Not this this changes the color of the coral or makes it look like something that it is not, just something I thought I would bring up.

I can understand that the lighting will make a difference in how the coral will looks like. I can deal with that. We all had first hand experience about lighting but then most of us serious reefers know the best type of lighting for the display tank. We all probably have lighting that maximize the coloration of the corals in a given display. ie we are not going to use 10K or 15K bulbs for the display tank. So the lighting isn't be a big factor in this case.
The problem that I'm having is with a seller who would placed the coral in the most desirable lighting, took the shot and then photoshop on top of that. There is no way I can make that coral to looks close to the picture shown because of the photoshopping. I buy a particular coral on the assumption that it would looks as such under certain lighting condition but I can't never get the coral to looks like as shown in the picture because the coral never looks like that to begin with. It was photoshopped to look as such. See that's where I'm having problem accepting. I want to spend a couple hundred dollar for a very small piece of nice coral but not someone photoshop skill. That's just not right.

 

[IamRit]

Reefer, I agree. Photoshop is good if you don't abuse it.
Yeah, I'm finding out about the camera and lense. They can give show details that a naked eye can not see.
BTW, the acro in your avatar looks great. Is that a millie?

 

[eagleeyez5]

I agree with what has been said here, the best thing that you can do is know who you are buying from. I myself am going to stick with my crappy camera so that people are more impressed when they get their corals instead of being so impressed with the pictures.

 

[Azurel]

I can understand that the lighting will make a difference in how the coral will looks like. I can deal with that. We all had first hand experience about lighting but then most of us serious reefers know the best type of lighting for the display tank. We all probably have lighting that maximize the coloration of the corals in a given display. ie we are not going to use 10K or 15K bulbs for the display tank. So the lighting isn't be a big factor in this case.
The problem that I'm having is with a seller who would placed the coral in the most desirable lighting, took the shot and then photoshop on top of that. There is no way I can make that coral to looks close to the picture shown because of the photoshopping. I buy a particular coral on the assumption that it would looks as such under certain lighting condition but I can't never get the coral to looks like as shown in the picture because the coral never looks like that to begin with. It was photoshopped to look as such. See that's where I'm having problem accepting. I want to spend a couple hundred dollar for a very small piece of nice coral but not someone photoshop skill. That's just not right.

I agree and you shouldn't have to accept it....That just comes down to dishonesty.