Hannah’s tank journal

[Hannahhhh]

I spoke to a very nice guy at aquasd about the fact that none of the corals I ordered really look like the ad photos. I was hoping that he could tell me about their light settings so I could match my light settings. I really wanted to see similar colors to what was advertised, but no luck.

The guy I spoke to made a point of telling me that while they don’t edit their photos, not all of their corals “photograph well,” meaning that they may look brighter, more colorful, and prettier in the photos then in person. He said it was because of the way the light reflects.  

To be honest, I’m extremely disappointed. I’ve ordered coral from live aquaria before and when the corals arrived, they all looked identical to the ad photos, so I know it’s possible to take realistic photos. I saved up and spent a bunch on this order from aquasd, and so for none of the corals to look like the photos was such a bummer.  

The guy I spoke to was really nice and offered to help me out the next time I place an order, so it’s hard for me to feel angry. Still though, with $40 shipping and this experience, I don’t think I’ll be ordering from them again, at least not for a long time. I guess mostly I just feel kinda sad that I spent so much savings on corals that look dull.  

 

Anyway, sorry for my little rant, I just wanted to get it out! 

 

** also I should say I don’t want to badmouth aquasd, the corals were all healthy, the staff was super kind, they sent me a nice freebie coral with my order, and tons of people leave them very positive reviews. I think it’s just a learning curve, I’m still new to reefing but I should have known that no coral was gonna look as amazing as the pictures they posted. **

[748S911]

That sucks, Have they colored up a little with new light? Also have your tried all blues on to see if its close to what you ordered? 

 

In the bag it’s terrible, but after time it should be close to pic.  

[Hannahhhh]

Just now, 748S911 said:

That sucks, Have they colored up a little with new light? Also have your tried all blues on to see if its close to what you ordered? 

 

In the bag it’s terrible, but after time it should be close to pic.  

I’ve a bunch of different combos of the blues on my ai prime, no real pop in color. I haven’t noticed any changes so far in color, I think this is what it’s gonna be. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

8 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

I’ve a bunch of different combos of the blues on my ai prime, no real pop in color. I haven’t noticed any changes so far in color, I think this is what it’s gonna be. 

I think that's why I have never gotten coral from online. I know the colors will not be the same, but if you give them some time they may color up. Shipping is stressful and they still have to get used to your water conditions.  A couple of the corals I have gotten from shows looked really good when I got them, took them home and they kinda didn't look good. They eventually color up once they get set. Make sure you use the acclimation mode on the prime. It's a great feature and it'll keep you from stressing them out. I usually have acclimation mode of for 3-4 weeks.

When you look at the sliders when you set up acclimation mode if you set it to say 70%, that means it's 70% less light and as time goes on it will get brighter and brighter. Just an FYI cause I was super confused when I first got the light lol.

Also colors will vary and it's all depending on light and water conditions. I'm looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks

 

edit: I hope I explained that right lol.

[Hannahhhh]

28 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

I think that's why I have never gotten coral from online. I know the colors will not be the same, but if you give them some time they may color up. Shipping is stressful and they still have to get used to your water conditions.  A couple of the corals I have gotten from shows looked really good when I got them, took them home and they kinda didn't look good. They eventually color up once they get set. Make sure you use the acclimation mode on the prime. It's a great feature and it'll keep you from stressing them out. I usually have acclimation mode of for 3-4 weeks.

When you look at the sliders when you set up acclimation mode if you set it to say 70%, that means it's 70% less light and as time goes on it will get brighter and brighter. Just an FYI cause I was super confused when I first got the light lol.

Also colors will vary and it's all depending on light and water conditions. I'm looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks

 

edit: I hope I explained that right lol.

Fingers crossed on coloring up! And I have acclimation mode on, although I’m still trying to figure out what my light schedule will be. 

[BearTheSquare]

There’s a Facebook group called “ai prime/hydra reef group” that I joined and it’s where I’ve got all my presets from. In the files section you can download a bunch of them and figure out which ones you like. Not sure if that’s been mentioned yet.

 

definitely suggest ab+ or pirates from the files section

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

10 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

Fingers crossed on coloring up! And I have acclimation mode on, although I’m still trying to figure out what my light schedule will be. 

Yeah that's the trick. I messed with it for a few days. It's best to set it and forget it. The more you mess with it the worse it'll get. You want the corals to get set soon. The more you move them and mess with lightning the more stressed they get. They are a lot more hardy than people give them credit for. Sps on the other hand are a whole different game lol.

Tank looks awesome though. 😀

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

3 minutes ago, BearTheSquare said:

There’s a Facebook group called “ai prime/hydra reef group” that I joined and it’s where I’ve got all my presets from. In the files section you can download a bunch of them and figure out which ones you like. Not sure if that’s been mentioned yet.

Someone needs to make a site just for that. It'd be nice especially if you don't do Facebook 😕

[Hannahhhh]

1 hour ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Someone needs to make a site just for that. It'd be nice especially if you don't do Facebook 😕

I can send you a few if you want (once my request to join the group gets approved)

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

9 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

I can send you a few if you want (once my request to join the group gets approved)

Thanks Hannah 😀. I'm good for now. I've had my light for almost a year. I just let it roll at this point. Everything is growing so I won't be messing with it. You know don't fix things that aren't broken. I will keep you proposal on the back burner in case I need it. 😉

[Hannahhhh]

13 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Thanks Hannah 😀. I'm good for now. I've had my light for almost a year. I just let it roll at this point. Everything is growing so I won't be messing with it. You know don't fix things that aren't broken. I will keep you proposal on the back burner in case I need it. 😉

No problem! What settings do you use?

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

3 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

No problem! What settings do you use?

Hang on, I'm on my laptop, I'll grab a screenshot from my phone.

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

4 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

No problem! What settings do you use?

My settings are way lower than most. I have rock flower nems, hammer and frogspawns, a couple favias, acans, blasto, gsp and a mushroom.

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

I have been thinking that the lighting was a little too high, so I knocked all the levels back and threw the acclimation mode on for a few weeks. It looked like one of my hammers was showing a small sign of bleaching and wanted to test something out. I was also having some water issues so I had to fix that too. High light can kill them quick so low light is always best to start.

[748S911]

can you take pics of corals and the pics online ?

[Hannahhhh]

1 hour ago, 748S911 said:

can you take pics of corals and the pics online ?

The ones I ordered? 

[748S911]

Yup....Your order pic and what you actually got. The corals have been in your tank now for a few days now right?  I’d be pissed 😡 too if I wasn’t happy about my order.  I’ve done some online orders and never had this issue, even orders from fellow reefers. Sorry to hear about all this. But pics would be nice to see the differences. 

[billygoat]

Hey congrats on the new light Hannah! The AI Prime is one of the most popular LEDs around, and for good reason. I am sure that once you get the settings dialed in and acclimation completed, your corals are going to look even better than they already do. 😁

[BearTheSquare]

I’d also like to see the pics of the corals, I’ve been thinking about ordering some zoas from them similar to the ones you ordered.

[Hannahhhh]

In my photo it looks like there’s a tiny bit of purple on the edges of the RFA but I can’t really see that in person 

[Hannahhhh]

11 minutes ago, BearTheSquare said:

I’d also like to see the pics of the corals, I’ve been thinking about ordering some zoas from them similar to the ones you ordered.

My zoas haven’t really opened up much yet, but once they do I’ll post more pics

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

1 minute ago, Hannahhhh said:

So that rock flower is taken under heavy blue. The zoas are still closed up that's why they don't look like the pic. Hope that helps. I love the rock flower 😍

[Hannahhhh]

Just now, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

So that rock flower is taken under heavy blue. The zoas are still closed up that's why they don't look like the pic. Hope that helps. I love the rock flower 😍

My picture is taken with the blues at 95%

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

I think it's slightly photoshopped or heavy filter

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

Just now, Hannahhhh said:

My picture is taken with the blues at 95%

Hmm that's really weird. I've always thought about ordering but that is a pretty big difference