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Buying WYSIWYG Corals


Ratvan

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Afternoon All, or morning, or night.

 

So I am starting to shop around for some Acropora frags and other SPS. A lot of the time here (in the UK) Acropora frags are fairly expensive unless you are willing to buy boogers, or nubs. However I have found some sites that are selling browned out Acro's as WYSIWYG.

 

So ideally I would like to know, what should I be looking at when looking at these Frags? I know obviously about teh lighting and parameters but is there anything else to consider?

 

Here are a couple of example images

64568460_337728807124633_905109059928064000_n.jpg.e57a97c0910c32ad60d8ba097666b377.jpg

 

img_1173_2.jpg.ff6eb6916724cf1da9511e9841710095.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Buying a browned acro is no issue so long as it's healthy and doesn't have pests. The big things to watch out for are:

  • Make sure there is no recession in the base - there should be encrusting on the plug with obvious new growth.
  • Make sure that the skin on the main branch and base is thick and healthy - it should not be clear or very pale. If it's brown, you want it to be a deep brown.
  • Make sure there is good polyp extension - just because it's brown doesn't mean it shouldn't be polyps out.
  • Any small areas where the flesh is missing (like little circles) while the rest of the skin looks fine (and may even be starting to grow new skeleton back over those little circles) means to stay the hell away and to blacklist that person. That's AEFW.
  • If it is a larger frag or mini colony, seeing healthy growth tips is a big bonus.

The first dragon acro is a good example of a really healthy looking coral and something that would be fine to buy. In general, frags that have really light tan skin that is thin and no real polyp extension isn't just browned out, but dying. They are one short step away from STN and the extra stress of being transferred to a new tank will likely trigger it.

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4 minutes ago, jservedio said:

Buying a browned acro is no issue so long as it's healthy and doesn't have pests. The big things to watch out for are:

  • Make sure there is no recession in the base - there should be encrusting on the plug with obvious new growth.
  • Make sure that the skin on the main branch and base is thick and healthy - it should not be clear or very pale. If it's brown, you want it to be a deep brown.
  • Make sure there is good polyp extension - just because it's brown doesn't mean it shouldn't be polyps out.
  • Any small areas where the flesh is missing (like little circles) while the rest of the skin looks fine (and may even be starting to grow new skeleton back over those little circles) means to stay the hell away and to blacklist that person. That's AEFW.
  • If it is a larger frag or mini colony, seeing healthy growth tips is a big bonus.

The first dragon acro is a good example of a really healthy looking coral and something that would be fine to buy. In general, frags that have really light tan skin that is thin and no real polyp extension isn't just browned out, but dying. They are one short step away from STN and the extra stress of being transferred to a new tank will likely trigger it.

Thank you for the reply much appreciated. 

 

The first few, if i do go ahead with this, will be purchased from stores that I have ordered from before so I know (more or less) what the colour shift will be like from their lights to mine. Another thing to consider when buying online lol

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

so I know (more or less) what the colour shift will be like from their lights to mine. Another thing to consider when buying online lol

In general, my tank is really good at coaxing color out of corals so the only real color shift I ever see is when vendors go ham with the Vibrance and Saturation sliders in Lightroom/Photoshop!

 

If your entire tank isn't getting quite the color you like, sure - dulling colors is expected, but if your whole tank has great color and it seems like all the corals from one vendor just don't have the color you were expecting, it's probably not you. Sure, you can't please every coral and a couple corals here or there not getting full color is totally normal, but if every coral from one vendor seems to be "shifting" you should shift your money elsewhere.

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12 minutes ago, jservedio said:

In general, my tank is really good at coaxing color out of corals so the only real color shift I ever see is when vendors go ham with the Vibrance and Saturation sliders in Lightroom/Photoshop!

 

If your entire tank isn't getting quite the color you like, sure - dulling colors is expected, but if your whole tank has great color and it seems like all the corals from one vendor just don't have the color you were expecting, it's probably not you. Sure, you can't please every coral and a couple corals here or there not getting full color is totally normal, but if every coral from one vendor seems to be "shifting" you should shift your money elsewhere.

The only "shift" I seem to see is with Pinks. They have more of a Purple tinge in my tank which I much prefer 

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Punk_Rock_Blenny
2 hours ago, Ratvan said:

The only "shift" I seem to see is with Pinks. They have more of a Purple tinge in my tank which I much prefer 

I know what you mean. I got some really nice Red Zoas in a store once, they've been green for me ever since. Much prettier than the red that they had in store. In my opinion anyway

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