AquaSD Warriors Shield

[Mattyreefs]

Curious to get some other opinions on this...

Got an order in from Aqua SD today. Everything was great as usual but one of the Zoas sort of has me scratching my head. I know there's a ton of crazy names and whatnot all over the industry right now and I'm really not at all drawn by rarity, etc probably because I haven't been in the hobby long enough.

So I picked up this "Warriors Shield" zoa because I thought the coloration was really interesting. I knew it probably was not going to be that deep red but I liked the green/red contrast. This is the image from the listing.

Well I was a little bummed when it opened up and turned out to look identical to my eagle eyes, which I actually do really like but wouldn't have bought again.
This is what it looks like in my tank Vs my eagle eyes.

And I know that lighting makes a big difference, etc but I see Eagle Eyes on their website without the red color. Seems to me like the color was manipulated in some way. I'd assume their lighting isn't that different from tank to tank so I don't understand where the huge difference in coloration would come from. And this is another zoa from their site that I'm assuming is pretty much identical without the red coloration.

 

[zoaprince]

You gotta love all these vendors editing their photos to hell and back. they clearly made them look red for sales purposes. I would ask for my money back.

 

[Mattyreefs]

You gotta love all these vendors editing their photos to hell and back. they clearly made them look red for sales purposes. I would ask for my money back.

Thinking about it. Just wanted to get some outside opinions to make sure I'm not being unreasonable. Like I said, I couldn't care less if vendors are making up names to sell corals. If you want to call your eagle eye zoas Warior Shields, go ahead. But I think you should provide representative pictures of the coral for sale.

And the fact that they have other corals on their site with accurate coloration makes me think it was done intentional to look like something else.

In all fairness, it's a nice frag with great coloration but it is in no way what I thought I was buying.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I have seen threads in the past of people getting full refunds from AquaSD for false advertisement. So send them an email and tell them you’re dissatisfied. They have great customer service

I have bought several corals from AquaSD and I would say about 1/4 of them weren’t as advertised. This is excluding the number that changed due to the parameters set in my tank that changed the corals overtime. Only talking about straight out of box. They do have some pretty accurate photos compared to other vendors. So send them a message for sure

 

[Mhamilton0911]

+1 to reaching out. I've ordered from them several times and each time I was surprised at how accurate everything came in. All my corals looked identical to thier pictures, at least on opening day. Perhaps a mistake grab?

 

[Mattyreefs]

+1 to reaching out. I've ordered from them several times and each time I was surprised at how accurate everything came in. All my corals looked identical to thier pictures, at least on opening day. Perhaps a mistake grab?

I've been really satisfied with how accurate pictures are of the corals I've gotten---probably one of the reasons why I like ordering from them. It's crazy how heavily manipulated some pictures from different vendors look but I've never gotten that impression from ASD.

I'm really confident that it's the exact frag. It's a very specific shape---look at them side by side below.
I'm going to reach out and I'll come back with an update.

 

[Losirk]

You’re not alone. They did the same to me with Rock Flower anemones. 1 came in perfect, the other was the completely wrong color. They edit the hell out of their photos so be careful. Their customer service is great though, so try emailing them

 

[Mattyreefs]

Sent an email to ASD explaining the situation and they apologized and said they'll make sure things are done better.

They also gave me a full credit for the coral. Thanks all for the input and thanks to @AquaSD for great customer service.

 

[Losirk]

Sent an email to ASD explaining the situation and they apologized and said they'll make sure things are done better.

They also gave me a full credit for the coral. Thanks all for the input and thanks to @AquaSD for great customer service.

Full credit? Meaing credit on the site or refund to your card? Because if it was credit for their site then you would have to pay shipping again, they got you in their grasp lol

 

[Mattyreefs]

Full credit? Meaing credit on the site or refund to your card? Because if it was credit for their site then you would have to pay shipping again, they got you in their grasp lol

Store credit. Yeah, I hear ya but I'm okay with that. It's still a good looking coral that I'll find a spot for, just not what I thought I was buying. I'll definitely order from them at some point down the line and if nothing else it's free shipping when I get tempted to pick up a single frag.

 

[Kellie in CA]

I had a situation with a different vendor this week where I splurged on a really high end piece because it was on sale and I thought I would treat myself with some money I saved (I don't spend a whole lot on myself). Came in looking nothing like the photo. I wouldn't have paid a fraction of the price I did. I asked if they were sure they sent me the right one. They were like "Yup, that's it".
It's disappointing. I'm usually pretty good at spotting this stuff... but every once in a while they get ya. Lesson learned.

The most accurate photos I have seen are from Legendary Corals.

 

[Rubber Ducky]

I had same experience with aquaSD of ordering 6 corals, and 5 looked completely different from what was displayed. They were supposed to be WYSIWYG, and I got same type of coral, but a different and inferior frag than I had purchased. I don't like the store credit, because if I'm not happy with the purchase, why would I want a second go around in which I gotta pay shipping again...I just moved on...

 

[Just John]

These zoas from cornbred corals are a great example. In the photograph online they are bright purple, red and orange. I got them from his eBay auction for $15. Here they are. Pinhead for scale.

 

[afrokobe]

I haven't been super impressed with the stuff I got from Aquasd. One of the acan frags I ordered, looked great though. I have just shopped at other vendors.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

These zoas from cornbred corals are a great example. In the photograph online they are bright purple, red and orange. I got them from his eBay auction for $15. Here they are. Pinhead for scale.

Doesn’t look like you are under actinic lighting. BIG difference when under blue spectrum. Try that first.

 

[Just John]

Doesn’t look like you are under actinic lighting. BIG difference when under blue spectrum. Try that first.

Amazingly, even with my vendor's special "everything looks fabulous!" orange lens they look about the same. The green circle is just a little brighter.