Color question

[TrishK]

So I ordered some palythoa grandis and really wanted them because they were advertised as blue. What I got is the bottom pic. The company is telling me it’s probably just a lighting difference. We have Kessils a360WE....I know lighting can be different but can it really be this big of a difference? Especially since I know the brownish palys are the other type available to purchase so I know they exist. I don’t see how any different light can change them from brown to that bright blue.

 

[Lizbeli]

Unfortunately, I would have to say there is a good chance they used heavy blue lighting/photoshop/filters to get the photo to look like that. I would take a look at other corals on their site and see how they are photographed. I usually like to see some sort of background so I can get an idea on if the white balance looks natural.

 

[sam2110]

My zoas always look slightly different colours under different light. I Brough slome really cheap brown zoas in my LFS there must be 200 polyps on the rock and it was £18. In the shop they where dull and brown, when they fully opened under my lights they are an awesome Florence orange almost metallic looking. In my case I think i got lucky that the shops lighting wasn't set up right.

 

[TrishK]

Unfortunately, I would have to say there is a good chance they used heavy blue lighting/photoshop/filters to get the photo to look like that. I would take a look at other corals on their site and see how they are photographed. I usually like to see some sort of background so I can get an idea on if the white balance looks natural.

Yeah I think you’re right about photoshopping. Pretty much all their backgrounds are black which makes it very easy to play around with the color balance in PS. Guess I should just be happy I paid for two heads and they sent me like 6-7 ‍. Maybe when I acclimate them closer to the light their color will change a little. This picture is just a few hours in the tank.

 

[Sump Crab]

Most online vendors are 100% a joke these days. There are few that accurately depict corals for sale in their photos.

 

[TrishK]

Yeah...the first coral in this picture is supposed to be a reverse blue and green hammer but I don’t see any blue on it either. Second pic is the one they posted online.

 

[Katrina71]

Lighting difference always matters. They are both beautiful in your lighting as well.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@TrishK yeah I think they are leaving their blues on heavily and then cropping out the background or the black covers that. If you had blues on while photographing I bet itd be similar.

 

[TrishK]

My blues are nearly 100% and no where near that so definitely think it’s photoshopped. I work with PS everyday for my business so it’d be easy to do. Think it’s crappy though as the whole reason I bought everything I did from their shop was because I thought the palys would be somewhat blue and now I think such a thing doesn’t even exist.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I just got a frag of Zoas that are a nice blue, the guy I swapped with threw it in to free up his frag rack. Most of the palythoa grandis I see are more of a green with white and brown blotted in.

 

[BlennyTime]

If the colors look too good to be true, they probably are.

 

[TrishK]

I just got a frag of Zoas that are a nice blue, the guy I swapped with threw it in to free up his frag rack. Most of the palythoa grandis I see are more of a green with white and brown blotted in.

same....I just think it’s false advertising. It’s like ordering a pink Coach purse advertised on their website and they send you a green one instead and say “oh it must’ve been the lighting” *eye roll* regardless I won’t be ordering from that website again.

 

[TrishK]

If the colors look too good to be true, they probably are.

Well some of us are new to different types of coral and still learning and don’t know if such a color exist or not sooooo

 

[BlennyTime]

Well some of us are new to different types of coral and still learning and don’t know if such a color exist or not sooooo

I didn't mean it in a negative way, I've been burned by altered pictures too. Sorry it happened to you. Just a learning experience for the next time

 

[ReefRy]

Reminds me of the first and only time I went to a certain coral shop in Orlando, FL. Quite an eye opening experience.

 

[Oscar47f]

So that color does exist(I work at a coral shop in Orlando and have seen one )... lighting plays a very important role in the mix.. most coral shops run Radeon XR30 pros which have a really good band of color, they use t5 which has the widest color spectrum and metal halides... depending on the light it will look different, now yes many places photoshop and they overdo it many times and it’s Robbery yes I agree! But corals do change colors in different lighting situations(100% your blues doesn’t equal their blue settings is that makes sense) and under different forms of light and I’m so sorry you didn’t get the coral you wanted):

 

[fnlyreefready]

same....I just think it’s false advertising. It’s like ordering a pink Coach purse advertised on their website and they send you a green one instead and say “oh it must’ve been the lighting” *eye roll* regardless I won’t be ordering from that website again.

Remember that they make coral lenses. I bet high atanic bulbs with a yellow lenses will make this color

 

[NeptuneRjo]

Blues on 100% with little to no white light will often make coral look very different.

 

[Snoopdog]

I doubt I ever buy any zoas from an online vendor with hopes the picture represents what I would actually get. I am just going to buy frag plugs when I know for sure I do not have the exact same zoa already. Luckily where I buy them they push way more of a natural light than heavy actinic lighting. Seeing some of these prices for a single polyp is just insanity, but I guess if you have excess money laying around...

 

[fnlyreefready]

I doubt I ever buy any zoas from an online vendor with hopes the picture represents what I would actually get. I am just going to buy frag plugs when I know for sure I do not have the exact same zoa already. Luckily where I buy them they push way more of a natural light than heavy actinic lighting. Seeing some of these prices for a single polyp is just insanity, but I guess if you have excess money laying around... almost all of my zoas came from online venders here’s a few of them