LFS Selling Wrongly Named Corals, Their Bad or Ours?

[buddythelion]

Hey Everyone.

I see enough forums where people get upset at their LFS/online sites for selling them a coral being named as something, either a made up name only for them to find out that it's actually called something else or the LFS selling a coral named as a well known morph, such as a hornets, devil armours, you name it (this name game is biggest with zoas, so I'm going to be using them as examples but feel free to think of other corals as well such as miami hurricane, watermelon, etc) only to be something else entirely.

Having said that, what is your opinion on this?

My opinion is that it's up to the hobbyist to know what you're buying. If you paid X amount for a coral then you should have been happy with your purchase, regardless of what name you thought it was.

 

[Jake1]

I think names are more for us then LFS. I have talked with a few stores around town and they say when they order corals they don't order named corals but jest price range corals. I.e 25$ Lps or 10$ Sps. Also when it comes to naming corals for online stores they have so much it's hard to keep names strait. Don't get me wrong I have named corals in my tank but I never got them for the name got them for there color.

 

[Steven R]

+1 pay only what make you happy if the piece is worth it to you then all good in my book no matter what the name.

 

[weaponsofmassdesign]

I buy what looks good to me. I think the customer should know. I've done my research for many reasons and that's one of them. Around here though they don't get really high end stuff and every LPS is a "brain." Before my LFS changed hands I would identify species for the owner cause he only knew the most generic name.

 

[watchguy123]

I think there are three rules to follow regarding purchasing a coral. 1. If you like it, buy it. 2. If you like it, buy it. 3. If you like it, buy it. I have tried to buy corals that are colorful and bright. I have not wanted to feel compelled to buy super expensive limited edition named frags, I just want really colorful ones. Well, I have discovered a couple of issues with that. First, when you identify something you would like, it is not always possible and perhaps unlikely you will get a frag from the mother colony. The obvious advantage of receiving a frag from the mother colony is that you have a pretty good idea what your frag will grow up to look like (excluding varying tank parameters, lighting, morphing, etc). When you find something that is beautiful and named, its nice to shop for a frag but not so nice to recieve a named frag that has been intentionally or unintentionally misrepresented. And you need to take into consideration that some frags may take many many months to color up adding to the doubt about what you did or did not receive . I have been burned before, but I like to think it was an unintentional error, heck I move stuff around in my tank and then forget what it is. I do that when I move established colonies like relandscaping (I guess re aquascaping is more accurate), and I even do it on my 12 piece frag rack so I guess I can forgive others for the same error. Unless of course, they were just defrauding me. But I prefer to think more kindly or that others are just as easily confused and confounded as I am.

 

[BBoley24]

I definitely play into the name game. I DESPISE THE NAMES... but... like you had mentioned before... the names are for us. They help us put an id to something we are after. If they want to name something as their own, go ahead. No copyright infringement going on there.

 

[BBoley24]

You know it is funny now that I think about it. There is one LFS here in Pittsburgh that actually has some named stuff. He goes by what they are called out here which is easy for me to identify. Unfortunately the prices are highly inflated because of it... BUT... he has them and I want them. So I end up coughing up 45 bucks for a captain america or 35 bucks for a purple rain. Eh.

 

[jeterjames]

my opinion you should never buy a coral based on it name! you should alway's inspect it. And make sure it is what you want!

 

[mfdrookie516]

JMO... but the buyer is completely responsible for the purchase. You don't go to a car dealership asking the salesman for advice on a car... because their end goal is to make money off you. Same goes with LFS. It's the responsibility of the buyer to do the research and know what they're buying.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

would you buy a chihuahua labeled as a Great Dane?
I think as much damage we have done to the reefs we deserve to name them correctly. not to mention if the labeled name is entirely wrong it could result in completely wrong care. I hate that pet stores are aloud to even sell corals and fish w/o a degree in marine biology...at least one employee should have one IMO. The thing that also gets me is this: About 99% of all other types of animals kept by humans have veterinarians that can fix them....aquarium pets have us...hobbyists scanning websites, books, and asking other "experienced" hobbyists for guidance, only to be kind of right. We can't just take our Cryptocaryons to the Vet for a "flea Bath" but our dogs get monthly drops??? And what about Fresh water puffers that don't get snails? We have to knock them out our selves and bust out the clippers.

NAmes, Guidance, and Proper Information upon even the smallest of planktons that you buy should come with the knowledge to use or care for correctly. As a result of this NOT being the way it is, we have global aquarium sickness worldwide forever amongst the beginners, the uneducated, and the used car salesman that sold you the "White Bumpy Tang" for 50 bucks that died. Someone once told me, If you kill it, it will die.

PRice wise, that is completely up to what is good for you and the vendor. I would pay 20 bucks for a good frag of zoanthids, or 5 bucks for the speck shaved off of a chalice...if it is healthy...price should be in the potential of it, along with the value.

Some may sell by the polyp, sq inch, or by the amount of heads X number of times you keep asking about it + tax, and someone always buys it.
Usuallly. Goats are not pigs and Cinnamon Grandis are not Brown Palys. The witch of the sea would not have cinnamon, let alone Grandis.

 

[PolandSpring]

I definitely play into the name game. I DESPISE THE NAMES... but... like you had mentioned before... the names are for us. They help us put an id to something we are after. If they want to name something as their own, go ahead. No copyright infringement going on there.

Nailed it! its too hard to identify a coral without having names on it. TRUST ME! I knOW!!! I'm a college student and about once or every 2 weeks I call my dad and I ask him to look closely at the corals to see how they are doing. Its very difficult, when i tell him to look at the Red table I have to say, the one that looks like its growing out like a hand, or the red one, meanwhile i have like 7 different red sps pieces and it just makes it even harder. NAMES ARE NECESSARY FOR THE HOBBY. However, you should never buy a coral just because of the name. Just get it because you like it. I have over 100 dif zoa's and there are so many i pass up on that even have names because I just don't like them.

Got a little off topic there.. so im editing it. lol

I think its wrong for LFS to put a wrong name on a zoa in order to make an extra profit, like you mentioned above about the hornets. However, if they honestly dont know the name and aren't selling it for any higher than they would then its just their mistake and they shouldn't be critized as much.

 

[buddythelion]

would you buy a chihuahua labeled as a Great Dane?
I think as much damage we have done to the reefs we deserve to name them correctly. not to mention if the labeled name is entirely wrong it could result in completely wrong care. I hate that pet stores are aloud to even sell corals and fish w/o a degree in marine biology...at least one employee should have one IMO. The thing that also gets me is this: About 99% of all other types of animals kept by humans have veterinarians that can fix them....aquarium pets have us...hobbyists scanning websites, books, and asking other "experienced" hobbyists for guidance, only to be kind of right. We can't just take our Cryptocaryons to the Vet for a "flea Bath" but our dogs get monthly drops??? And what about Fresh water puffers that don't get snails? We have to knock them out our selves and bust out the clippers.

NAmes, Guidance, and Proper Information upon even the smallest of planktons that you buy should come with the knowledge to use or care for correctly. As a result of this NOT being the way it is, we have global aquarium sickness worldwide forever amongst the beginners, the uneducated, and the used car salesman that sold you the "White Bumpy Tang" for 50 bucks that died. Someone once told me, If you kill it, it will die.

PRice wise, that is completely up to what is good for you and the vendor. I would pay 20 bucks for a good frag of zoanthids, or 5 bucks for the speck shaved off of a chalice...if it is healthy...price should be in the potential of it, along with the value.

Some may sell by the polyp, sq inch, or by the amount of heads X number of times you keep asking about it + tax, and someone always buys it.
Usuallly. Goats are not pigs and Cinnamon Grandis are not Brown Palys. The witch of the sea would not have cinnamon, let alone Grandis.

The reason that we don't go to vets is because the majority of us are not willing to go to a vet to get our sick fish better. There are vets for fish, but usually those go for the $1000+ fish such as kois because they are willing to hire vets to care for their fish. Would you bring your damselfish or clownfish to the vet? I'm no marine bio, and I'm sure a lot of us aren't (I didn't say none, just a good amount of us aren't I'm assuming ). That doesn't mean I can't care for fish properly for years. Do you know how much it costs to be a marine bio and how little a LFS makes? Makes sense if it's for a public aquarium, not a LFS. I think a marine biologist would be more useful doing other things for the community than being at a LFS such as environmental work etc.

There's a lot of things with this post, but I feel it's very off topic.

 

[buddythelion]

Great replies guys, sounds like a lot of us have the same opinion.

I posted this thread on another forum, it's really interesting how different the way people think on other forums. Certain forums have a certain appeal/way of thinking and that people that have that similar way of thinking go to those forums instead.

 

[dirtycontour]

would you buy a chihuahua labeled as a Great Dane?

If I liked chihuahua's, sure.

I don't like the name game either. I saw a post on another forum selling some kind of "hornet" zoa for $50 a polyp. It was a nice looking zoa but you gotta be kidding me.