Why don’t online venders show pictures of colonies?

[Lionfish hunter]

Why don’t coral venders like wwc show more pictures of colonies with their wysiwyg frags? They have a million different frags for sale that I have never heard of. Is anybody buying coral frags based on what these tiny photoshopped frags look like? Most of these frags have entirely different colors than the colony will. Sometimes you can find the colony pictures online but it is a pain, half the time there are no pictures, and it is hard to tell sometimes if the pictures you find online are that exact coral colony. It would be so much easier if they just took a picture of the mother colony and posted with the frag picture. I would probably buy way more coral.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

The vendors I use can provide pics of the MC if requested and sometimes do during events but u can always ask.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

The vendors I use can provide pics of the MC if requested and sometimes do during events but u can always ask.

Yes but when I look at 60 frags with 0 colony pics. There are probably multiple colonies I would be interested in if they were shown. I’m not going to waste my time to ask 95% of the time. I just don’t buy anything. Some companies show the colonies, most of the time it is just useless pictures of tiny frags that look nothing like the colony. I’m speaking mostly about acropora.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Why don’t coral venders like wwc show more pictures of colonies with their wysiwyg frags? They have a million different frags for sale that I have never heard of. Is anybody buying coral frags based on what these tiny photoshopped frags look like? Most of these frags have entirely different colors than the colony will. Sometimes you can find the colony pictures online but it is a pain, half the time there are no pictures, and it is hard to tell sometimes if the pictures you find online are that exact coral colony. It would be so much easier if they just took a picture of the mother colony and posted with the frag picture. I would probably buy way more coral.

While some do, very few will

 

[homer1475]

Some online vendors are "chop shops", they only have frags.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Some online vendors are "chop shops", they only have frags.

Sorry I didn’t specify, I ment aqua-cultured acropora specifically. I’m not interested in mari-cultured.

 

[Hermie]

even chop shops should take apicture of the mother before quartering so to speak

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

even chop shops should take apicture of the mother before quartering

I think they more than quarter it. Lol

 

[Hermie]

I think they more than quarter it. Lol

hahaha yea

 

[homer1475]

Exactly my point. Buy a frag, grow it out until you can frag it again. Most don't have any colonies, they only have frags of slightly larger frags.

 

[Wasabiroot]

I think more vendors are doing this. Off the top of my head, I believe TSA does this for some corals, and I'm pretty sure TCK does as well for some strains. I usually just Google the name to get a general sense of what the grown out specimen might look like, but I agree it would be nice to see more often, especially when it comes to acros that look slightly similar.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

even chop shops should take apicture of the mother before quartering

Yes 100%. The picture of the frag is only relevant to how large and healthy it is. Not knowing what it is going to look like makes the whole thing irrelevant.

 

[Hermie]

Yes 100%. The picture of the frag is only relevant to how large and healthy it is. Not knowing what it is going to look like makes the whole thing irrelevant.

yeah but prob with chop shops is that the incoming corals dont always look hot and they might not turn out that way in your tank I believe. I could be wrong

 

[Lionfish hunter]

yeah but prob with chop shops is that the incoming corals dont always look hot and they might not turn out that way in your tank I believe. I could be wrong

Maybe they shouldn’t be selling corals that don’t look good because they are stressed? I’m not buying them either way.

 

[Hermie]

Maybe they shouldn’t be selling corals that don’t look good because they are stressed? I’m not buying them either way.

well regardless of stress induced color loss, I guess the pictures would at least show growth patterns

 

[KrisReef]

There are a few out there, and I agree; I want to see the MC before I purchase a brown splinter with potential.

I just purchased a few frags from their auction. Check out their colony photos.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

There are a few out there, and I agree; I want to see the MC before I purchase a brown splinter with potential.

I just purchased a few frags from their auction. Check out their colony photos.

I’ve got some really cool stuff from POTO

 

[jasonvan]

my lfs dont post colonies as they grow them to frag. especially acros. the only colonies i seen are the easy to grow zoas here

 

[Tamberav]

Why buy acro from anywhere but battle corals and cultivated reef…

Hehe

 

[KrisReef]

Why buy acro from anywhere but battle corals and cultivated reef…

Hehe

Support all these find vendors to help keep the hobby shops open! It's a Reefer's primary duty after water changes.