hi Jeff,

Actually, it's not a matter of whether the coral looks good. There are
at least three issues.

1) whether or not there is a WYSIWYG photo provided or just a generic
representation of the species. Buying from non-WYSIWYG photos can be
risky, since corals within a species vary widely in appearance.

The largest online dealer, www.liveaquaria.com , has a well-justified
reputation for shipping corals that are better-looking than the buyer
might expect. They do both WYSIWYG and non-WSIWYG.

WYSIWYG:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/index.cfm?ref=3175&subref=AB
Non-WYSIWYG:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?siteid=22&pCatId=597

2) whether the photo, especially if WYSIWYG, is a good quality photo,
an honest representation, in focus, etc.

I bought from several online dealers last year just to check out the
competition. When one coral that I'd purchased from a WYSIWYG photo
arrived, I honestly couldn't figure out whether it was the same as I'd
seen in the out-of-focus photo. This dealer has since gained a
reputation in the reef-keeping forums for buying corals, photographing
them, cutting pieces off to propagate from them, then selling the coral
from the photo of it in its original condition.

www.tropicorium.com has grown to become one of the best known
aquaculture shops in the U.S., in spite of their Web site. The worst
are his photos of trays of aquacultured cuttings:

http://www.tropicorium.com/tsoft_corals.html

Then there are all kinds of other problems. In the following example,
the mediocre photo is mislabeled as a Lobophyllia when, in fact, it's a
Trachyphyllia Radiata. Trachyphyllia are much easier to care for than
Lobophyllia (and they don't look very much alike). It's described as
needing "strong light" when, in fact, this species can adapt to
relatively low lighting and may die if placed under strong light
without plenty of time to acclimate to gradually increasing amounts of
light.

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?
products_id=364&parent_category=4&category_search=62&root_parent_id=4

This site has numerous examples of inaccurate care recommendations,
some grossly inaccurate.

3) An individual coral can vary in appearance drastically depending on
time of day, lighting conditions, how long it has had to acclimate to a
new environment, where it's at in its digestive cycle, etc. Some can
take as long as several days to a few weeks to recover from being
handled and extend their polyps. Many accumulate a waxy skin which they
periodically shed to rid themselves of algae. They look dreadful just
before and during the shed. Getting photos of corals looking their best
takes a lof of time and patience.

Some don't like being moved and may shrink to a fraction of the normal
size, taking several days to return to their usual glory. Here's a
corner of a larger photo with two corals of the same species. "B" is
unhappy because it was moved or touched. These Sinularia also shrink to
stubby little stump-like blobs during lights out, then expand to
graceful, arboreal, flowing shapes after the lights come on, increasing
in height three or four times:

http://www.culturedaquaria.com/poutingSinularia.jpg

The Sinularia in that photo are progeny grown from small cuttings from
the colony below, which lives in my living room aquarium and serves as
a hiding place for a timid pink skunk clownfish.

http://www.culturedaquaria.com/happySinularia.jpg



Suz



On Jun 16, 2004, at 7:59 AM, Giesbrecht, Jeff wrote:

> Suz,
>
> I know this is getting a little off the topic you wanted feedback on
> but
> could you share some of the not so good-looking pictures. I'm having a
> hard time understanding how a coral could not look nice no matter what.
> :)
>
> Cheers,
> Jeff


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