Buying Zoas on-line

[grouper25]

I am looking to aquire some high-end zoas for my tank. I am tired of the morbid brown colonies found at most LFS and am looking for some very bright blues, greens etc. I have seen a few websites which have fabulous colored product but am suspicious the pictures are doctored with Photoshop or the like. A friend just made a purchase and what he received was not what had appeared on his screen.

Does anyone have any suggestions where to shop????
Thanks Mates

[Pufferpunk]

Most of the time, when ordering from online stores, I've been disappointed in the way they had enhanced their colors for their pics. I'm sure there are some good ones though. I have been much more satisfied in the zoas I have purchaced from fellow reefers, where I can actually see what I'm buying (see here, if there are any locasl reef clubs near you) or even thru folks at forums like the selling ones here at RC link removed


Creative posting to anvoid words on the censor list is a very poor choice..

[Aussie_hippie_2]

Just go with hobbiests. My plainest zoas have come from a company online. Then again, in that package came the birghtest ones I have, so...

[Pufferpunk]

Oops, wrong thread.

[BibleSusan]

I have to take tons of pictures to get true colors of my zoos. Pinks only come out right under PC 50/50 for me. Others I have to use 20K MH or the MH plus the PC. I don't photoshop my pictures but I understand people doing that to try to get the colors true. It is good to check out the rep of the seller.

[vessxpress1]

Basically, if the picture is taken under full actinic, heavy 20k, and or they don't set a custom white balance on the camera, it's very hard to get realistic colors in pictures for selling purposes.

Get a feel for what all the different types are supposed to look like. Check out zoaid.com for naming info and to see colors. Many people use that as their guide for naming zoos now. But not all.

Some vendors can make a common Eagle Eye zoo look like a one of a kind specimen!

Others are pretty simple and you know what you're going to get. Such as RPE's, PPEs, AoG's. There's enough pictures of them around to know what they are and what they look like. They are what they are and look like the online pics in my tank.

I prefer to buy them in person but I'm not afraid to buy online. You can usually get a feel for what to look for when looking at pics online.
Look at the surroundings around the coral to see if it is heavy blue or looks like normal day light. If it's heavy blue, you know it's probably going to look a lot different under normal day light, full spectrum bulbs.

There's a broad range of colorful zoas out there though and if you're only used to the brown ones, I think you'll be very happy giving most any a try.