What's the deal? Purple lobos???

[OodleyBoodely]

I drool over DD usually on a daily basis waiting until I can finally order something for my tank, so, I'm pretty familiar with the types of corals that normally go through there. Now, all these intensily colored green and purple...read concord grape colored lobos, sinularias, and paralemnalis are being offered. Are these for real? Or are these just tricky light photos...or god forbid, dyed? Anybody here buy any of these and see any indication of them being dyed? Are they as brightly colored when you get them as their pics? Would love to see pics of yours in your tanks, please!

Here's 2 links to DD to one sample;

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...+7&ddid=121567

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...+6&ddid=121561

[C0rp]

I bought a lobo from DD very recently. It was green (I didn't buy it for color though) and after a few weeks it was the normal beige/white color they usually are. That's all I know.

[OodleyBoodely]

I know they can change color a bit depending on the lighting and water quality, but, a major change losing all color and turning brown/white might be a dye job. I'm really curious because I've never seen these type corals is such bright intense colors, especially the purples.

[mariner2005]

Suscpiciously they have alot of "Bali" leather corals on the site. They all appear to have the same bluish/purple look to them to... But hey if someone can post pics of when they recieved it and maybe a month or so later and it still looks blue then maybe its worth a shot...

[RyanSweatt2004]

There are a lot of really nice corals but I'm suspicious that the names listed are a case of misidentification. That second listing looks identical to a type of thick branching sinularia that has been aquacultured at AquaCorals.com for the last 5 years. Looks nothing like a Lobo in both form and polyp structure. Not sure about spicules and the differences though. Just saying the name of a given soft coral for sale is very often not correct

[3.99AfterTaxes]

So... I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hoping the one who got these is going to pipe up about their authenticity. DD is a quality retailer and I would be EXTREMELY interested in something like this.

[MJT82]

They may be collected from a depth at which those specific colors are intensified... I'd suspect that when placed under our reef lighting they'd color up and look like the common garden variety. I'd be interested to see how they fare after a few weeks myself...

[OodleyBoodely]

TTT

hoping to hear from anyone who bought any of these 'supercolored' leather corals off DD. How are they looking in your tanks?


When I first got into the hobby around 2000, many soft corals such as the plain brown toadstools, colt corals, and, sebae anemones were being dyed bright colors and sold as naturals. Of course, if they even survived, the dye was quickly dispelled and the animal turned it's natural brown color. There was/is also the problem of photo-shopping pics online to make the corals look super colored, or only showing images taken under actinic lighting, too, which can be very misleading or at the very least hard to tell the true color of the animal.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing DD of any wrong-doing, here. I actually have great respect for them and think they set a great example for aquatic livestock sellers. I'm just wow'd by these unusually colorful leathers, and, because of my distrust in general due to my previous experiences with so-called colored leathers, would like to hear from reefers who have bought these and can share their experience with them.

MJT82 that is an interesting thought.

[OodleyBoodely]

OK, I sent DD an email asking about these corals and they say they are naturally colored. I'm glad to hear it! Here's what they said;

Thank you for your inquiry. All of the corals we offer are naturally colored as shown in the Diver's Den. However, they are illuminated under 10,000K, and Actinic T5 fluorescent lighting. The coloration of these corals will vary under different intensities and Kelvin ratings of light bulbs and may look different under 10K, 14, or 20K Metal Halides, VHO, or Power Compact Lights.

[shifty51008]

I have bought a couple corals from DD and they have all arrived looking the same color as the pic.s. the Elegance though slightly lightened up under my lights but still very happy with it. the frogspawn looks the same still though.

[OodleyBoodely]

That's good to know! I'm still a long ways from ordering livestock, so, I'm doing a lot of researching/studying to keep the bad choices to a minimum, lol!

[ati70cutlass]

i would be worried about corals that are dyed. i had a leather that was banana yellow and over time it grew large but turned green rather than brown