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.
