LiveAquaria Coral Brown upon Receipt

[TheDeepSandBed]

So I ordered this Acro from LiveAquaira and it showed up today looking like this.

This is my first time ordering and having something shipped to me. After a few hours there is a little PE and only one stringy bit hanging off the coral (a good sign I think?) but I was wondering if they just misled me, or the coral was dying/stressed when it got to me.

Any ideas about how long I should wait to see if it gains its colors back to what I think it should be?

 

[Wazzel]

Browning during shipping is not uncommon, neither is lack of polyp extension. Shipping is stressful on a coral. You should see the polyps rebound after a couple of days. As far as the color it could be a week or so, or a few months. You just never know.

 

[M Woodhill]

So I ordered this Acro from LiveAquaira and it showed up today looking like this.

This is my first time ordering and having something shipped to me. After a few hours there is a little PE and only one stringy bit hanging off the coral (a good sign I think?) but I was wondering if they just misled me, or the coral was dying/stressed when it got to me.

Any ideas about how long I should wait to see if it gains its colors back to what I think it should be?

they have a 14 days or how many days of guarantee

with that said, for a frag stressed like that, youd better put it to low light n low wave area as long as the slime won't accumulate

leave it there till it recovers

 

[Bdial]

That is also not a wysiwyg coral.

 

[TheDeepSandBed]

That is also not a wysiwyg coral.

True, but I feel like there is a reasonable expectation for it to at least resemble in color that which is pictured. Would you say that is an acceptable fulfillment of my order?

 

[Bdial]

If you as a customer are unhappy then call. They are great to work with. I have had a lot of corals from la and other places come in brown. They'll color back up.

 

[CHSUB]

only one stringy bit hanging off the coral (a good sign I think?)

i consider this a bad sign, possibly the coral expelling some zooanthealla!!

 

[dinger28]

I pray that this is not things to come from Petco purchasing LA. Haven't ordered from them yet since the switch, but will in a couple of weeks. In the past I have ordered many acros and they have never ever looked like that. :/

Matt

 

[ClownNut]

you take a pic of the acro under normal sun light compare to the aquarium light. yeah you will see the color not the same.

 

[swhobbie1]

I've purchased most of my corals online and almost all of them arrive brown like that one or in some cases very pale almost white. Only corals I actually received that had good colors were Unique Corals and cherry corals..

 

[Piper27]

I have never ordered and had a coral come in brown. From anywhere. I have ordered from a LOT of places and handled lots of shipments of wild corals. When i order online, the coral normally looks like a lighter version of what the picture showed or its almost white from stress of shipping, and that is mostly with the corals that don't cut well or were fresh cuts from wilds. I would guess it was brown before they shipped it. I attribute brown to come from low light and high nutrients and not shipping stress.
I have had a lot of good shipments as well that look exactly like the pics. But live aquaria takes the pics and sometimes they sit for a while after that so your not really guaranteed to get what it looks like color wise unless its a new coral ordered right away.
Also I am sometimes fooled when I open the bags by the color, then I get it under my tank lights and it looks a little more like it did in the pic.

I agree though, I have had great experiences with LA and divers den but I too hope they continue the good service. Their guarantee is almost a one of a kind in this hobby.

 

[ajcanale]

So I ordered this Acro from LiveAquaira and it showed up today looking like this.

This is my first time ordering and having something shipped to me. After a few hours there is a little PE and only one stringy bit hanging off the coral (a good sign I think?) but I was wondering if they just misled me, or the coral was dying/stressed when it got to me.

Any ideas about how long I should wait to see if it gains its colors back to what I think it should be?

Dude, most acros appear brown or discolored when out of the water....

That said, unless perfect conditions are kept during shipping, there is almost always going to be some degree of discoloration whether paler or browning, it's completely normal. It is also normal for them to slime up while acclimating and to shed regarded slime after a short period (the stringy bit you are referring to.) Also, this specific species, valida, does not have pronounced daytime polyp extension, at least compared to most other acropora species.

In all, what you are experiencing is absolutely normal.

Hope that helps :fun2:

 

[menard]

Not true they browned out due to shipping . I see corals arrived all the time at my LFS from Indo. and other parts of the world,they got here and the colors are phenomenal, and listen to this polyps are still extended in the bag unless the coral DOA then that's another story. That's total bs!

 

[gar732]

I've ordered plenty of corals and had them come in with good color, I've also ordered corals and had them come in browned out. The difference was where they came from, it all comes down to how they are packaged. I've learned to only order from certain places if I want something I'll be happy with.

 

[Oldude]

The coral looks healthy which is what really matters.

 

[swhobbie1]

I would guess it was brown before they shipped it. I attribute brown to come from low light and high nutrients and not shipping stress.
.

This is what I was suspecting also

 

[bogg]

Are you happy?
Willing to color it up?
They can brown or bleach in shipping but can also hold color perfectly also just varies
Note that the valida is a tough coral too super hardy fast grower also

 

[TheDeepSandBed]

Are you happy?
Willing to color it up?
They can brown or bleach in shipping but can also hold color perfectly also just varies
Note that the valida is a tough coral too super hardy fast grower also

Yeah I'm going to give it a whirl. The polyps are showing decent extension and some of the green is starting to come back to the tips. The body is not showing signs of blues yet though.

I will say LiveAquaria has been VERY responsive and helpful and told me that I could either try to ride it out and if at the end of 30 days it still didn't look right they would replace it, OR they could replace it immediately. Very helpful and trying to make a less than optimal situation a better one. Very good customer service.

That said, my next purchase was from Cherry Corals :lol:

 

[Wazzel]

That is good of LiveAquaria to make that offer. I have been lucky with my online purchases. Only about 10% have browned during shipment. Most of mine came in dull and ****ed, but recovered in a few weeks.