"RARE"?? Yellow Hammer questions?

[returnofsid]

So, without naming vendors, a sponsor, here on RC, (that's had a bad reputation, in the past) sold a "Rare, One of a Kind, Yellow Hammer," to a friend of mine. Within a few days of receiving said coral, it started to change colors and soon was a "more common" metallic green hammer coral. When contacted, the vendor was very rude to the friend, telling her he was a Marine Biologist, that she "needed to learn more about the hobby" and that the Zooanthella, from her existing green hammer, took over the "rare yellow hammer," changing it's color.

This particular "Rare One of a Kind, Yellow Hammer," was $100.00 plus shipping.....

To be fair, the friend does have a metallic green hammer, that she placed the yellow hammer near to.

What do you all think?

 

[Friday Night]

Ouch.....:thumbdown

and um... i never heard of "morphing" in that case.

 

[returnofsid]

Unbeknownst to me, the "buyer" is a member, here on RC and has started a thread about this, in the vendor's Sponsor forum already.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1882435

 

[Reefman29]

I agree that corals can change shades, but going from one color to a totally different color seems odd. Yes corals can bleach or become brown. That seems strange.

 

[returnofsid]

Reefman, that's exactly what I think happened. I think the vendor had a bleached hammer, and sold it as a "rare" yellow hammer.

 

[Reefman29]

I'm not sure if they do it to corals, but they sometimes inject fish with dye for better color- more apparent color or an unatural color. I suppose that the same thing could be done with coral. Eventually though the dye fades or is released. Revealing the true color. Theoretically any fish or coral could become something totally differenct because of the dye.

 

[mscarpena]

Yes they dye corals and no another corals host algae can not come out of one and take over the other coral and change it's color. Corals can change color, but it does not happen over night.

 

[nikon187]

being next to a different colored torch will not change the color

 

[vwtanker]

I have seen all types of euphyllia change color, but that is due to different lighting and water conditions, and it doesn't happen overnight, it takes a week at least. Dyeing corals and fish should be criminal. I knew about the fish, but i would have thought the corals would have died from the trauma.

 

[vwtanker]

Having now read the other thread I believe it had issues during shipment. Corals can contain many types of zoanthilia in there tissue. Each type will contribute different color to the corals tissues. If the coral was in 50 degree water may have killed off some of the varieties of zoanthilia. If this happened other varieties may have recovered and taken their place. It is not unreasonable to think that this could have happened and is a natural evolutionary response. The strong zoanthilia survived.

 

[Reefman29]

If that happened then someone was at fault. Either the company, the shipping company or the buyer. The company should have packed it better, and included overnight shipping.

 

[smogl00]

First of all, I understand the frustration of the buyer. Nothing worse than getting something different than what you paid for. Secondly, I consider myself somewhat of a Euphyllia nut, and the only "yellow" hammer corals I have seen are bleached green ones.

That said, I have absolutely seen euphyllia morph drastically in color. I seen it from sps and lps over many different species. Lighting differences and water quality absolutely make a big difference in what color your coral can end up. That's why I only buy high end corals from dealers that use t-5 lighting like mine. This has drastically limited the amount of changing in color that happens when the corals hit my tank.

Finally, I too ordered a euphyllia (from a different dealer) that was exposed to terrible shipping conditions. (Buffalo, NY winter) It was a yellow australian torch coral, and it was in 45 degree water. It survived somehow, but spent 9 brown months coming back to its full glory in my tank. It is finally completely yellow again. You may just be in for that kind of wait. Anyhow, I think that leaves enough for everyone to think about

 

[Scott-CapeCoral]

It's possible it was yellow when the company purchased it, and obviously arrived to her house yellow. The fact that it has turned green in her system is of no fault of the company in my opinion. If I received a baby blue yuma, and then flipped it to another person in a sale and it turned purple in their tank would I be at fault? I just don't believe it's fair for them to get bashed like they are. He clearly stated his idea of resolving the matter in which, again, in my opinion didn't seem to be a terrible deal.

Let's get back to happy reefing folks.

 

[1boatnut]

All I can say is this coaral was sold to me as a Yellow Pagoda.
Found out after it started turning brown in color,there is no such thing and it apparently had been dyed..
It did not happen overnight though..

I'm no expert,but I have never heard of a yellow Hammer.
Didn't find anything when I googled it either

 

[Ian]

bummer deal...

 

[TwistedEnvy]

i don't know if any of you looked at the pictures, but it looks like an over-exposed metallic green hammer to me to begin with.

 

[MarineGirl411]

Well I was stupid. I wish they would not have closed my thread until I got my credit. I have yet to see anything.

 

[Mr.leee]

some green can be call yellow and some yellow can be call green.

 

[returnofsid]

Well I was stupid. I wish they would not have closed my thread until I got my credit. I have yet to see anything.

Request that the thread be re-opened, and that you have more information to provide and haven't received credit. Also, start a thread in the Vendor Feedback Forum. Make sure you detail how rude the seller was to you, on the phone, claimed to have a Marine Biology degree and told you to learn about the hobby!!

He sold you a bleached Hammer!!

Fortunately, the hammer is healthy, in your system. That's why it appears green now.

 

[goldenseal]

I followed that thread as well, I posted ( but didnt get in before the lock) that the advertising picture looked like a green hammer to me, and that under marinegirls lighting it would look green.

personally I didnt think the vendor was getting bashed, but I thought he had a very bad attitude, at least thats what the tone of his posts were, perhaps in real life, he does not come off so sharp. I felt he made himself look bad.