"RARE"?? Yellow Hammer questions?

[TwistedEnvy]

I don't think it was bleached, I think he either had it in super actinic lighting and shot it with a flash or overexposed the picture after the fact. Though, I think you should definitely research your purchases before ordering. The only yellow orange hammers that I have seen have not been that color. The seller should have better ethic than that, but peolpe see what they want to see.

 

[Amoore311]

I saw the photos the vendor posted as well. Looked like a green hammer to me.

 

[Mr.leee]

the picture he posted was of a green hammer, you got a green hammer so i said you got what you see...

 

[MarineGirl411]

I hate to tell you guys this, but I had written him before I ever purchased the coral. I asked if he was sure it was a yellow tipped hammer because to me, it looked sort of lime colored. He assured me it was yellow tipped.

When I called him, he yelled at me, told me I needed to learn more about the hobby, informed me he was a Marine Biologist, and I didn't know what I was talking about. I have 2 other witnesses. So 3 total counting me. He informed me that the zooxanthellae from my green hammer transferred over to the yellow hammer. That is when he informed me he was a marine biologist, and he knew what he was talking about and I did not. It is not worth losing a customer over this. If it was me, I would have refunded my money and kept me as a customer. I asked Kevinpo, who is a contributor on this forum, and a moderator on Reef frontiers about his theory. He told me it is impossible for the zooxanthellae to transfer over. When it got here it was completely shrunk down into its skeleton. To me, it looked like it was not going to make it. It still looked lime green to me, but he told me he would give me 2-3 weeks OVER THE PHONE for it to recover and see if it was going to make it. So I thought the lime color would eventually turn back to yellow as he informed me it was BEFORE I purchased it. It took that long for it to recover from being in 50 degree water. It was probably even colder than that in Seattle.

I understand that not everyone can be happy and people make mistakes. However, it is not right to yell at your customers and tell them they are basically stupid while you are far superior because you are a Marine Biologist.

 

[Mr.leee]

so your saying he should of refunded all your money back and you still get to keep the coral?

 

[MarineGirl411]

If he wanted me to ship it back, refund the original shipping and my cost on the coral yes. Reef Science refunded all my money on a coral one time. Also he could have it back and sell it to someone else to make the money back. Hey, I am not the one at fault here. I did not want another green hammer. I already had 2.

 

[MarineGirl411]

 

[MarineGirl411]

I am running a reverse day night cycle so my lights are off. Here is a picture I took with flash and lights off. You be the judge and tell me if this was yellow. Thank you.

 

[Friday Night]

wow... yea little bit of a difference there... lol

reminds me of highlighter yellow. :beer:

 

[Mr.leee]

FYI, it seem like your hammer is in bad shape.

 

[MarineGirl411]

Lights are off in the picture. I will take a better one tonight, okay? FYI he was in terrible shape when he arrived.

 

[TwistedEnvy]

I don't think you are lying, it was definitely a bad picture because he probably over exposed. Hind sight is 20/20 though. Like i said earlier, this seller should have had better ethic because as you said, yelling at your customers and speaking unprofessionally like he did in that thread is not business like. I won't be buying from him, but you should always check your purchases before you buy.

 

[M88A2]

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

lol why would u say green is yellow when green is actually.....green. i could see some made up color called "sunshine happiness" possibly interpreted as a yellow or orange of some sort but yellow will always just be yellow in my book. also that is some pretty terrible buisness practices, good thing i never ordered from them

 

[shua71]

Maybe I missed it somewhere but did he ever state what type of lighting he took his pictures under? And if possible maybe you could post up his pictures as well.

 

[elegance coral]

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.

What do you all think?

I think this person is not a marine biologist, or they slept through the portion of school that covered zooxanthellae and coral color. Zooxanthellae are neither vibrant yellow or green. They are brown or tan. The coral itself produces all the pretty colors we're looking for. Not their zooxanthellae. So, even if the coral changes the clade of zooxanthellae it contains, it's not going to cause a catastrophic change in the secondary or GFP like pigments. It may cause a slight shift in color, but this will happen over a long period of time. Corals can't change the clade of zooxanthellae they harbor in a short few weeks. This coral changed color due to a change in environmental conditions, like light or dissolved nutrients. Not a change in zooxanthellae.

Corals constantly regulate the population of zooxanthellae in their tissues. If the population gets to high, they discharge a small portion. Other near by corals can then take up these zooxanthellae. Basically, our corals are playing musical zooxanthellae. However, this is not going to change a red coral into a green one, or a purple one into a red one.

With that said, I don't see how the vendor can be held responsible for a coral that changes color like this one did. Corals adjust their color, or secondary pigments/GFP, in response to changes in their environment. When they are placed into a new system, under new conditions, they often change color. This is just a natural process that the vendor has absolutely no control over. All they can do is offer the coral as it is when they have it. Red can change from pink to fire engine red, blue can change from baby blue to a deep dark purple, and green can change from yellow to dark glowing green. If any one's to blame here, it evolution. Not the vendor.

 

[Amoore311]

Just noticed this.... maybe I missed something..?

When I called him, he yelled at me, told me I needed to learn more about the hobby, informed me he was a Marine Biologist, and I didn't know what I was talking about. I have 2 other witnesses. So 3 total counting me. He informed me that the zooxanthellae from my green hammer transferred over to the yellow hammer. That is when he informed me he was a marine biologist, and he knew what he was talking about and I did not. It is not worth losing a customer over this. If it was me, I would have refunded my money and kept me as a customer. I asked Kevinpo, who is a contributor on this forum, and a moderator on Reef frontiers about his theory. He told me it is impossible for the zooxanthellae to transfer over. When it got here it was completely shrunk down into its skeleton. To me, it looked like it was not going to make it. It still looked lime green to me, but he told me he would give me 2-3 weeks OVER THE PHONE for it to recover and see if it was going to make it. So I thought the lime color would eventually turn back to yellow as he informed me it was BEFORE I purchased it. It took that long for it to recover from being in 50 degree water. It was probably even colder than that in Seattle.

Why did you not bring up any of the bolded info on your other thread? That right there would have showed he was lying all along, and would have helped to further discredit his argument.

Also, it's always a good idea to get any kind of "special arrangement" with a vendor in EMAIL or writing. That way there is no way to contest this.

Take another photo without flash if you can.

 

[Von Rolen]

I tell them my experience, some time ago a friend had a yellow hammer, saw with my own eyes, and make an exchange of fragments.
In my aquarium the hammer change from yellow to green with time, my opinion is that the variation of illumination, two 150 watt HQI 10000K in the original tank with 50 cm in height and two 250 watt HQI 20000k also in 50 cm high in my tank, added a variation of the parameters of the water, the higher nitrates in my tank, was the cause of this transformation of color.

Greetings, Lucas.

 

[flameangel9]

Camera flashes at night and T5's rarely yield the same color. The guy took care of you and you dragged him throught the mud anyways. This happens to corals in different environments. He is not at fault nor does he deserve this public tongue lashing. You're what they call a nightnare customer. He didn't call you that I did.:blown:

 

[Amoore311]

The guy took care of you and you dragged him throught the mud anyways.

Don't jump the gun on that yet..... she has not yet received the refund she was promised.


That being said, I do agree the vendor didn't try to intentionally deceive here. The color morphed.... too bad so sad unfortunately.

FWIW this happens with fish all the time. I know someone who spent over $500 on an aberrant Yellow Tang (It had white splotches all over it mixed in with the yellow). 2 years later his tang is back to normal coloration. Is that the vendors fault..?

I know we are talking years vs. weeks here.... but at the same time corals morph colors a lot faster than fish do.

 

[MarineGirl411]

Flame angel, thanks. I greatly appreciate that.
I was sharing my experience and the fact he was so rude to me was unacceptable.
I found online posts from other members that state he gets the corals in, then right out of the bag, he takes his pictures. You need to give corals time to acclimate. You are not seeing the big picture here.

Amoore311-This vendor told me if I was not done posting, we were not at an agreement, and he could do nothing. I did not post this because I figured he would hold that against me. I told my friend Michael because I was so incredibly upset.

Another VERY reputable vendor wrote me and informed me what Extreme Corals does with their pictures. I just do not believe this is fair to people. The thing that upsets me the most was the attitude and disrespect I received. I tried to handle this through e-mail COMPLETELY before posting my thread that I was disappointed. I told him in that thread that I wanted to handle this all through e-mail. This was not acceptable, so I gave in and called.

I am not running anyone through the mud. I am posting my experience here, which I believe is the right thing to do.

Shaua I posted his e-mail to me that stated what lighting he had. Are you not able to view his pictures?

Here is the picture of it now without flash. As you can see, it has recovered somewhat from the cold temperatures, but is still not doing 100%. I thought for sure it was going to perish when it got here.