Same coral or NOT?

[luu78]

Hi guys,

I bid online and won this WYSIWYG banana torch. It arrived today and looks very different to my eyes. There’s half the gold on the polyps. I’ve contacted the seller for a clarification but haven’t heard back. What do you guys think? Your honest opinion is appreciated. I just want what I bidded and a fair transaction.

This is what I bidded:


and this is what I received today:

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Looks different to me.

 

[bwils]

Me too.

 

[Cpage101]

me too

 

[ReefAddict]

it looks different. Did you remount it?

 

[luu78]

it looks different. Did you remount it?

nope, I noticed the frag plug in relation to the skeleton as well

 

[Joker]

Nope note the same at all

 

[luu78]

I still haven’t heard back from the seller. Hopefully it was a honest shipping error and the seller will resolve and make things right again.

 

[this is me]

They look different in terms of one being solid color tentacle while the other is only half a stripe of color of the tentacles.
I would retake the picture with the same perspective as the original coral. ie. side profile vs. top down.

 

[jfoahs04]

The way the skeleton is secured to the plug in your picture vs. the auction picture makes me fairly certain it's a completely different coral. If you haven't already, I'd take a few different photos. One from top down like the seller's, and a few from the sides so that you can clearly see the differences in where the skeleton is attached to the plug. A bad seller might try to explain away the differences in tentacle color by blaming your lighting (they'd be full of crap, but it doesn't mean they wouldn't try it), so having multiple angles showing the frag/skeleton attachment makes it tougher to argue.

 

[PSU4ME]

Yup the plug is the big difference

 

[Aros]

That’s messed up Ben. Those are two completely different torches. Sucks more that the one you got is less expensive than the one pictured.

 

[luu78]

Thank you everyone for helpinf me out on this one. I will take top down pictures when I get home today and try to match up the angle of the camera.

 

[Xhxxh]

Good luck. I think thats the risk to take when buying coral online. I recently received a coral thats the exact piece i know i was getting but the color was just far from whats seen in the picture. People are just too good with their photoshop skill

 

[tkyee98]

When it comes to things like this, I would check the frag plug and skeleton. The polyps can change color or appearance depending on lighting and angle, the skeleton and realistically placement on frag plug shouldn’t change

 

[luu78]

Here are some more pictures of the coral:
Top view:


Side view: doesnt have the V-shape like the one in the bidding picture




Side view with retracted polyps:


Comparison with my Aussie gold (in the background):

 

[JeanR]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same coral, the original picture kind of looks like a slightly retracted Aussie gold torch with a little photoshop magic thrown in and a "banana" name added for salesmanship. the original photo gives the impression it is splitting into two heads and likely has two mouths, is that what you are seeing?

Ben: you may be becoming a torch-aholic, maybe we need to find you a 12 step program?

 

[luu78]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same coral, the original picture kind of looks like a slightly retracted Aussie gold torch with a little photoshop magic thrown in and a "banana" name added for salesmanship. the original photo gives the impression it is splitting into two heads and likely has two mouths, is that what you are seeing?

Ben: you may be becoming a torch-aholic, maybe we need to find you a 12 step program?

I seriously need to stop buying them…I can’t keep half of them alive. My eyes keep drawing towards them for some reasons…

 

[Bandit13]

one of your pics looks similar but the way its on the frag plug looks different.

Had a seller on ebay kinda screw me with an anemone, was really small/bleached and seller was being slow response and unhelpful on refund or sending another one. So filed an item not described case/refund, in my case ebay stepped in and refunded item cost, still payed 30-40$ shipping but anemone survived.

 

[tkyee98]

I seriously need to stop buying them…I can’t keep half of them alive. My eyes keep drawing towards them for some reasons…

Lmao expensive tastes haha