I have a problem with any seller that uses more than one name.
84elmo2001 on aquabid has a reputation from those that know, for having substandard fish, pet quality, if you will, and there is nothing wrong with that.
In fact, I have noticed this past year, that the quality of his/her fish has risen.
However when browsing Aquabid, I noticed an auction that looked suspiciously like 84elmo2001's auctions under a different name, and right under that auction was an 84elmo2001 auction for what was probably a spawn mate to the one being sold under a different name.

Check them out for yourself

84elmo2001
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...tasd&1186466263

SLIDELL LA 70461 United States
HI, THIS AUCTION IS FOR THE GEORGEOUS WHITE FEMALE IN THE PICTURE. SHE LOOKS GREAT. SHE IS FULL OF EGGS AND READY TO BREED . SHIPPING IS 12.00. THANKS FOR LOOKING.....

M1247m
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...tasd&1186464251

SLIDELL LA 70461 United States
HI! THIS AUCTION IS FOR ONE WHITE SUPER DELTA FEMALE. SHE WILL BE FULL OF EGGS AND READY TO BREED. SHE IS GEORGEOUS LOOKING. SHIPPING IS 12.00 FOR USPS PRIORITY MAIL.

Both M1247m and 84elmo2001 are in the same city, have the same writing style, and even the same fish..
They even make the same typos, and ask the same for shipping.

But if that doesn't convince you...
Other similarities include the same time stamp
Same slat bottomed picture tank.

Elmo..





M1247





I want to point out the first picture of each person..
Same tank, same back ground..
Also, when you look in the feedback of M1247.. his/hr first coule feedbacks were left by good old Elmo.

No, this has severe warning bells ringing.
So anyone who buys from him, I can only say Buyer Beware.

Yep, definitely the same seller. Who else spells it "GEORGEOUS" and always advertises "FULL OF EGGS"? All females are full of eggs, even the little ones that don't look like it LOL! Well, maybe the older females aren't...I wouldn't know, but being full of eggs doesn't seem like a big selling point to me. JMHO.

In any case, if someone is starting to use new names, I agree that is a badddddd sign! Reminds me of a certain Thai seller who claims to be a breeder and will only use one transhipper, without mentioning any names of course. Good catch Belle!

Indeed this is great information! Pass it on everyone!

Ok, more on 84elmo2001. My jaw dropped when I saw these, and it isn't because of their "show quality". I cannot believe the prices on these, and nobody should be suckered into buying these starting out at $75 a piece! Here's #1:

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...shmp&1189236405
"THIS AUTION IS FOR THIS KNOCK OUT GEORGEOUS MALE HMPK. HE IS GREEN WITH A BLUE BUTTERFLY. VERY DIFFERENT LOOKING. SHOW QUALITY. SHIPPING IS EXPRESS MAIL FOR 28.00. THANKS FOR LOOKING......"


He is not flaring in the pic, so I will give him the benefit on the doubt on that. However, he is not "green with blue butterfly". He is simply a metallic turquoise with a greener body that fins. Not different looking at all. And even though he is unflared, I do belive the caudal edges are rounded a bit too much. All in all, he's not an awful fish, but I would see him going for more in the $15-$20 range. It's hard to determine a good price for him unflared, but he is worth NOWHERE NEAR the $75 starting bid, and most certainly not the $100 BIN price!


And here's #2:

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...shmp&1189236749
"THIS AUCTION IS FOR THE KNOCK OUT GEORGEOUS # 2 IN THE PICTURE. HE IS BETTER LOOKING THAN THE PICTURE. VERY HEALTY AND ACTIVE. SHIPPING IS 28.00 FOR EXPRESS SHIPPING. THANKS FOR LOOKING..... "


Again, this fish is not flared, but I would think he's more in the $15 price range. Also, it is hard to tell from the picture, but there could possibly be some damaged/missing scales on him.

I hope that no new person comes around and spends this kind of money, believing this false claim that these fish are "knockouts" and shelling out the cash just because he is claiming them to be "show quality" in his item titles. I hate when people throw that term around, especially with a price tag like this on them.

RIPOFF, RIPOFF, RIPOFF!

I really think he's trying to scam people out of money now, which is probably why he came up with that second username a while back. This just disgusts me completely.

Ok, rant done. Spread the word LOL!

As I have said, his quality has gotten better, but not THAT much better. I saw a fish that someone got from him, and I was SHOCKED. The best I can think is they may have gotten some kind of an import deal with someone.
I really don't believe he bred those fish himself.

Oh, and welcome back Jen, you have a kid up in spawning pairs, if you have parent pics, can you post them?

Ok, Belle, I gladly would, but I looked earlier and can't FIND your post LOL! Can you give me the link? :H

LOL, I know I'm a noob on this forum!!!

It's so easy for people to take advantage of others sometimes. They walk in and fear they are not knowledgable enough, so they fight what common sense tell them and pay outrageous prices for these "rare" fish.

And Jennifer, you're not a noob. You're just post numerically challenged!

hmmmm this is crazy stuff i bought from elmo before because the price was rite and the fish were deffinately workable but now he is just strait trippin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im gonna have to boycott ole elmo sad that folks just wanna take others for all there worth and turn a newb off to the hobby when they find out how bad they got ripped i just wrote him a e-mail the other day leting him know his awsome male he had posted was actually a female and he took the auction down promptly but this is just IMO a robber lurking for the next unsuspecting victim yep boycott city for me :( :( :( :OMG: :OMG: :OMG: :( :(

I'm not going to outright defend these sellers here, I'm just going to clear up the misconception that it's the same person. 84elmo2001 and M1247m are a husband and wife team, Roy and Michelle Torres. Someone on another forum emailed her and asked what the deal was with the two screennames.

Thanks for clarifying that, Rosenkrieger. I had wondered about that myself. As LaBella mentioned, and I've been noticing, their quality has improved and has still been improving.

lol Rosen beet me to it, they are a team, and Ive never had a problem with Elmo so far. I just got a breeding trio from his wife. The only problem I can see with them is that they are re-sellers so the age of the fish may be off a bit.

I have 5 females that I bought from Roy Torres and they all arrived healthy and as beautiful as the AB picture. As a matter of fact I'm waiting for one to be shipped now. About that first photograph of the "show quality". He could very well have been a show quality asymmetrical plakat, although the price tag was unreasonably high. He has very nice finnage, nice body shape and color. I do admit that it would be much easier to judge his show quality status if he were flaring. I've never had a problem with this seller.