What happened to the LEO

[rudy]

I swear they Michael Moore should do a documentary the extinction of the LEO since the collection of the BDS.
I have been going through suppliers list and such and have not found 1 regular Leo. All are sold as BDXLEOs. The real BDXLEOs are assumable sold as BDs.

If i were going to get Leos I would spend less money and buy a regular leo....they seem to be rarer.........This hobbies ridiculous

 

[skynoch]

lol, Bd grading sure has changed since they first came out it seems. Ya a good old classic spot leo is very rare to find.

 

[chen88]

similar to a Green Aro and soon to be RTG! Like Aros are now all Reds or XB's!.

 

[m_class2g]

just no more demand for reg leos as the preferred rays these days are all higher end black rays.

 

[skynoch]

just no more demand for reg leos as the preferred rays these days are all higher end black rays.

The only problem is everyone seems to be sticking a bd tag to thier Black ray to up the price. If you go back on MFK to some old pics you will see alot of leos that look like todays BD's.

 

[m_class2g]

The only problem is everyone seems to be sticking a bd tag to thier Black ray to up the price. If you go back on MFK to some old pics you will see alot of leos that look like todays BD's.

thats true. i guess we just have to "trust" where we get our rays from! some people are def out there to make a quick buck by branding reg leos with BDs. just like asian aros in a way. in the case for black rays, it should be also true to look at the fish itself and not buy from the names - if the fish looks good and if the price is right, buy.

 

[chen88]

there's enough photos and info out there for buyers to research to ensure they get what they pay for!. Also getting from a reputable seller within your country is also a big plus as the risk is theirs and not sure if they bring in a bunch of rays to sell.

This reminds me when I was heavy into Zaire Gibs like Mobas and Kitumbas. I can tell the difference but most couldn't. It was funny and not when I see people selling Zaire Fronts for $125 each when they were Mpimbwe and or worst Burundi's....buyers who did not do their research got ripped off majorly when they posted their Zaire Blue whether they bought it as Moba's, Kitumba's or Kampapa's and people tell him they were Mpimbwe or work burundi's....nothing wrong with these fish...just not what they paid for!

 

[skynoch]

For me it would be the look of the ray itself that would be the selling point. The first rays they where labeling bd seemed to all fit a pattern but now as long as it's from the collection point it is a bd. The hardest thing is bd x leos which for most instances you would need to take the word of the seller. You can look at alot of pictures but who is to say the pictures are labeled right in the first place. Unfortunately there are alot of people in this game looking to make a buck and it spoils it for the rest of the hobbiests and honest sellers. I know myself I wouldn't be sure on alot of bd x leos to say they were or weren't.

 

[Cirrus]

I remember Nico telling me that spots on leos/bds/bdleos are really volatile for the first two years; they come, they go, they shrink, they grow. The nice bd/leo I once owned and then sold to a forum member fits that model, has changed a lot in the 18 months its been here. In the end you have to trust the person selling to you.

 

[skynoch]

It's nice to be on a forum like this where people look out for each other.

 

[Mark Huveneers]

Hi, I really like this subject because it is something i have thought about alot in the past.

This is what I think about p13.


Buying a ray

First thing to do is judge a fish by it's looks not by its fancy names. But the fancy name could be an indicator of the development in a later stage if used correctly, so this is why it can be of some importance. Some fish change alot when they get older.


Quality

BD, everything with edgespotting is called bd... I have leos that look better than alot of the bd's that were exported. So if you get pups from these exported fish and they are called 100% pure BD because thats what they are, but still look crap compared to higrade Leo x highgrade BD or even better highgrade BD x highgrade BD. So whats in a name then?


Taste

At the moment its all about more white for most, but to me this is not so important because i am in the luxury position that I already have all types. I have a really ugly almost full black leo, and have a BD that is completely covered in white spots, and pretty much everything inbetween. So I can look at all and decide what i like best. In the near future this choice will be available for all and then you can really develop your own taste without the "rare fish" pressure if you get what i mean. I will choose a big spot leo with no edgespotting over a BD with small spots, because that is my taste. I like big spots. One time I will choose a nice Eclipse over a superspotted TI, the next time I will choose the TI, but not because of what it is but depending if the fish "does it" for me.


Hybrids

Hybrids can be very cool but people selling hybrids as BD suck, see more and more of these, it can be a while before the hidden traits show, some will never turn black, or when you breed them ...... who knows what will come out.


Beautiful rays

I have had a batch of Henleis where one is the most beautiful Hen I have ever seen and his sis is ugly as hell, so bad that I was ashamed to sell her, so I didn't hahaha.

Who decides if a ray is nice? We all do together, but also individually. To each his own. Personally I think alot of rays are ugly, but rarely you will read this in a post. I understand why though, say a new guy goes out and buys a crap leo that is uneven with small yellow smudgy spots but is the proudest guy in the world because he has his first black ray and posts it up and asks for comments. Probably be devastated if people write the truth.
But to take the raykeeping to a higher level this has got to start someday.


Normal Leo

They will always be available as ther are loads and loads of them in the wild..., if not I have kept one nice male, poor guy, he never gets any because the bd males are hogging all the chicks!

 

[skynoch]

I would love to have the range of your collection and to be able to see so many different traits. I'm sure there is something on each ray you could pick out that you like about it and hopefully get the mix you most desire with some selective breeding. Like you said the beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for people that don't have what the masses want at the moment it might be later, or the pups from it may turn out amazing. I think it would be a treat for any of us to actually see a collection like yours in person so we could actually see the diversity and actually know what is available as pictures never seem to show how good looking a ray is.