Cameroon Armoured Shrimp Anywhere?
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nmonks
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Call Wildwoods and Wholesale Tropicals first, they're the London stores most likely to carry them. Aquatic Design Centre in the West End is another good place for shrimps, including these.
Cheers, Neale
Cheers, Neale
Got 1 near Aylesbury!
Had it in the shop about a year now, its wasnt in great condition but now its eating loads, shedding very regularly as its growing fast!! Think its male but would have to double check...
Had it in the shop about a year now, its wasnt in great condition but now its eating loads, shedding very regularly as its growing fast!! Think its male but would have to double check...
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Thanks Neale. I managed to drop by the Aquatic Design Centre after work on Thursday (they stay open until 8pm).
They have a good variety of things there and some nice odd-balls, tanks are clean and the staff CARE even if they don't have the deepest knowledge. I bought some good looking Apple Snails (Red & Blue), some Zebra Snails, and three Cory Sterbai. I can report that all are doing well in my tank. Prices might be a little higher than normal, but they are in central London/quality/variety is good, so worth paying a little extra to my mind.
No Cameroon Armoureds so I will try Wildwoods next week when I have a day off work.
Best.
George
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Hi,
It sounds like a good one, has it come into a stong blue colour yet? Ayesbury is a fiar old hike, but a just over an hour each way livestock sound be OK. What price were you thinking of, and do you have anything outside of the usual LFS stock so that I could justify the trip a little more? Danio erythromicron are also on my search list.
Thanks.
George
Shrimp is a beautiful blue when its not shedding but it seems to be going through a massive growth spurt at the moment...
TBH we are a small shop in the process of moving so we are low on stock, i'm trying to think what might be interesting really....
The Chela Dadiburjori (Dadios) are gorgeous.... and the p. signifer... southern blue eyed rainbows... and the purple bodies harlequins are big and colourfull now.... and the rosy tetras are coming into full colour...
We dont have much 'exciting stuff' in stock but what we do have is lovely. What else are you looking for other than the danios as i might be able to get them transferred over... (dont think our other branch has more than one of those danios left)
TBH we are a small shop in the process of moving so we are low on stock, i'm trying to think what might be interesting really....
The Chela Dadiburjori (Dadios) are gorgeous.... and the p. signifer... southern blue eyed rainbows... and the purple bodies harlequins are big and colourfull now.... and the rosy tetras are coming into full colour...
We dont have much 'exciting stuff' in stock but what we do have is lovely. What else are you looking for other than the danios as i might be able to get them transferred over... (dont think our other branch has more than one of those danios left)
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Purple Harlequins, Trigonostigma espei?
I completely agree with you on Pacific Blue-Eye (Pseudomugil signifer). Mine started laying eggs this morning
The fish list:
Danio erythromicron
Boraras brigittae
Melanotaenia parkinsoni (I am picky having seen too many poor quality young and old, and my four males are a stunning orange)
Melanotaenia boesemani (I am picky having seen too many poor quality young and old)
Best.
George
Mmmm no, the Purple Harlequins are a variation or H. Heteromrpha, cant even find any pictures on google!! They are like the normal heteromorpha but instead of the purple triangle, nearly the whole body is a metallic dark purple and the males are getting bright bronzy colour to their head and down their spines.
Got two female Parkinsons anda few Bosemanis, mmm seen better Bosemanis but tbh now that you say it, i havent looked closely at them! Will look again tomorrow!
Got some really nice Glossolepis Multisquamatus (Crossing Rainbows). Best time to see them is in the morning tho, they randomly change colour a lot during the day (probably because they get fed in the morning )
(google glossolepis multisquamatus on google images and they look like the first one!)
Got two female Parkinsons anda few Bosemanis, mmm seen better Bosemanis but tbh now that you say it, i havent looked closely at them! Will look again tomorrow!
Got some really nice Glossolepis Multisquamatus (Crossing Rainbows). Best time to see them is in the morning tho, they randomly change colour a lot during the day (probably because they get fed in the morning
)(google glossolepis multisquamatus on google images and they look like the first one!)
Mr shrimpy in question..
Juvenile Bosemani Rainbows (you can see the dark adult colouration coming in)
Female Parkinson Rainbows (faces look odd because they wouldnt stay still for the photo!)
Beckfords Pencilfish (another of my favourites)
Barred Barb ('fasciolatus' i think?!)
Purple Bodied Harlequins (R. Heteromorpha Var.)
Juvenile Bosemani Rainbows (you can see the dark adult colouration coming in)
Female Parkinson Rainbows (faces look odd because they wouldnt stay still for the photo!)
Beckfords Pencilfish (another of my favourites)
Barred Barb ('fasciolatus' i think?!)
Purple Bodied Harlequins (R. Heteromorpha Var.)
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Hello Neale/all,
Just thought I would share a Wildwoods report with you all. I went there last Friday so that they would not be too busy. Overall I thought this place was pretty poor, yes its big but that means nothing in my book.
Issues:
1. Dead fish in every fourth tank.
2. Mostly naked tanks (just glass, no sand or any features for the fish). Plenty of examples of stressed fish that didn't look comfortable, some had been taking eyes out of each other.
3. Lots of species mixed-up. For example ID on young rainbows was made difficult.
4. Quite a few of the rainbows had deformities. Generally poor fish quality.
5. I spoke with 3 staff member in different areas while I was there. Generally feeling wide boys with little care for stock or customer service. First guy, could not really be bothered and was more interested in doing other things, the next was a girl who really want to help but had no idea about what was in the shop let alone discussing fish (at least she tried to help), third guy tried to sell me lots of expensive filter media because they didn't have cut to fit filter pads (amazingly I had to describe what I wanted as they didn't know (amazing for such a basic thing).
6. They do stock Cameroon Armoured Shrimp, but did not know them as Cameroon AM. Great example of a lack of basic knowledge.
7. Some of the prices are double other LFS, and environment and fish quality is not as good.
8. Plants are very very poor (variety and quality).
9. Lots of ugly and heavily over-bred goldfish (I know thats a personal thing though).
10. I am concerned about the disease and infections that might exist there getting into my tank!
In short, no matter what they stock I will not buy from Wildwoods or ever go there again. I guess I am just spolit for good LFS and LFS people in and around London.
For me Wildwoods is to be avoided at all costs.
Best.
George
N0body Of The Goat
Oddball and African riverine fish keeper
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nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Hello George,
I don't normally respond to comments about particular aquarium shops. After all, your own experience of a particular shop is what matters when you're deciding where to spend your hard-earned cash. It's not for me to try to swap people's opinions one way or another. But I have visited a lot of stores over the years, and built up cordial relations with many fish shop managers and staffers. Wildwoods remains one of my favourites, and since you've addressed this post to me, I'm going to share a few thoughts.
The first time I visited Wildwoods I must admit I was a bit confused. Like many others, I'd heard about all these rare fish that arrive in Wildwoods, and how it keeps winning these fish shop awards. But at first glance it seemed rather old fashioned, a dimly-lit fish room with small tanks and no decor. And yes, on occasions I do see rather more dead fish in the tanks than I'd like -- but that holds true for just about every aquarium shop I've visited. It has to be stressed that running an aquarium shop is not like looking after your own fish tanks at home, and while all retailers would like to keep their tanks spotlessly clean, that isn't always possible. What I will say is that I've bought fish from Wildwoods and never had serious problems with them save one time when bringing home some Ctenolucius, when one of the three I bought died overnight for no obvious reason. Given I run different water chemistry at home to Wildwoods, and that the trip home takes a good couple of hours with the fish in a backpack, it's as likely the fault was mine as anything else. The remaining two Ctenolucius continue to be very healthy, and are a couple of years old now.
In any case, what I have learned about Wildwoods is that what the store lacks in style it more than makes up for in substance. On almost every visit I've seen something I've never seen before. This is as likely to include small fish like barbs and livebearers as the jumbo stuff Wildwoods is famous (or perhaps notorious) for. There are almost always lots of oddballs: puffers, snakeheads, piranhas, spiny eels and so on. There's a proper soft water section that keeps South American stuff in the water chemistry they need to stay healthy. I've been lucky enough to visit the quarantine rooms, so I know that fish are quarantined on site, and care is taken to ensure oddballs especially are feeding before they're put up for sale.
There are pros and cons to bare glass tanks, so I think you need to be a bit careful when criticising any aquarium shop for using them. Yes, sand and gravel will help fish feel more settled, and that reduces social stress. But the flip side is sand and gravel are harder to clean and more likely to promote bacterial infections as a result. Bare glass is easier to clean and the default in quarantine and hospital tanks of all types because of that, but yes, fish kept in bright, bare glass tanks are more likely to be stressed and to act aberrantly. The other thing to remember is stores exist to sell fish. Yes, Tatia perugiae would prefer a shady tank where they could hide away completely, but in such a tank, they'd never be seen and never be sold. The reality is that to sell fish, they need to be visible, and the trade-off might be that by stressing them for a few weeks by putting them in full view, they'll more quickly be sold to a hobbyist able to keep them happy for the rest of their lives. There's no mileage in an aquarium shop holding happy fish if they stay in stock for months or years at a time! One has to be realistic about this.
As for plants, they're a difficult thing to make a profit on. Serious aquatic gardeners are buying their stuff online. The people buying aquarium plants from shops will be mostly beginners, and they're after either easy stuff like Amazon swords and Vallisneria, or essentially disposable plants that they're happy to replace as and when. I admit, this isn't ideal if you're picky about such things, and yes, the Wildwoods plant selection doesn't match what you might see in, say, one of the more modern Maidenhead Aquatics. But I'm not sure many people go to Wildwoods to buy aquarium plants! It's just not that sort of shop. So they stock what sells: the basics.
I still roll my eyes sometimes when I visit Wildwoods. Usually that's when I see some sort of giant catfish or characin, and I'm left wondering who on Earth buys these things! And yes, mislabelling occurs from time to time, but that's as much the wholesaler's fault as the retailer's, and far from uncommon in the hobby. But at the same time it helps to judge a store by the company it keeps. It's not just casual aquarists that visit, but researchers from museums and people buying stock for zoos and public aquaria. Wildwoods remains one of the best places to get obscure tropical fish species, and about the only place I can think of in Southeast England that routinely maintains stocks of coldwater fish beyond goldfish and weather loaches. I know the guys who run the fish room, and they're keen aquarists with considerable skill. If you visited them on a bad day or when they were too busy to talk for long, then I'd encourage you to visit again with an open mind.
One last thing. The nature of forums is such that many people sign up here using pseudonyms. They can then go on to say whatever they want, apparently free from the risk of being sued under libel laws. It's very easy for someone to criticise a person or company when they know they're not likely to be sued. It's very different if you put your name on a posting rather than your forum identity, because then you know you might have to defend your position in a court of law. Everyone here knows who I am, and if I say something here at TFF, they're free to ask me to retract those comments if they feel them unfair or inaccurate. But you don't say who you are, and if you write something about a company or person, they aren't able to ask you to remove those comments or to pursue their grievances through legal channels. It's impossible for someone reading your post to know if you're a genuine aquarist, an employee at a rival company, or a person with a grudge against someone at the company you're talking about. I'm sure your posting was made in good faith, and honestly reflects your views and experiences, but I hope you can see how comments like the ones you made could be construed in various different ways depending on the reader's point of view.
That's why I think it's really important forums don't become places where negative reports are bandied about too freely. Free speech is great, but it depends upon the legal right of those talked about to ask for retractions or corrections when appropriate. That can't happen here, at least not easily, so I'd encourage everyone to think about that, and act with due respect to whomever they're talking about.
Cheers, Neale
I don't normally respond to comments about particular aquarium shops. After all, your own experience of a particular shop is what matters when you're deciding where to spend your hard-earned cash. It's not for me to try to swap people's opinions one way or another. But I have visited a lot of stores over the years, and built up cordial relations with many fish shop managers and staffers. Wildwoods remains one of my favourites, and since you've addressed this post to me, I'm going to share a few thoughts.
The first time I visited Wildwoods I must admit I was a bit confused. Like many others, I'd heard about all these rare fish that arrive in Wildwoods, and how it keeps winning these fish shop awards. But at first glance it seemed rather old fashioned, a dimly-lit fish room with small tanks and no decor. And yes, on occasions I do see rather more dead fish in the tanks than I'd like -- but that holds true for just about every aquarium shop I've visited. It has to be stressed that running an aquarium shop is not like looking after your own fish tanks at home, and while all retailers would like to keep their tanks spotlessly clean, that isn't always possible. What I will say is that I've bought fish from Wildwoods and never had serious problems with them save one time when bringing home some Ctenolucius, when one of the three I bought died overnight for no obvious reason. Given I run different water chemistry at home to Wildwoods, and that the trip home takes a good couple of hours with the fish in a backpack, it's as likely the fault was mine as anything else. The remaining two Ctenolucius continue to be very healthy, and are a couple of years old now.
In any case, what I have learned about Wildwoods is that what the store lacks in style it more than makes up for in substance. On almost every visit I've seen something I've never seen before. This is as likely to include small fish like barbs and livebearers as the jumbo stuff Wildwoods is famous (or perhaps notorious) for. There are almost always lots of oddballs: puffers, snakeheads, piranhas, spiny eels and so on. There's a proper soft water section that keeps South American stuff in the water chemistry they need to stay healthy. I've been lucky enough to visit the quarantine rooms, so I know that fish are quarantined on site, and care is taken to ensure oddballs especially are feeding before they're put up for sale.
There are pros and cons to bare glass tanks, so I think you need to be a bit careful when criticising any aquarium shop for using them. Yes, sand and gravel will help fish feel more settled, and that reduces social stress. But the flip side is sand and gravel are harder to clean and more likely to promote bacterial infections as a result. Bare glass is easier to clean and the default in quarantine and hospital tanks of all types because of that, but yes, fish kept in bright, bare glass tanks are more likely to be stressed and to act aberrantly. The other thing to remember is stores exist to sell fish. Yes, Tatia perugiae would prefer a shady tank where they could hide away completely, but in such a tank, they'd never be seen and never be sold. The reality is that to sell fish, they need to be visible, and the trade-off might be that by stressing them for a few weeks by putting them in full view, they'll more quickly be sold to a hobbyist able to keep them happy for the rest of their lives. There's no mileage in an aquarium shop holding happy fish if they stay in stock for months or years at a time! One has to be realistic about this.
As for plants, they're a difficult thing to make a profit on. Serious aquatic gardeners are buying their stuff online. The people buying aquarium plants from shops will be mostly beginners, and they're after either easy stuff like Amazon swords and Vallisneria, or essentially disposable plants that they're happy to replace as and when. I admit, this isn't ideal if you're picky about such things, and yes, the Wildwoods plant selection doesn't match what you might see in, say, one of the more modern Maidenhead Aquatics. But I'm not sure many people go to Wildwoods to buy aquarium plants! It's just not that sort of shop. So they stock what sells: the basics.
I still roll my eyes sometimes when I visit Wildwoods. Usually that's when I see some sort of giant catfish or characin, and I'm left wondering who on Earth buys these things! And yes, mislabelling occurs from time to time, but that's as much the wholesaler's fault as the retailer's, and far from uncommon in the hobby. But at the same time it helps to judge a store by the company it keeps. It's not just casual aquarists that visit, but researchers from museums and people buying stock for zoos and public aquaria. Wildwoods remains one of the best places to get obscure tropical fish species, and about the only place I can think of in Southeast England that routinely maintains stocks of coldwater fish beyond goldfish and weather loaches. I know the guys who run the fish room, and they're keen aquarists with considerable skill. If you visited them on a bad day or when they were too busy to talk for long, then I'd encourage you to visit again with an open mind.
One last thing. The nature of forums is such that many people sign up here using pseudonyms. They can then go on to say whatever they want, apparently free from the risk of being sued under libel laws. It's very easy for someone to criticise a person or company when they know they're not likely to be sued. It's very different if you put your name on a posting rather than your forum identity, because then you know you might have to defend your position in a court of law. Everyone here knows who I am, and if I say something here at TFF, they're free to ask me to retract those comments if they feel them unfair or inaccurate. But you don't say who you are, and if you write something about a company or person, they aren't able to ask you to remove those comments or to pursue their grievances through legal channels. It's impossible for someone reading your post to know if you're a genuine aquarist, an employee at a rival company, or a person with a grudge against someone at the company you're talking about. I'm sure your posting was made in good faith, and honestly reflects your views and experiences, but I hope you can see how comments like the ones you made could be construed in various different ways depending on the reader's point of view.
That's why I think it's really important forums don't become places where negative reports are bandied about too freely. Free speech is great, but it depends upon the legal right of those talked about to ask for retractions or corrections when appropriate. That can't happen here, at least not easily, so I'd encourage everyone to think about that, and act with due respect to whomever they're talking about.
Cheers, Neale
I have to admit, i'm with Profile/George on this one, whilst i understand and agree with most of what Neil says, the whole point of the forum is for people to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences. I doubt this would be considered as slander as all that was stated was how the shop was to face value.
In my experience, I really didnt like the place, i work in the trade, i know what is and isnt easy/possible. It is *no* more difficult to maintain a tank with a thin layer of gravel and a rock or plastic plant or bit of bogwood in the tank. Yes, there are days in the week that algae gets bad and its too busy to sort like on weekends... Yes, mislabeling does happen on both wholesaler and retailers fault. But thats not really a good enough excuse if you are trying to be responsible for these animalsand create a good impression to you guys, the customers!!
What you like in a shop is completely a personal choice. Three shops I personally didnt like were Wildwoods, The Goldfish Bowl and MA @ Crowland (was Peterborough when i last went so is probably much better now!). All were large shops with a fantastic range of fish... but completely impersonal, cold when it came to the staff, unhappy looking fish/displays etc....
Just a personal opinion....
In my experience, I really didnt like the place, i work in the trade, i know what is and isnt easy/possible. It is *no* more difficult to maintain a tank with a thin layer of gravel and a rock or plastic plant or bit of bogwood in the tank. Yes, there are days in the week that algae gets bad and its too busy to sort like on weekends... Yes, mislabeling does happen on both wholesaler and retailers fault. But thats not really a good enough excuse if you are trying to be responsible for these animalsand create a good impression to you guys, the customers!!
What you like in a shop is completely a personal choice. Three shops I personally didnt like were Wildwoods, The Goldfish Bowl and MA @ Crowland (was Peterborough when i last went so is probably much better now!). All were large shops with a fantastic range of fish... but completely impersonal, cold when it came to the staff, unhappy looking fish/displays etc....
Just a personal opinion....
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