Leicestershire Anyone?

[mattlee]

here are a few that i have visited or used in the past-

A5 aquatics - big selection of fish but nothing normally out of the ordinary. always seems over priced and the fish are all tiny juvis.

Maidenhesd aquatics - small fish stock but very healthy fish and great for plecs and a few decent cichlids in sometimes

Clearwater aquatics - decent shop with good healthy fish but nothing out of the ordinary

Deep blue aquatics - has changed owners a few times and fish stock is very limited but not been in a while

Ocean commotion - average stock and nothing from the norm but an ok shop

Herondale aquatics - now ceased trading but not much use anyway to be honest



the above are all in Leicester/ hinckley area. here are a few a bit further a field-

Wharf aquatics - excellent fish stocking with a very good choice of fish. there are a lot of people taking fish there they no longer want so if your lucky you can find a few real gems.

Dobbies - not a bad shop with a decent choice of fish and hardware etc

World of water - similar to Dobbies really nothing too exciting

Ripples - decent priced fish and sometimes unusual fish stocking/ bit different to the norm



please feel free to add any others i have missed or any others you have visited

 

[bullit]

mattlee, there was a stunning Oscar in clearwater aquatics when i went in and for anyone whos reading. 6-7 inch and stunning.

other shops in leicester

Friends in soggy homes- your average shop taht caters really. Few american cichlids, never african and your average fish. Just a few marines.

New pets at home- spoke to a couple of chaps there, seem pretty clued up. Has decent marine fish and corals but as said above, clearwater is your best for marines.

 

[walkers101]

ill do a quick write up here

Leicester Aquatics Welford road - Staff are ok knowledge wise. Very poor standards everytime i have been i have seen dead fish in and around tanks. Most fish i have bought from there have fared badly. (Can pick up some rare fish from time to time)

Ocean Commotion Claradon park road - staff are pretty much useless apart from the owner. Run of the mill fish unless you get there on delivery days (tues and thurs last time i asked). Fish look healthy and not too badly prices.

Clearwater Aquatics Green lane road - Staff are great the owner knows his stuff on most things. Tropicals are run of the mill but if marine is your forte then this is by far the best shop for you. Fish all healthy with prices little high on the tropical side. Custom Built made to order tanks.

Maidenhead Aquatics stapleton - Possibly the best staff in a leicester store. All fish look healthy with offers on most of the time. Mainly run of the mill stock but if you look hard enough you can grab some real bargains from their sump tanks (i have many times including the oscar on the right in my sig).

A5 Aquatics A5 - Staff dont know whats what most of the time. Fish are very small and overpriced. A few unusual fish from time to time but as i said overpriced.

Pets at home St georges retail park - Staff are on par with most other pets at home stores (which isnt a good thing). Fish dont look happy or healthy. Once seen an oscar in with guppies an platies. Overpriced run of the mill fish.

 

[Reece]

Just thought I'd add that you'd probably want to steer clear of Pets@home at st georges retail park. Used the one at Fosse park where the lad whgo served me seemed very clued up and stated how he'd got his own aquarium etc so tohught I'd try the one at st georges. BIG mistake.

As got to the fish area, first tank full of live (loose term there) plants which looked all brown and semi/fully dead and uncared for. Not a good sign. Was after several neon tetras. As was walking past tanks with partner and kids, every tank seemed dirty or had ill looking fish in. Several tanks had dead fish in, one of which had a dead fish that had literally been eaten down to the bone (so been there a while). So there and then left the shop and drove to ocean commotion on clarendon park road. Alot of stock (in my eyes, beginner here)with a lovely few oscars in.

Very helpful bloke behind counter ended up with 6 neon tetra (cheaper than P@H) and also a bronze cory too. Will be using these again especially when its round the corner from work.

 

[Louiseness]

Just seen this and thought I'd chime in that I'm an LE3 too

And for the record I mostly use Clearwater or A5, just because most of the other shops have a really boring selection of fish. IME I agree that leicester Aquatics is jsust really dingy and badly looked after. P@H Fosse park has a really sad looking lonely discus in at the moment, and all the endlers I got from there died (the Maidenhead ones didn't) but I've seen worse shops. Been to Maidenhead in Stapleton once and wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be but it's ok. Been meaning to try the Maidenhead in Oakham (Rutland) since it's about the same drive to there as it is to A5/Stapleton for me.

 

[bullit]

i think pets at home and leicester aquatics are worse for dead fish and tanks look poor.

 

[mattlee]

the only decent fish ive ever seen in leicester aquatics was a big diadema cichlid which i bought. it was obviously a fish that had been taken in from a customer and sold on. all the other stock is pretty poor and quite badly kept im affraid, dirty tanks and dead fish doesnt really make me want to go there.....

p@h st.georges was ok for run of the mill fish but last time i went there the tanks were empty, dirty and there were lots of sick/dead specimins.

p@h fosse park doesnteven have the lights on most of the tropical tanks for some reason and the fish are very over priced and in bad health. i found the staff knew less than my 4 year old daughter and they even tried to sell me fish that they had delivered that morning that were clearly in a very bad and stressed way and to top it off they didnt even know what fish they were....

i try to avoid these shops whenever possible

 

[Fi1807]

Hi all

I've recently moved to Leics and am based in Leicester Forest East, LE3.

Up until moving from S.E. Kent in Sept 11, I had 4 tropical tanks on the go ... one with Oscars, one with a Siamese Fighter, one with various Appistogrammas and the other a community tank, with Guppies, Barbs, Swordtails, Mollies, Platys and Neons, etc, plus 2 Corys. I also bred Bristlenose Catfish (or Plecos .. depending which way you hang, so to say !!! )

Although I decided not to bring the tanks with me, because of the logistical nightmare - I now totally regret it , so it looks like I'm going to be starting all over again !

I've always wanted a Marine set-up , but it was only ever described as horrendously expensive and an absolute nightmare to maintain . However, a few people I've spoken to recently have stated that it's much easier these days so, although I'm not sure whether or not they're telling me porkies , I'm going to investigate this route and see what happens !

It'd be nice to get to know some of you, especially as I'm a total stranger to Leicester and spend most of my time being totally bored and waiting for hubby to come home from work !

With best wishes

Fi
xx

 

[scottd]

Hi LE5 for me clearwater is my LFS great guys

 

[winkle]

I'm in Coventry, but frequently travel as far as Warwick and Nuneaton for fish shopping. Occasionally I go out Brum way too. Coventry Aquatics never seem to have much in and everyone else in the city seems to have gone under. Except for pets at home, but I'm not throwing any more money down that drain!

Don't suppose any of you fine locals want a 10" pleco by any chance?

 

[lilfishie]

I must start driving so I can visit these wonderful shops with my partner

 

[Concaj1]

Im new here, I have been keeping fish for a few years now, I'm in Glenfield, LE3, Would love to know if there are any groups locally that meet up.

 

[D4n.gr33n]

LE10 - Hinckley, Home shopping driver for ASDA, how I hate delivering to Leicester -.-

thats my job too, how long you been doing it?

 

[LongS]

Hi guys, Suprised there isn't a Leicestershire society already. Not Leicestershire myself, but Corby isn't too far away.

Just jumped in to ask if any of you went to the CADAS annual show on Sunday? I'm not a member but went up for a look.

 

[ash232]

http/www.fishkeeping.boards.net/index.cgi take a look