Some more shops in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Troon Pets & Aquaria
3c, Church St,
Troon,
Ayrshire KA10 6AU
Tel: 01292 318417
Small shop with about 16 tanks split 50/50 cold / tropical. Mostly common fish in stock - Danios, Neons, Guppies, Mollies, Platies occasional Bettas etc. The tanks are clean if somewhat heavily stocked, but fatalities are rare from what I have seen. The owner is fairly knowledgable and I've seen him suggest alternatives to inappropriate fish when people ask. The other two staff don't have much fish related knowledge in my experience.
Variety - 4
Quality - 6
Staff - 5
Acorn Pet Centres Ltd
50, Newmarket St,
Ayr,
Ayrshire KA7 1LR
Tel: 01292 611056
Pretty cramped shop, 'tho once you reach the tank area it's not too bad. The tanks are clean and well lit for the most part, saw a few dead fish unfortunately and even when pointed out the staff seemed unconcerned. Asked one of the staff to identify a fish for me and she was unable to do so (Still don't know what it was, lol)
Variety - 5
Quality - 5
Staff - 3
Pet Shop (Kilmarnock) Ltd
53, The Foregate,
Kilmarnock,
Ayrshire KA1 1LU
Tel: 01563 522750
This shop has a great reputation from bygone years for fish, however it seems to have drastically reduced the amount of the shop given over to fish now, only maybe 10 small tanks or so. Old faithfulls for choices - guppies, mollies, neons. There are a couple of tiny marine display tanks in the setup that are nice to look at. The tanks are all very clean and well lit, cramped shop conditions make it a bit awkward to see the fish if there is more than one person looking.
Variety - 3
Quality - 5
Staff - ? I never actually managed to get hold of a staff member during my one visit, the place certainly seems to be busy.
Pets at Home Ltd
Unit 3,
Central Retail Park,
Allison Damside,
Ayr,
Ayrshire KA8 8HD
Tel: 0845 6414172
Yes it's a Pets@home. The tanks are clean enough and well lit. Occasionally see casualties in tanks tho they're always gone by the next time I drop in. They have a fairly nice selection of fish, nothing outstanding but those fish available seem pretty healthy in general. Prices are good for the most part too. The staff seem somewhat lacking tho, asking one to reccomend a tank for a betta and she immediately suggests a hex shaped tank with a mirrored back
Talking to a different guy in the shop today he told of the awesome marine tank he had in his livingroom, yet seemed to have no concept of cycling a tank when I explained why we weren't *buying* today.
Variety - 6
Quality - 6
Staff - 3
Precious Pets - Ayr, Irvine, Saltcoats
Cheap prices for hardware, not all of them sell fish and the ones that do so are quite happy to throw bettas in with tiger barbs
Nearly every tank I looked at contained a casualty and the staff seemed more interested in reading the paper or painting their nails than answering questions.
Variety - 2 (Only a few tanks in even the ones with fish)
Quality - 3 (Half the fish seemed to have some kind of swim bladder problem... )
Staff - 1
Acorn Pet Centres Ltd
Unit 5,
Riverway Retail Park,
Riverway,
Irvine,
Ayrshire KA12 8AY
Tel: 01294 204250
Easy to get to, easy to park at. The tanks are well lit and I often see a staff member tending to them. The fish selection may not be outstanding but there are sometimes unusual species available. The only let down is the staff, I'm starting to think that is the norm in "chain stores".
Variety - 6 (They had some really nice Gouramis and Kribensis when I was in last week.)
Quality - 6 (The fish seem generally healthy, any casualties are rapidly dealt with, even had a staff member slap a "not for sale" sign on a tank when a fish appeared to have Ich.)
Staff - 4 (There is one girl who seems to know her stuff (maybe a 7 for her) but the rest of them drag the total way down...)
Acorn Pet Centres Ltd
12-22, St. Andrews St,
Kilmarnock,
Ayrshire KA1 3EY
Tel: 01563 570876
This shop has an even bigger selection than the Irvine store. The place is easy to get to and park at. The tanks are perhaps slightly less well kept, certainly well lit. There seems to be one staff member who deals with the aquarium side of things, when she's on things are well maintained. If she's not in there are nearly always a casualty or 2 among the tanks that sit there all day.
Variety - 6
Quality - 4 (Due to the sometimes lacklustre dealing with casualties)
Staff - 3 (6/7 if the knowledgable lass is on.)
Pets Aquarium & Fishing Tackle
124 Main Street,
Prestwick, KA9 1PB
01292 477863
I remember going to this shop 30 years ago when I was a kid and being fascinated with all the fish in the fish room. Today the fish room is still there, pretty much exactly as it was back then, only older. The fish selection is great, many oddballs and unusual examples are available - Huge Catfish ? Full grown Pirahna ? The tanks could be cleaner and better lit, but generally the fish seem healthy enough. The fish room just feels a bit dingy now as if it could use a lick of paint and some new lights
Variety - 9
Quality - 7 (Haven't bought any fish from him this time around, but I think I will sometime soon.)
Staff - 8 (The owner is very knowledgable in my experience, his dad started the shop and he's been involved with it for a long time.)
And finally for now..
Dobbies Garden World
Oldtoll
Holmston
Ayr
KA6 5JJ
Tel: 01292 294 750
This is in my opinion the best shop around here from a first impressions point of view. The area is spacious, the tanks are clean and well lit displaying some gorgeous fish that make you want to take them all home ! They sell cold/tropical and marine fish with a marine display that I could stand and watch for hours - those fish are so pretty ! The staff are semi knowledgable and one of them seems to be well above average, assessing which tank mates are suitable with what you have already. The less knowledgable staff will easily admit if they don't know something and go and get the answer for you if they can.
Variety - 9
Quality - 8
Staff - 7
Kilmarnock Aquatics
22, High Glencairn St,
Kilmarnock,
Ayrshire KA1 4AD
Tel: 01563 550252
Quite a small shop, very nicely laid out. Not a great deal of tanks, and probably half of them seem to be cichilids. Some nice specimens tho and seem to be in very good condition. The owner said he could try and order in specific fish if there was something specific I was after.
Variety - 5 (All fresh water, nearly all tropical. about 50% cichilids)
Quality - 9 (All the fish look to be in great health, never seen a dead fish in these tanks.)
Staff - 8 (Very friendly, Not really chatted to him much but he does seem to know his stuff.)
*edit got two of the addresses mixed up.
Hi Baldpoodle can you post the full addresse for the UK AQUATICS shop in THORNTON CLEVELEYS. Nedd to visit just had a mager disaster lost nearly full tank of fish, down to last four now but i think that iv corrected the problem. But tank now looks empty as it is 180 liters only live in lancaster so it would be easy to visit. Can you help please 
They are presently rebuilding the marine section
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