UK Fish Store Directory

[Sirfeckalot]

North Wales TF store

Ive not live in North Wales for very long, i used to live 9 mile from Wharf Aquatics; fish heaven in my eyes, a amazing place that i no longer can buy my fish from, its just to far to travel.

So now I'm looking for a local TF store in North Wales that can come close to matching Wharf Aqautics.
I've tried:

Maidenhead Aquatics, at Morton. Wasn't impressed at all.
Pets At Home,at Wrexham. Not going to even go over that one.
Jay Dee Aquatics, at llay. A nice selection but poor quality stock, unexplained deaths from purchases and in store.
Waterways, at Holt.I tend not to make a habit of buying fish from places that have no issues over selling diseased fish to unsuspecting customers.
There's a place in northwich, but i cant for the life of me remember its name.heathly fish but very little choice, just bread and butter thats it.


I've heard there are some good places in Bolton, but also found conflicting reviews, so not sure what to think.

Can anyone recommend any were in North Wales near Wrexham that comes close to somewhere like Wharf Aquatics.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Just thought Id put my local ones in

Maidenhead Aquatics
Brigg Garden Centre
Bigby High Road
Brigg
Lincolnshire
DN20 9HE

Variety - 7 - Good range of standard fish, nothing that you wouldnt find anywhere else though
Quality - 8 - Never seen a issue with the fish
Staff - 5 - Takes forever to get someone to help you out (busy shop with only 3 employees) and Im still waiting for a part off them from 4 months ago.

Just Fish - http/justfish.vpweb.co.uk
Silica Lodge Garden Centre
8 Scotter Road South
S#37###horpe
DN17 2BN
Variety - 8 - Good mix of average and rare fish
Quality - 8 - All look in top condition and the Plec I have from there has had no problems
Staff - 10 - Everytime I go, even for a look round I stay and have a good long chat with the people there. Still asking how the plec is everytime and keen to pass on any info


Ive noticed nobody is mentioning Pets at home, The one near us had 2 tanks full of dead fish and has just recently had all its tanks ripped out to upgrade it as it was disgusting

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Aquatic Design Centre
107-109 Great Portland Street
London W1W 6QG


Variety - 10 - Marines, freshwater, coldwater and designated cichlids section, what more can you want?
Quality - 10 - Very well maintained, never had a bad fish
Staff - 7 - Can get busy, hard to get served

Can be a bit pricey though, but Quality is excellent so it balances out

 

[hoyfoys]

The Water Garden
Hinton Parva, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN4 0DH
01793 790558

Variety - 9 - A smaller collection than some of the big chains but they do have some more interesting species.
Quality - 10 - Clearly well looked after and cared for, new stock are quarantined for 2 weeks before being available for sale.
Staff - 10 - small family owned business and the main aquarium guy, Ben, has qualifications, is friendly, helpful and offers great advice.

Of the 4 Swindon based stores I found this to be the best for fish, though they have less equipment. A little out of town but well worth the visit.

 

[jenjen_82]

What happened to yorkshire? Lol

 

[jbrock]

Abbey tropicals. waltham Abbey Essex

variety 9. newly opened shop but great quality fish, low prices and very clean.
quality 10
staff 10 very helpful and has a lot of knowledge

 

[mrlewis1978]

My experiences of LFS in the Barry/Cardiff area:

Barry Pet Shop
Variety/Selection: 6. Being quite small and local there is a good variety for its size, but cant be compared to larger stores.
Cleanliness and quality: 10. Never seen a dead or sick fish, water clean, active well fed fish. Good prices.
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 10/6 10 being if the full time guy is working he is excellent, 6 being sometimes you get one of the part time staff who arent up there.

Maidenhead Aquatics
Wenvoe and Radyr
Variety/Selection:10. Wenvoe has a huge selection of fish, cold, and tropical. Radyr has a ridiculously large selection including marine..
Cleanliness and quality: 5. Although the water and tanks look clean there are a fair number of dead/sick fish. Bought 3 batches of fish there and twice brought white spot.
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 6. Staff can be hit or miss since a lot work there. I have had very friendly and knowledgeablee or people ignore me.

Aquabatics
Penarth Road Cardiff
Variety/Selection: 9. Not the biggest selection but what they have is very colourful and interesting. A little more expensive.
Cleanliness and quality: 10. No sick fish, healthy, well looked after, no dirt.
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 10. Really friendly spend loads of time with you even if they are busy.

 

[gillicous]

Maidenhead Aquatics@Truro
Carnon downs garden centre
Cornwall


variety 9
quality 9
staff 9

very clean very healthy fish great Amazon morning display with mist across the water

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Ripples Waterlife
Unit B2, Stafford Park 11
Telford
Shropshire
TF3 3AY
01952 200199

Variety: 6
Quality: 8 (the odd casualty on delivery days)
Staff: 7

Marine fish are pretty limited but there variety on tropicals is more than enough. They cater for most species and are always willing to ship specific fish in if need be. Their staff are always helpful and know more than just the basics. They refuse to sell bowls (other than the BioOrbs) and offer helpful advice. If they don't know, they've referred me to books, DVDs, Tele programmes and even this forum before now. The staff all have common sense which is nice

 

[willowstwin]

Here is a new store opening up in Doncaster (well, it was already open, but run down. Someone has taken it over from the nursery)

I'll be visiting some time next week but for now, here's a link:

DMB