UK Fish Store Directory

[rachelbatchelor]

Living seas, Weymouth, Dorset

Variety/Selection: 5
Cleanliness and quality: 2
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 3

A useless shop. It is known locally as dying seas. I think that probebly explains all!


Pets direct/dorset discus, Bridport, Dorset

Variety/Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 10

They have recently moved premises, employed some more staff, and have really upped their standards.
The staff are fantastic, and will do anything to help you.

Watermarque, Yeovil, Somerset

Variety/Selection: 10
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendlyness and knowledge: 8

A very good selection of fish, and fish equipment. The fish all look healthy, altough there are some dyed fish. Staff are friendly, although some are useless.

However. Its so expensive in there!! Everything is massively over priced.

 

[nmonks]

Paul,

I agree with you basic comments on the aquarium shops in Herts & Enfield. Definitely agree World of Water in Watford is rubbish. Been twice, and very disappointed. It's OK for dry goods, but like you I'm worried about the numbers of sick fish in the tanks as well.

I visited Wildwoods a couple of weeks back, and was expecting good things, but to tell the truth wasn't that impressed. Some really nice species, to be sure, including a lot of rare cyprinids, freshwater needlefish, catfish, and more. But also a lot of dead fish in the tanks, as well as seemingly idiotic choices (e.g. Hepsetus odoe and other gigantic, predatory fish).

I've bought some very healthy fish from Hertfordshire Fisheries near St. Albans, specifically some red fin halfbeaks and a South American puffer, both fish that can be a bit hit-and-miss. Not that good for oddballs, but they do regularly seem to have the basic brackish water stuff.

I'd add a couple more I visit regularly...

Maidenhead Aquatics @ Chipperfield (Wyevale Garden Centre)

Variety 5 Basic bread and butter stuff, a few brackish, crabs, rainbows, and cichlids. No marines.
Quality 7 Pretty good, few sick fish, but some poor quality livebearers
Staff 6 Helpful but not expert

Aquatic Design Centre, Gt Portland St, London (near Euston Station)

Variety 8 Well above average, including rare killis, livebearers, tetras, and cichlids.
Quality 8 Solid, few sick fish, and all stock looks to be sound.
Staff 7 Variable, mostly helpful and offering good advice, but some gaps in their knowledge of oddballs

Tropical Marines, Mortlake, SW London (near Mortlake Station)

Variety 9 (Marines) / 5 (Freshwater) Medium sized but well chosen range marine fish and inverts, but freshwater stuff is solidly bread and butter species with only a few oddballs and cichlids. Few catfish and very few, if any, giant fish.
Quality 10 Tanks are very well looked after. Some of the freshwater tanks are a bit small by modern standards, but the fish look healthy. The marine tanks are spectacular.
Staff 10 (Marines) / 7 (Freshwater) The proprietor of this store is an expert marine aquarist and he builds up a very close relationship with his long-term clients. Freshwater fish are less of a focus, and this isn't the place to find out about keeping brackish or breeding killis, for example.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[imouse]

Pets @ Home Cwmbran (Wales)
Variety 8
Quality 8
Staff 9 (only when they aren't moving the dry goods display 'again')

Pets @ Home Newport (Wales)
Variety 9
Quality 10
Staff 10 (ask for Denny)

World of Water
A48 Cardiff
Variety 6
Quality 5
Staff 5

Maidenhead Aquatics Cwmbran
Variety 9
Quality 7-8
Staff 8

The Range, Newport (Dry goods only, worth the mention for the price and range of.)
Variety 0
Quality 10
Staff (d.a.f.)

Gemini Aquatics A48 Chepstow
Variety 8
Quality 9
Staff 10

Pets @ Home A48 Cardiff (Roath)
Variety 8
Quality 9
Staff 9

Maidenhead Aquatics, Radyr off A470
Variety 10
Quality 9
Staff 10

All above within 10 mins from me.
A few out of townies...

Creature Comforts, Totton Southampton
Varety 10 (biggest variety i've seen under 1 roof)
Quality 10
Staff !!! (unbelievably well informed)

Aquatic Superstore Weston-S-Mare & Fishponds (yes, an area called fishponds) Bristol
Variety 10
Quality 10
Staff 10
(Bristol store is an Endler keepers dream store )

 

[timmystood]

Downtown Garden Centre, Gratham, Lincolnshire
Variety 7 (Some bizzare Tropics here!)
Quality 7 (Wouldn't sell me fish because they looked ill, impressive!)
Service 7 (Seems to know what they are talking about, except when it comes to tank cycling)

Waterside Garden Centre, Bourne, Lincolnshire
Variety 5 (Has the basics)
Quality 3 (too many overstocked, display tanks )
Service 2 (Never anyone around)

 

[Luke_e]

Calder Valley Koi/Calder Valley Aquatic Center (halifax)
Variety 6.5
Quality 8
Service 9


Pet & Garden World (leeds)
Variety 9
Quality 7
Service 8

Pets At Home (halifax)
Variety 3
Quality 3
Service 3

 

[Lollipop567]

sorry havent quite got the hang of this

 

[Lollipop567]

Pets At Home (Crewe, Cheshire)

Variety: 3
Quality: 2 ( Last time I was there there was dead fish everywhere)
Service: 8 (Politeness) 2 (Knowledge)

Stapley Water Gardens (Nantwich nr Crewe)

Variety: 5
Quality: 5
Service: 0 (more intrested in flirting and gave me v.bad advice which could of meant my existing fish being eaten!)

Ripples at Bridgmere (nr Crewe)

Variety: 8
Quality: 9
Service: 10 for both knowledge and politeness

My Favourite

 

[qwikimpss]

wow, you UK guys have a LOT of good shops around huh? Tanks with puffers and rays, knowledgable staff...jealous. The best store in my kneck of the woods is Seal World in Salem NH, excellent for salties but a lil lackluster for freshies but still better than any PetCo or PetSmart around...

 

[SamUK]

ill add a few.....


Fish People (Keighley)

Variety 9
Quality 9
Service 9

Splash Aquatics (Skipton)

Variety 7
Quality 7
Service 8


Stephen H Smiths Garden Centre (Otley)

Variety 9
Quality 9
Service 7

 

[Jue]

My turn:

Dobbies Garden Centre, Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury
Staff Knowledge: 5 (Recommended Betta, Guppies & Gold Nugget as good combination for 40L tank
Variety: 5
Quality of Fish: 9 (Very healthy fish, clean tanks. Not necessarily good tank sizes)

Ripleys Waterlife Superstore, Stafford Park, Telford
Staff Knowledge: I don't even want to answer this - I was advised 30-40 Tiger Barb in a 180L with 2 BN Plec
Variety: 10 (Marine, Tropical & Coldwater)
Quality of Fish: 6 (Fish look healthy enough - tanks with high water levels hence fish jump out and end up dead on floor!)

Pets at Home, Meole Brace, Shrewsbury
Staff Knowledge: 1 (they've learnt that they are selling fish)
Variety: 4
Quality of Fish: 2 (lots of dead ones on my last visit)

I've not actually visited Maidenhead Aquatics in Telford but I've heard they are quite good.

Jue

 

[bunjiweb]

Ripleys Waterlife Superstore, Stafford Park, Telford
Staff Knowledge: I don't even want to answer this - I was advised 30-40 Tiger Barb in a 180L with 2 BN Plec

30 Tiger Barbs and 2 BNs is a pheasible stocking for a 180L tank as long as you are well filtered, i.e. an external and weekly waterchanges.

Ben

 

[timmystood]

Waterside Garden Centre, Bourne, Lincolnshire

Variety - 4
Quality - 7
Service - 5

 

[Valmyre]

My LFS :

Living Waters
28 Beddington Lane
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 4TB
Tel: 020 8680 3533

Variety : 7

Quality : 10

Service : 10

 

[monkeyman]

GROSVENOR TROPICALS, Beersbridge Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

VARIETY - 8

QUALITY - 8

SERVICE - 9/10 KNOWLEDGE
2/10 FRIENDLINESS

Quite a good shop, seems family run, if only there heads weren't stuck up their own ar..... Oops! Nearly said something rude there!

 

[Weaver]

GROSVENOR TROPICALS, Beersbridge Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

VARIETY - 8

QUALITY - 8

SERVICE - 9/10 KNOWLEDGE
2/10 FRIENDLINESS

Quite a good shop, seems family run, if only there heads weren't stuck up their own ar..... Oops! Nearly said something rude there!

Spot on markings
Its a pity such a good fish shop is let down by the totally surly,unfriendly staff.
Went back yesterday and was served by a really pleasant woman who was very knowledgeable.So top marks to her