Posts Tagged ‘Tropical Fish’

From Guppies to Lionfish: A 45-Year Journey Through Tropical Fishkeeping and Beyond

Wednesday, September 4th, 2024

For 45 years, I kept and bred tropical fish, a passion that began in 1980 when I purchased some guppies. My interest in fishkeeping was sparked by watching Jacques Cousteau on TV, where I was fascinated by the Lionfish and dreamed of keeping one. However, a friend of my dad who kept tropical fish advised that I start with beginner fish like guppies before moving on to tropical marine species.

After my accident in January 2016, managing the fish house became increasingly difficult. Coupled with rising electrical costs, I eventually decided to wind it down. A few years ago, the last fish, a Synodontis, passed away after 20 years. Although the tanks remain in place, mostly filled with water, the pumps, filters, and heaters have been off for many years. Now, it’s time to dismantle and empty the tanks, making space to reuse the shelves for more beekeeping activities.

One day, I hope to return to the hobby because the Lionfish, which I’ve never kept, still eludes me.

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Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society Fish Auction Report

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

I went to the Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society fish auction today, this is the second time I’ve been to a Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society fish auction. I received a very warm welcome from members of the society, and despite leaving late from York, and driving like a Forumla 1 driver, got to the auction before it started. Auction started shortly after 1pm, and was well catered for with refreshments, drinks and food, fanastic because I’d not eaten all day (I don’t do breakfast!), so it was nice to get a can of pop during a break, when I wasn’t bidding!

Just a list of the few fish that came up for auction, Corydoras (approx 10 different species), Platies, Mollies, Guppies, Angelfish, L-number catfish, Ancistrus (approx 5 different species), Cichlids, Danios, Gouramis and Killifish. I think there was something for most fishkeepers from beginners to experts, and also for sale F1 (local breed) King Tiger Plecos L66s, it wouldn’t be fair to list prices, just make sure you go to the next auction.Lots of dry goods, filters, food, electrical items, tanks. In my opinion, most tank breed local fish are always better quality than whats available in the local tropical fish shops. (if available).

The next auction, and it’s the last auction of the year is on Monday Evening 12th October at The Pheasant Inn, 822 Barnsley Road, Sheffield, S5 0QG. Auction starts at 20:00hrs.

This is the list of items I won today at auction

  • 6 x Pearl Danios (Danio albolineatus)
  • 2 x “Black Nose Sturisoma” (Sturisoma nigrirostrum)
  • 2 x L147 “Head Spot Pleco” (Peckoltia sp. (L147))
  • 2 x Pairs of “Line Breed Half Snakeskin Round Tail Moscow Guppies” (Poecilia reticulata)
  • 6 x Corydoras Kronei (Corydoras barbatus (Sao Paulo))
two boxes of fish!

two boxes of fish!

Again congratulations to members of the society for a execellent auction.

I was also lucky enough to win a few times in the Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society raffle today, and for first prize I selected a new Aqua One external filter and later some ceramic hoop filter media. So it’s always worth purchasing a strip to help out the society.

Raffle Prizes

Raffle Prizes

I also passed Simply Aquatics, 84 – 86 The Common, Ecclesfield, Sheffield, S35 9WN on the return journey, and this is one excellent shop. Excellent  slection of tropical, coldwater and marines, and very well maintained, and clean setup. Five stars and highly recommended, it will be on my places to visit next time I’m in the area. It’s only been open 6 months, and is definately worth a visit, whether begineer or expert. I also met David Marshall, Secretary of Ryedale Aquarist Soceity purchasing fish in Simply Aquatics as well (I didn’t know, I’d been sat next to him in the auction for three hours!). Just Google for David Marshall, Ryedale (click link and you’ll see who I’m referring to). He beat me to purchasing a very nice catfish, I must contact him, and ask him for the latin name, I also bought, what David Bought.

Purchased from Simply Aquatics,

  • 6 x Purple Zebra Danios (Danio rerio)
  • 5 x Spotted Silver Dollars (Metynnis lippincottianus)

The Zebra Danios were described as purple, but they look red/pink to me, the shop is a member of OATA, and assured me they were not dyed, and were true purple/red/pink direct from Malayasia. David and I were interested how these young danios develop and if they breed true. If DEFRA come knocking at our doors, we will know, thay they are GM fish! The Silver Dollars are to grow on for my large oddball tank.

Interesting!

Interesting!

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Tropical Fish Shops in Hull

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Last Friday 5th June, I had some spare time in Hull, so spent the day driving around visiting the local Tropical Fish shops in and around Hull.

Here are some comments on the lfs I visited

Frisby Aquatics, 115 Sculcoates Lane, Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom, HU5 1DN

Located here

Frisby Aquatics is stacked with fish tanks, majority of the smaller tanks are filtered with undergravel filters, the larger tanks are filter with large external filters. When I visited there are many different types of livebearers, cichlids – young angelfish, and if you are an african rift lake cichlids fan, this is the place to obtain some nice large specimens. They also had two large arrowanas as well.

Ings Lane Garden And Water Garden Centre Ltd, Ings Lane, Dunswell, Hull, East Yorkshire, United Hull, East Yorkshire HU6 0AL

Located here.

A very nice modern and clean tropical fish section, the usual John Allan tanks or similar and central filtration system. Good lighting. This place is great, nice synodontis and L number catfish.

and the water garden section is fantastic, what can I say, the Koi on display are fantastic.

This place would encourage me to replace the front lawn with a large koi pond!

The koi are execellent!

Maidenhead Aquatics @ Beverley, Peter Barratt Garden Centre, Hull Road, Woodmansey, HU17 0RS

Friendly staff, the usual Maidenhead setup, with central filtration, lots of fish, and on visiting they had some Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, and I purchased some young Nicaraguen Cichlids to add to my collection, I also have some young males, that these young females will pair up with, and Peter Barratts has a nice coffee shop, to have an expresso!

Located here

Outlet Garden Centre, Hull Road Woodmansey HU17 0RU

I’ve never been here before, and was surprised they stocked some marine, tropical, coldwater fish and reptiles. Many tanks on the far wall. They also had lots of hardware and goods on display, some with dust on, so they don’t sell much of it!

Located here

KKC 6 Astral Rd Hessle East Yorkshire United Kingdom HU13 9DD

Located here 

Located on a housing estate, behind the back of someones house! (hedge could do with cutting!) A fantastic supply of livebearers, guppies, platies and mollies, some very nice blue and blood red guppies for sale. Looks like a much larger version of my fish house, no prices displayed on anything though!

and the marine section .

OUT OF THIS WORLD!

If you need any tropical marine fish, you need to go to KKC!

I’ve never seen so many different clown fish. There are hundreds of tropical marine fish for sale.

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It’s all gone Pete Tong again!

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

I don’t know why I bother… After spending time, testing, painting a new fish tank, removing all the existing tanks…..moving the new glass tank carefully into the fish house, in amongst all the other glass tanks, manouevering into final position.

It doesn’t fit!

There’s not enough clearance, because of the larger 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank! (and I’m not moving that!), and to add insult to injury, I then thought it would be a good idea, to move the bottom two fish tanks (2ft x 15 x 12) to the second shelf, and put the 4ft x 15 x 12 fish tank on the bottom shelf, only to find, I could only fit one 2ft fish tank on the middle shelf, and the 4ft x 15 x 12 fish tank on the bottom shelf, still wouldn’t fit!

Umm… looks like, I’ll be putting everthing back to how it was!!!

Well that’s a day in the life folks!

and

I’ve got a headache…..

Anyone want a cheap 48 x 15 x 12 glass tank, painted matt white? Contact me?

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Do you have problems with your suckers?

Monday, October 8th, 2007

One annoyance of keeping tropical fish I have is suckers!

Failing suckers…..!

Let me introduce you to the MagClip. Ideal stocking filler for Christmas!

Do your suckers keep failing after a few weeks/months. If you use heaters, sponge filters, airline, external filters pipes, spray bars in your tanks you’ll know what I mean. In the fish house, I’m constantly replacing failed suckers on equipment, sometimes it can be dangerous, if a misplaced spraybar or external filter inlet pipe “jumps” out of the tank because the sucker has failed (oh, yes this has happened when my Eheim 2600 spray bay sucker failed, and sprayed water all over the fish house at 1,500lph!).

I’ve found the solution, it’s called a MagClip, a very clever simple device, which uses a magnet to secure the plastic clip, inside and outside the aquarium. The MagClip comes with 6 assorted sizes of nylon clips to hold all types of aquarium accessories like canister filter outlet tubes, aquarium heaters, filter intake tubes, filter spray bars, airline tubing etc. The clip is coated in plastic, remove the nylon clip suitable for your aquarium accessory, attached to the internal clip, it’s threaded, and just screws in, position inside the aquarium, and use the external clip outside the aquarium to maintain it’s position. Simply. No suction cup to fail! They can be moved around afterwards I’ve found to get into a better position. These last a lifetime, using the industrial magnets, I’m using one on a 10mm glass tank, and have others holding spray bars, and 25mm external filter inlets, and others on my Algarde Bio-Foams. I’ll get some pictures.

These cost me 7.00 GBP pounds each, a bargain I think, I’ll never have to replace my suction cups again.

I got them from http://www.magclip.co.uk

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Pier Aquatics, Wigan

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

Pier Aquatics, Wigan

This has got to be the “Mecca” of all tropical fish shops in the North West, I was in the area (well within 10 miles) and had to pop in to checkout the collection of fish. If you are a Cichlid or Catfish fan like I am, you’ve just got to get your “bum” to Pier Aquatics in Wigan, and don’t forget your wallet!

Fantastic quality and collections of Cichlids and Catfish, a baby Tig for 250 pounds, and some fantastic Geophagus, lots of L numbers too many to mention, Stingrays If you’ve never been, why not try a holiday in Wigan for the weekend.

I love the place, and I’m sure I’ll be back for that baby Tig! Maybe an early birthday present, as it’s the big one!

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Rescued Firework/Galaxy Rasbora or Celestichthys Margaritatus

Monday, June 4th, 2007

Sorry, I’ve been pre-occupied with DIY on the house, but I’ve also spent some time on water experiments for the fish house. I need to store more water for water changes, and the RO unit, which will go live in several months time, so I’ve been plumbing two water containers together.

Whilst on my travels locally, I found a local tropical fish shop, which had a approx 20 Galaxy Rasbora in pretty poor shape, colourless, very thin – considering the current status of this fish, believed to be endangered in the wild, I would not normally have purchased them, but due to recent success of breeding Microrasbora erythromicron and the terrible state these fish were in, I thought they stood a better chance in my fish house, than left in this tropical fish shop. I would have purchased all 20, but parted with only five, if all five survive, I’ll return for more.

They’ve currently gone into a planted quarantine tank, and have started to colour-up instantly, and are feeding well. I’m going to start feeding them newly hatched brine-shrimp from tomorrow.

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Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food Update

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

If I could associate the breeding success of the Emerald Drawf Rasboras on Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food, I would, but I’ve only been feeding my fish it for the last 24 hours! BUT…

I’m really surprised how readily some of my more fussy fish, take to eating the flaked food, and the Corydoras and Hoplos, L’s love the Shrimp pellets. Report more later.

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Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food by Ed!

Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

I received my package of Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food today from Ed in Pennsylvania, USA.

I’ve been looking for an alternative product for the fish house to bring fish into condition for breeding for a long time. I’ve received

  • Super colour flake.
  • Freshwater flake.
  • Shrimp pellets.

Excerpt from Ed’s website

“Almost Natural Tropical Fish Foods” are offered by a true-blue tropical fish hobbyist for the other tropical fish hobbyists out there in the world who would rather go the extra mile and feed their fish a top quality tropical fish flake. This tropical fish food is hobbyist to hobbyists driven. One hobbyist helping other hobbyists. After looking at the ingredients and then the prices, you will see that it is being sold at extremely reasonable prices to you, the hobbyist.”

Almostnaturaltropicalfishfood Sample
The contents of the package Super colour flake, Freshwater flake, Shrimp pellets.

Let me know if you are interested in placing an order from the UK, we can combine the order!

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Back to the West Country

Saturday, April 28th, 2007

I’ve been away from my home and fish house, I’ve spent 10 days back in the West Country – Plymouth to be exact. Where the water is soft (ph 6.5-7.0) unlike my local tap water which is hard (you can stand a teaspoon in it!) and ph 8.0 – 8.5. and the vast numbers of tropical fish shops, I spent a day and a half visting them all!

I visited the following Tropical Fish Shops, when visting in and around Plymouth, and excellent stock of fish on display, South American Cichlids and Ls, I just wish I could have taken them all home!

and on the long journey home, I visited

Many Thanks and Good Luck to the following, hope to see you again in the future, on returning to Plymouth.

Ken at Devon Tropicals
Jerry at Bretonside Tropicals
Mark at Tropical Waters Aquatic Pet Centre

and a special thanks to

Chris at Plymouth Discus..

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