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I recently became aware of a new fish dealer's in my meighbourhood. This one is part of the Maidenhead Aquatics chain, and I thought I'd pay it a visit, to see what it had to offer.

One good sign is that it is run by a guy called Paul Dixon, a former fellow member of the local aquarist society (which sadly disbanded after its leading light, Ted Derrick, died of cancer). Paul knows what he is doing, having racked up several show wins in the past, with some truly amazing fish including Discus, so take it as read that he backs up his advice with a good number of years' worth of solid experience. And, his no-nonsense approach appeals to his customers too.

Now on to the fish. The store's fish section is comprehensive, to say the least - when I remarked my amazement to Paul that there were 40 species of Rift Lake Cichlid on offer, he replied by saying that they were actually running low on stock, and usually carried more than 50 species! Among these were baby Cyphotilapia frontosa at 10 each, Cyrtocara moorii at around 5 each, a brace of Pseudotropheus, Melanocrhomis and Metriclima species at prices ranging from 2 each for the Melanochromis auratus to 7 each for the Pseudotropheus socolofi tangerine morphs (I didn't even know that socolofi HAD a tangerine morph till I saw these!). Neolamprologus on offer included some nice brichardi and some very strongly coloured leleupi, and there were some Julidochromis regani on offer too. Among the rarities were Cyprichromis leptosoma at 12 each, some Altolamprologus compressiceps and five different species of Utaka Cichlid. Oh, and there were some gorgeous specimens of Aulonocara jacobfreibergi in full adult colour - 15 each!

American Cichlids were represented by Dempseys, synspilum, some rather touchy salvini and a tankful of what I can only describe as utterly psychotic juvenile festae - these things were spoiling for a fight with anything that passed by! Oh, and among the Discus, Paul had some lavender specimens on offer, and these were radiant ... 5-inch specimens at 50 each. Not a bad price given the rarity of these things!

Dwarf Cichlids included Anomalchromis thomasi, assorted wild caught Apistogramma species including nijsseni, and Paul can obtain Nannacara and Checkerboard Cichlids on request.

Loach fans will be delighted to know that there were seven species of Botia on offer, including horae andstriata, and Sri Lankan Hillstream Loaches too. Accompanying them in a neighbouring aquarium were Flying Foxes, Epalzoerhynchus kallopterus, and among the cyprinids on offer were - wait for it - Denison's Barbs at 30 a pair.

Plec fans can expect a good selection as well, including Pseudacanthicus leopardus, Hypancistrus zebra (at 70 each - ouch!) and five different L-numbers including L026 and L195. Apparently Paul can obtain Queen Arabesques to order at something like 40 each for juveniles, and there were some nice gibbiceps Plecs, alongside Panaque nigrolineatus, several Ancistrus Bristlenoses and a real rarity among the smaller Loricariids - Parotocinclus maculicauda. Among the larger rarities were Farlowella kneri, and apparently Paul regularly stocks Sturisoma species for those determined to acquire them.

Cory lovers will not feel left out either. I found guapore at 7 each, barbatus at a ridiculously low 6 each, adolfoi at 10 each, arcuatus at 4 each, filamentosus at 8 each, sterbai at 10 a pair, wild caught erhardti (Ican't recall the price of these), and metae. There were also some potaroensis awaiting sale clearance, and Paul can apparently obtain C-numbers with relative ease too. Oh, by the way, the potaroensis look like Pandas without the tail patch, and are very nice catfishes indeed!

Among the Characins, there were some beautiful Emperors, local bred Cardinals (in superb condition), Pretty Tetras, Rosy Tetras, Black and Red Phantoms, Congo Tets, a range of oddities including Hemiodus gracilis, and various Metynnis and Distichodus species.

Freshwater oddballs included Glass Gobies (whatever they are - Shini might know the taxonomic name of these things, they're tiny and look like slivers of yellow glass) and Pygmy Puffers (Carinotetraodon perhaps?).

Marines inlcuded Centropyge acanthops, Centropyge bispinosus, Centropyge ferrugatus, Centropyge vroliki, juvenile Pomacanthus imperator, and something called a Cortez Angel which I later identified as Pomachanthus zonipectus. There were Forcipiger flavissimus in excellent condition, almost acrylic-hued yellow, a Powder Blue surgeon that matched the textbook description of what to look for when buying this delicate fish, several Regal Tangs, a Sailfin Tang (which I think was actually Zebrasoma desjardinii), a Strawberry Gramma, tank bred clowns of three different species (including, wait for it, tank bred Premnas biaculeatus), a nice Chelmon rostratus that was in good colour and actively exploring its temporary home, and among the Damsels were Cloudy Damsels, Black Tail Humbugs, a lavender-hued Chromis limbaughi and some Pomacentrus philippinus. There was also a Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus Hawkfish, a Banana Wrasse (but not Halichoeres trispilus, the other one whose name I temporarily forget that is all yellow instead of having a white underside), a Picasso Trigger, Zebrasoma flavescens, Acanthurus sohal and Acanthurus olivaceus Tangs/Surgeonfishes, and a Petroscirtes mitratus Blenny. Oh, and there were some truly astonishing-looking Banggai Cardinals in there too - these things looked completely unreal, almost as if someone had fired up a "Virtual Fish" screen saver in the aquarium and created them in PhotoShop! Seeing these things 'live' for the first time was unforgettable - they really are a complete blast, despite being black and white, they look as if they belong among the fauna of some alien world, and yet, they're natives of dear old Planet Earth ... and I'm glad that they are!

Don't ask me to list the inverts, as I have NO idea what half of the corals are called, have only limited knowledge of crustaceans and molluscs, and as for starfishes and sea urchins, I'll let Roona work out what some of those are

Anyone in the Liverpool area who wants to visit this place, and see its menagerie, track down Ryevale Garden Centre in Bold Heath, on the outskirts of Widnes, and it's at the back of the garden centre. If you want to snap up the barbatus Corys while they're going at just 6 each, hurry!

I had a fun morning there. Sadly, if I took home all the stock I wanted to buy, along with the aquaria to keep them in, I'd end up more bankrupt than Robert Maxwell



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thats awesome cal! I wish we had something like that down here! You just get so lucky. I wish I lived in europe. Well I do for the fish...

sod people in the liverpool area, i'm there next weekend!! liverpool not to far from Stoke.

i go to hollybush garden centre in cannock south staffordshire, it to has a great collection of fish and other things, marine, freshwater, coldwater etc, should try if round that area.

have you ever been the british aquatic superstore in Bolton?
on the internet it claims to be the biggest store of its kind and stock even rare coldwater fish, which i've never seen anywhere else, on my visit the only coldwater fish they had where goldies, i was very disapointed, seeing it took me 2 hours in M6 traffic to get there.]:|]:|

Ps did you mean Wyevale Garden Centre? it has universal waterlife Aquatic superstore


[span class="edited"][Edited by shekoi 2004-07-20 09:45][/span]

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

That's the one Shekoi, only Universal Waterlife was taken over by Maidenhead Aquatics, and now boasts a far bigger range of fish. That's the one - and if you want to pay a call, be very nice and courteous to Paul Dixon, as he's up to his eyeballs in bad-mannered urchins let loose from the local schools now the holidays have started, and he's a guy that doesn't suffer fools gladly

Oh, his advice is top drawer, by the way. And some of the fish are amazing. Take a look at the tropical display, and see if you can identify the big torpedo shaped Characins with the single spot on the side - they're nearly a foot long, silvery, and look as if they could be a Leporinus, except that the swimming posture is wrong, and they're far more active than Leporinus usually are. While you're there, check out the Cory collection and the L-number Plecs, some are VERY nice, if a tad expensive ... be a while before I buy Hypancistrus zebra

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

This makes me miss living in England. Maidenhead aquatics were great stores and well run at least in the one or two I've been to... even other garden centers with LFS... there was another closer one with a shed and they had lots of great fish and plants I can't find here in the US. *sigh* enjoy it, those who have it!

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gotta recommend Swallow Aquatics in Colchester.

Always have a fantastic range of plecs, which they ensure are feeding before sale, so you can be sure that they are not malnourished. Also have a lovely discus collection, tetras, beautiful guppies and all fed a great range of food. Oh, and their frog selection is good too!

The other day I was down there after a big dieoff of Cories (lost 9 in 3 days They were fantastic, really helpful. We concluded that it was an abberation in the water which came through a water change, just knocked them out

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Calilasseia

i've planned to go tommorow to the store and while i'm in the area i'm going to visit the blue planet aquarium near chester.

i'm just wondering can you remember if they had cory jullii there, i would like one more for my 45 gallon, (if i decide can fit one in) i need to know so i can decide on which to go first, don't want to be carring a small cory around the aquarium with me!

also what are their plants like, i would like some crypts for the front of my tank?

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

When I was there, the spotted Corys looked like trilineatus as opposed to true julii, but they were in very nice condition.

Didn't see any crypts among the plants, but they had Water Lettuce - Pistia stratiotes - which I've NEVER seen anywhere else.

Chances are if you ask Paul nicely, he can get things in for you if you look like visiting on a reasonably regular basis - alternatively, he might be able to arrange something akin to mail order. If you look like doing business, I'm sure he'll accommodate accordingly

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002