Hello From Cambridge, Uk

[pmatos]

Hello,

I am new to the forums, new to tropical aquariums (or any aquariums in general) and new to Cambrige so go easy on me.
This post is not only to say Hito everyone but also to ask someone if they know any good shop in/around Cambridge for my initial shopping (given I only have a 150 liter aquarium).

Thank you very much,

Paulo Matos

 

[discus_lover]

hello and welcome to our forum...

 

[ashemely]

Hi, welcome to the forums. I live in Huntingdon which is about twenty minutes from Cambridge, and the only fish store that I know of in Cambridge, other than Pets at Home, is Maidenhead Aquatics at Coton Orchards. The store itself is quite small, but totally dedicated to fishkeeping and should have everything you need to get started like filters, lighting, heaters and decor. I haven't actually bought any fish from them, but have gone their to browse what they have in stock a couple of times. They do have quite a large selection of freshwater fish including the traditional beginner fish like guppies, mollies and tetras.

Good luck!

 

[pmatos]

Hi, welcome to the forums. I live in Huntingdon which is about twenty minutes from Cambridge, and the only fish store that I know of in Cambridge, other than Pets at Home, is Maidenhead Aquatics at Coton Orchards. The store itself is quite small, but totally dedicated to fishkeeping and should have everything you need to get started like filters, lighting, heaters and decor. I haven't actually bought any fish from them, but have gone their to browse what they have in stock a couple of times. They do have quite a large selection of freshwater fish including the traditional beginner fish like guppies, mollies and tetras.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your help. So, what kind of supplier do you use for fish related items? (any good UK based online store?)

I will check that store at Coton Orchards during the weekend. Thanks!

Paulo Matos

 

[aly_starh]

Ebay, Charterhouse Aquatics, Sea Pets


Welcome to the forum

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum! Any ideas as to what kind of fish you want in that 150 of yours Also lets get you started on the right steps! The best way to set up a fish tank believe it or not is fishless! This is the stage at the beggining of setting up a tank, where you need to get your filters full of naturally occuring bacteria, in nature these have been present for pretty much all time I imagine and thats how the fish stay alive and what keeps the water fresh and free of ammonia. But in your tank once your fish start pooping there will be an abundance of nasty toxins as a result but with a properly cycled filter there will be bacteria in there that can transform the toxins into harmless chamicals just like in nature. So to do this you need to get some house hold ammonia which you can get at homebase in the UK then using the calculator at the top of this page you can work out how much you need to add to the tank to promote the growth of the bacteria in your filters. This process takes about 6-8 weeks but once it is done you can garuntee a fantastic start into the hobby!

Have a read through these articles in this link and it will explain this fishless cycling processes and the nitrogen cycle in general

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

The store that Ash mentioned the maidenhead is actually a chain of tropical fish stores and they are all really good As for tracking down other good shops in your area just look them up in the phone book and take a ride around, you will soon be able to tell what a good shop is and what isnt. Avoid the ones with loads of dead fish, or any with signs of disease ie lots of white spots all over the fish. Also dont buy fish without researching I cant stress that enough, just recently we have had tons and tons of new members buying new fish that the pet shop owner said would be fantastic for their 3 foot tank and wont get much bigger than the 2 inches they are at now but in reality thats a type of catfish that will grow to 5 foot and live well into its late teens early twenties. So yeah be careful!

Any questions dont hesitate to ask! With the combined experience of all the members here it is very hard to go wrong

Wills

 

[pmatos]

Thank you all for your comments. I just came from Maidenhead Aquatics. Since I don't know _anything_ about fishes I decided to buy Stuart Thraves book "Setting up a tropical Aquarium -- Week by Week" and I have been trying to find everything I need so that I don't have a partial start and then I screw everything up.

Two things have been holding up my start. One of them is the heat wire which he says it should have a max of 25W and it is used to keep tropical plants alive my creating a cycle similar to that in nature (by making the bottom of the aquarium hotter than the top). However I can't really find a heat wire anywhere. Didn't find it in Maidenhead Aquatics, Seapets or Charterhouse Aquatics. Any tips?

Another thing is the CO2 DYI bottle that he shows up in his book. He uses a bottle with hot water, yeast and sugar attached to a tube and uses a pump to slowly pump the CO2 into the aquarium. Finding all the tiny parts that he uses in the book as been a nightmare. Any tips also on this?

Thank you so much for your help,

Paulo Matos

 

[Jonty]

Hey! I'm from near Newmarket. A good store near cambridge is Maidenhead Aquatics at the Coton Gardeb Centre in Great Shelford, or Amwell Aquatics in Soham.

BTW anyone reading this who's from cambridge, would you like 3 Black Phantom Tetra's for free?