hensonc4098
Fish Herder
In the past I have written scathing reports of this place and its fish due to the amount of dead/diseased/dying fish it seemed to have adorning its tanks. They had had a decent selection of good quality plants at very competitive prices however there was so many floating leaves in the plant tanks that you had to scoop away for ages to find what you were looking for.
However...
Yesterday, we were in Hamilton Palace Grounds in Homebase with my 2 little cousins aged 2 and 6. Obviously, they wanted to "go look at the rabbits," so obligingly, I took them.
The first thing that hit me was the display tank at the door which was approximately a 150L corner tank which had previously housed several cramped looking tinfoil barbs had been emptied down to the substate and thoroughly cleaned. I was taken aback even at the thought that omething had been cleaned!
Then we progressed onto the fish themselves.
Again, I was amazed to find that every tank light was on (normally more are off than on) and on quick inspection of the tanks, I saw NO dead fish, only a couple of tetras I think with swim bladder troubles. Looking around more closely at the tanks, all of their fish seemed in good condition apart from a ragged looking male betta, but that could be excused. Previously, the stocking of their tanks had been fairly limited, mainly sticking to tetras, platies, guppies, mollies etc. - the usual stuff, but yesterday I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they had a tank of Malawi Cichlids for sale. My mum fancied the Yellow Labs and another striped kind which I don't know the name of - I can feel another tank coming on
In the plant section, the sump style, "pick what you want" plant display was clean, free of debris and easy to see the nice and good quality plants they had on offer. They even had in the lowest tier of the plant stand thingy, bogwood and driftwood - some with small Anubis or Java Fern plants attched to them. I don't know how much they were but I was certainly tempted by one piece - I probably would have bought it if it hadn't been for a certain 6 year old tugging at my arm shouting "LOOK LOOK!!! THEY'VE GOT MICE!!!"
Previously, I had vowed never to buy fish from there due to the shocking quality of them, however, seeing what I did yesterday, I am inclined to change my mind. Can the leopard change its spots? Yes it can, and yes it has.
However...
Yesterday, we were in Hamilton Palace Grounds in Homebase with my 2 little cousins aged 2 and 6. Obviously, they wanted to "go look at the rabbits," so obligingly, I took them.
The first thing that hit me was the display tank at the door which was approximately a 150L corner tank which had previously housed several cramped looking tinfoil barbs had been emptied down to the substate and thoroughly cleaned. I was taken aback even at the thought that omething had been cleaned!
Then we progressed onto the fish themselves.
Again, I was amazed to find that every tank light was on (normally more are off than on) and on quick inspection of the tanks, I saw NO dead fish, only a couple of tetras I think with swim bladder troubles. Looking around more closely at the tanks, all of their fish seemed in good condition apart from a ragged looking male betta, but that could be excused. Previously, the stocking of their tanks had been fairly limited, mainly sticking to tetras, platies, guppies, mollies etc. - the usual stuff, but yesterday I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they had a tank of Malawi Cichlids for sale. My mum fancied the Yellow Labs and another striped kind which I don't know the name of - I can feel another tank coming on
In the plant section, the sump style, "pick what you want" plant display was clean, free of debris and easy to see the nice and good quality plants they had on offer. They even had in the lowest tier of the plant stand thingy, bogwood and driftwood - some with small Anubis or Java Fern plants attched to them. I don't know how much they were but I was certainly tempted by one piece - I probably would have bought it if it hadn't been for a certain 6 year old tugging at my arm shouting "LOOK LOOK!!! THEY'VE GOT MICE!!!"
Previously, I had vowed never to buy fish from there due to the shocking quality of them, however, seeing what I did yesterday, I am inclined to change my mind. Can the leopard change its spots? Yes it can, and yes it has.
