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Where to buy in Scotland.

Well, went along to the opening day at the Edinburgh Maidenhead - extremely uninspiring.

Small, horribly located premises, generic fish selection (which they weren't even able to sell due to delays with their pet shop licence), one small tank of plants.

Hopefully it'll improve and they'll broaden their range a bit, but not a great start.
 
BigTom said:
Well, went along to the opening day at the Edinburgh Maidenhead - extremely uninspiring.

Small, horribly located premises, generic fish selection (which they weren't even able to sell due to delays with their pet shop licence), one small tank of plants.

Hopefully it'll improve and they'll broaden their range a bit, but not a great start.

"generic fish selection" - booooooo (although i was fearing that from seeing the glasgow shop a while back)

i think i'm just never going to find the holy grail of outsideinside again.....

I'm going to make the trip to the SW at some point and go to TGM just to see what a good shop could look like. 8)
 
BigTom said:
Yeah - to be fair, I think they stated that they will be expanding the selection in coming weeks so it should hopefully improve. Still don't like the site though.

oddly the one on the Glasgow side is also sited in a "woollen mill hall" type environment. Seems a little bizzare when you think about all the empty shop space in Edinburgh just now, including the shopping centres. Must be very cheap.

I'm going to check out riverside as well as the new store today in another one of my mini tours.

I've also been looking into the fife fish auctions which take in the Kirkcaldy fish society breeders (which the guys in outsideinside mentioned to me as an excellent society) There is one in Perth on the 12th.

http://www.kirkcaldyaquaristsociety.co.uk/page9.htm
 
BigTom said:
Riverside was also fairly unimpressive when I checked it out last year. Never been to any of the society events, quite fancy checking them out at some point.

Just back.

Riverside was a disappointment tbh. Really hard to find, tucked in the back of a garden centre.

The tanks were large and exceedingly clean. Not a dead fish in sight but the stock had been run right down. Some hints of more interesting stuff but most tanks had only a handful of fish. I don't think they can be doing very well, especially since the massive new looking dobbies is right next door with a very busy aquatics section.

Plants were few and "lame fish shop selection" standard. They did stock the eheim filter range thou which is nice to see if people need spares for those. The dobbies next door had the standard tropica range they stock.

Maidenhead i'm a bit more positive about then Tom. Although I agree it is a poor choice of location. Passing trade will be non existent and unless a fish keeper reads PFK or gets told about it they will never find out it exists.

Dry goods as expected were decent and I was happy to see they stocked Unipac gravels and sands. Something i'd been harassing local shops to do for ages. Hardscape was more disappointing with no redmoor and I did not see any rock supplies.

Fish wise like Tom said was pretty standard fare, although in large amounts and looking healthy in the new tanks (although not very well coloured up probably due to acclimatisation). BUT there was plenty of extra space for additional stocking and after a quick discussion with staff they did say since they were not allowed to sell any fish currently they had started with the basics with the managers aim to add more odd balls and diversity later. So on that grounds I'm hopeful for the future and currently they are on par with the best of the other local shops (oddly in my mind the P@H in kinaird park) for the choice and better for health. They even stocked red nosed shrimp which i've not seen for a while locally. Also have to say they had the stock nicely divided, tetras, barbs, etc etc and I have to repeat, plenty of space for more.

Plants was less encouraging with a small unit filled with Aquafleur range (4 for £12 etc). I asked if they were going to stock other types but the staff member could not tell me (maybe someone with a more established maidenhead shop can enlighten us if they do range Tropica etc). The was a crypt that sparked my interest but overall I'd say that P@H Kinaird with their Tropica range (and i've been told the ablity to orderfrom the full tropica list) and good multibuy prices or the Dobbies out on the bypass with their custom dobbies Tropica stock but fresher plants due to rapid turn over, are better for Edinburgh plant lovers.

Still i'm going to go Maidenhead again when i've got some more time and see if I can "steer" the management in a more UKAPS friendly direction.

Again I think i've been spoilt by OutsideInside with their Tropica, Dennerle, Aquafleur and their own custom European plant suppliers, whom could and regularly would get anything and everything plant related.

Oh I took a photo of the MH shop.
20120805_145834.jpg
 
Hi

My name is Jonny and I work at the new maidenhead aquatics in Edinburgh. Bigtom sorry to hear the disappointment regarding the location it wouldn't have been my first choice either but theres noting we can do about that. As for the fish selection, filter media has been matured in the Glasgow shop for months and we are making sure the system is fully matured before we introduce the more oddball and delicate species. As for the pet shop licence we had an inspection today and it all looks very promising!!!! stayed tuned.

JohnC I believe it was me you were speaking to about our range of plants, after you left I enquired and found out that we only really stock Aquafleur as we believe they offer the best quality and range. I can however say that if there is any plants/fish/products that anyone would like we are willing to order them in specifically you can either come to the shop, phone us on 0131 554 5415, or pm me. As for stocking tropica you will have to talk to my manger colin and see what he says.

If there is any more suggestions/complaints please let me know and I will see what i can do.

Regards

Jonny
 
jarcher1390 said:
Hi

My name is Jonny and I work at the new maidenhead aquatics in Edinburgh. Bigtom sorry to hear the disappointment regarding the location it wouldn't have been my first choice either but theres noting we can do about that. As for the fish selection, filter media has been matured in the Glasgow shop for months and we are making sure the system is fully matured before we introduce the more oddball and delicate species. As for the pet shop licence we had an inspection today and it all looks very promising!!!! stayed tuned.

JohnC I believe it was me you were speaking to about our range of plants, after you left I enquired and found out that we only really stock Aquafleur as we believe they offer the best quality and range. I can however say that if there is any plants/fish/products that anyone would like we are willing to order them in specifically you can either come to the shop, phone us on 0131 554 5415, or pm me. As for stocking tropica you will have to talk to my manger colin and see what he says.

If there is any more suggestions/complaints please let me know and I will see what i can do.

Regards

Jonny

Hi!

Good news on the pet licence.

Thanks for coming and commenting. We are at the more extreame end of the hobby to be honest so it makes us extra hard to please. 8)

Obviously it is a bit dependant on how fast you sell plants but can you tell us how often you guys get a plant order in?
Can we do requests for specific plants on that order?
Any chance of a stock list for Aquafleur? :D

The reason I mentioned Tropica and other suppliers earlier is I've always found that none of the individual suppliers had a full range of plant species. So in the past with OutsideInside I've had stuff from all of them at once on a new tank "wish list". The amazing thing was they got orders in from 3-4 different plant suppliers a month so it was ideal for me.

As i mentioned we can be pretty hard to please as not every shop can stock a full range of the specialist bits and pieces to keep a plant freak happy. I did notice you stock some JBL Co2 stuff. Will you do refills for the 500g JBL CO2 bottles and if so how much?

Can you get redmoor wood?

Best Regards,
John
 
Hi all,

Just back from Water Wonders in Dalry Edinburgh. I think I give them a bit of a hard time as the way they keep Betta's in bags pisses me off. They do have a good selection of barbs and very nice dwarf cichlids in stock just now thou. Additionally 4 x £10 on healthy oto's plus plenty of Amanos.

Still seeing dead fish in tanks however, like the recent PFK article says, always a massive turn off.

ZERO plants. Just an empty tank. But they do have a small pile or redmoor, some oliver knott substrate and ADA power sand (although they seem to be out of Mayan which is why I went in).

Best Regards,
John
 
Hi,

Just read that water wonders in Gorgie is closing and reopening on the 3rd of Sep as Eden Aquatics and Reptiles.

http://www.facebook.com/EdenAquaticsAndReptiles

I've queried what kinda stuff they will be stocking for plant guys like us.

Best Regards,
John
 
Not sure if anyone has mentioned Express Fuels in Glasgow for CO2.
789 South Street, Whiteinch, G14 0BX
£40 deposit and £14.52 refills for 7kg bottles.
 
Now that Insideoutside is shut (I believe) where's theft top shop in Scotland then? I like maidenhead aquatics for fish but all my plants come Aquaessentials
 
Hi guys here is link to Hughs new place. Riverscape Aquarium . Think we are all screwed now for decent fish, but Discovery in Dundee had some nice stuff last time I visited but I was put off by the duck weed in the tanks.


I've also been looking into the fife fish auctions which take in the Kirkcaldy fish society breeders (which the guys in outsideinside mentioned to me as an excellent society) There is one in Perth on the 12th. http://www.kirkcaldyaquaristsociety.co.uk/page9.htm

I used to be a member there and its a excellent club! lots of keepers keeping all sorts of fish. If your into Barbs check out barbs4u its a site ran by a member of KAS
 
Hi Peeps,

Just a wee update on the two shops in Dundee for anyone that it may help.

House Of Pisces had a lot of dead fish / was very dark / hardly any plants - owner didn't seem interested wouldn't go back there again.

Discovery Aquatics on the other hand is fantastic they are really working hard to get the shop to a good spec. A new and varied range of stones for hardscaping and some Redmoor wood etc. New plant range tanks are being set up combined with friendly staff and good quality livestock (no deaths seen) we are very happy with them.

So thats the latest intel on the two shops in Dundee.

Hope it helps!

Best wishes,

Murray
 
Hi Peeps,

Just a wee update on the two shops in Dundee for anyone that it may help.

House Of Pisces had a lot of dead fish / was very dark / hardly any plants - owner didn't seem interested wouldn't go back there again.

Discovery Aquatics on the other hand is fantastic they are really working hard to get the shop to a good spec. A new and varied range of stones for hardscaping and some Redmoor wood etc. New plant range tanks are being set up combined with friendly staff and good quality livestock (no deaths seen) we are very happy with them.

So thats the latest intel on the two shops in Dundee.

Hope it helps!

Best wishes,

Murray
That a real shame about house of pieces. I used to go there when they were in the wee shop in the hilltown as a teenager, errr many years ago.
 
So did I with my brother - It was always very humid - That whole shopping mall area has now been demolished and a big pile of rubble. Used to be a good shop with a nice range but I personally wouldn't bother going back.

Will stick to Discovery Aquatics :)
 
Just visited Eden Aquatics and Reptiles (formerly water wonders). The place was undergoing some refurbishments but still an improvement was apparent. The fish tanks were all clean and healthy looking. There were a couple tanks with plants in them (im too much of a noob to offer any analysis). Fish selection was pretty standard although they did have Siamese Algae Eaters which I had been looking for and some madagascar rainbows which I haven't seen very often.

Any recent update on the maidenhead aquatics?
 
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