Tropical fish in Dublin

Frisbee

Where is the best place in Dublin for buying Tropical fish?
I dont want anything too fancy just a couple of colourful fish. My girlfriend has a big tank as she used to have a terrapin and now its just sitting there empty, seems a waste. Doesnt matter if their hard to look after as the whole family is pet mad and they'll get looked after well.
Also how much can I expect to spend on a heater?

Cheers

prospect

Hi,

I am newish to fish keeping also. I have visited a few places and asked around. The place I like, and seems to consistantly be recommended is Aquatic Village in Brittas, (near Saggart).
I decided, because so many people have different opinions, that I would go soley on the recommendation of one shop.

Frisbee

Cheers, and is their an aquatic village in Tallaght Village aswell?

WindSock

Most petshops have them.

Alkers

http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/option,com_gmaps/task,viewmap/Itemid,61/mapId,4/
Any of these should be good. Fish Fx in DL is the best pet shop for fish I've ever come across.

dbrock

fish fx is gone mate its under new owners now,, looks better than ever and is called fintastic aquatics,,, plus there is a big order coming in on thursday,,,

www.fintasticaquatics.ie

Frisbee

I was reading another post and it suggested there was an aquatic Village in Tallaght Village?
Is there?

nag

The only "Aquatic Village" is in Brittas (out past Tallaght) afaik.

Best Petshop to buy Tropical Fish in Dublin

prospect

nag wrote: »

The only "Aquatic Village" is in Brittas (out past Tallaght) afaik.

Best Petshop to buy Tropical Fish in Dublin

There is an Aquatic Village in Tallaght. II noticed a sign advertising it in their Brittas Store.

tdikeith

where you living
i work in relatively new pet shop in kilcock called budgies,we dont stock up too often so fish always well settled,all the favourites for community set ups are there. boss is very well up on fish and there every day.
just a suggestion cause i used to work in newlands garden centre and our downfall was too many fish stocked up and mixed weekly and fine we had a returns policy, somewhere good doesnt need to use theirs! we have one- dont need it
its also surprisingly cheap compared to a lot of other places
shop around but check out the cleanliness of tanks and colours of fish, tanks should be spotless and fish bright and alert

Jimkel

Petmania in santry is very cheap, I go there all the time, good selection of fish. Heaters around 22 euro, go for the Highest watt that will fit in your tank as it wont have to go on for long to heat the tank and therefore uses less electricity. For example a 300 watt heater will be on for half the time a 150 watt heater.

dbrock

Jimkel wrote: »

Petmania in santry is very cheap, I go there all the time, good selection of fish. Heaters around 22 euro, go for the Highest watt that will fit in your tank as it wont have to go on for long to heat the tank and therefore uses less electricity. For example a 300 watt heater will be on for half the time a 150 watt heater.

the only thing id worry about using a larger heater where not needed is that if the stat in the heater breaks and the heater is running all the time on full,,, well 300 watts will eventually kill your fish with the heat,,, never tried this so no idea how long it would take,,,

and even if a 300 watt heater is on half the time as a 150 watt heater,,,, its still using the same amount of electricity,,,

Fishyfreak

Before you start throwing all sorts of fish into the tank, let me ask you the following.

Do you know how to cycle the tank, i.e the Nitrogen Cycle. And what it is?
What type of filter is in the tank?
How many litres capacity is in the tank? This will help gauge what size heater to buy?
What substrate is in the tank? i.e Sand/Gravel.

Please do not buy fish and put them into the tank yet until you are sure that the filter can cope with the Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates that fish can produce.

Also for quality information get into "The Irish Tropical Fishkeepers" web-forum, myself and a heap of experienced keepers and breeders will be more than happy to assist and advise.

Best of luck.

Frisbee

Ok so have been having a look around and was looking at the following fish. Intending to gradually introduce them over the next few months and just want to know will these get along?

Black Ghost Knifefish
Neon Tetra
Black Molly
Golden Molly
Shark Cat Fish


Im mainly worried about the Shark Cat Fish as I've heard they can be kind of more aggressive than all the others?

Gary ITR

Frisbee wrote: »

Im mainly worried about the Shark Cat Fish as I've heard they can be kind of more aggressive than all the others?

The shark can be very aggressive, I had one and it killed my whole tank in the space of about two hours

Frisbee

Onkle wrote: »

The shark can be very aggressive, I had one and it killed my whole tank in the space of about two hours

Yeah thats pretty much exactly what I was worried about. I dont think that would go down too well...

Alkers

What do you mean by a shark cat fish? Got a link?

Fishyfreak

Shark Cat Fish is a common name used for many Catfish. Do you know the scientific name?

It is probably a "Pictus", if it is I wouldn't put any sort of small tetra with it?

As for the black Ghost Knifefish, another out of the question selection. It will become aggressive as it grows and may well become a tankbuster. Knifefish are predatory , and will systematically kill all of your small fish/tetras. They require a good hiding place, big tankmates and big aquarium,

What size tank is it? Have you began to cycle it yet before introducing any livestock?

Send me a pm and i will help you out with stocking the tank.

Frisbee

YeahI believe it was called a 'Piu Pictus' ?

Yeah thats what I thought about the Knifefish but I asked in Newlands Garden Centre and they assured me that they wouldnt be aggressive towards smaller fish. They also never mentioned that they get big...

As for the tank size its about 25 gallons or so?

Fishyfreak

Yeah, Pictus catfish hoover up small fish, particularly at night. Most tetras sleep at the bottom of the tank at night and they make for easy pickings.

25 gallons is a decent sized tank (about 125 litres). If you know any fishkeepers you should get some sponge from their already established tanks, this will kick start the filter in your tank and allow you to stock it fairly early.

Jimkel

dbrock wrote: »

the only thing id worry about using a larger heater where not needed is that if the stat in the heater breaks and the heater is running all the time on full,,, well 300 watts will eventually kill your fish with the heat,,, never tried this so no idea how long it would take,,,

and even if a 300 watt heater is on half the time as a 150 watt heater,,,, its still using the same amount of electricity,,,

but if any heater, even a small one breaks it will boil your fish, Even in a 15 watt heater. if the thermostat goes in a 300 watt it will just be quicker to boil the fish then a 150 watt. You will use LESS electricity with a higher wattage because you have to consider outside factors such as the cooling of the room the aquariums in at night. A 150 watt will take more then double the time then a 300 when fighting against a cold outside temp. Most modern heaters are very safe and some have a feature built in to disable the coil if the thermostat goes on the blink . I'm only offering you good advice here mate, go for the highest watt you can fit in the tank and save on ESB bills. I know this because I work in the industry.

Jimkel

Yeah shark cats a pretty loose term, Ive seen Red tailed catfish that can grow to over 300 pounds in weight named "Shark cats" in petshops, now thats one fish you do NOT want to keep in anything less then an indoor Lake!

Jimkel

Fishyfreak wrote: »

If you know any fishkeepers you should get some sponge from their already established tanks, this will kick start the filter in your tank and allow you to stock it fairly early.

haha Great advice mate I always advise people to do the same. It's nice to see someone who knows their fish here!;)

dbrock

Jimkel wrote: »

but if any heater, even a small one breaks it will boil your fish, Even in a 15 watt heater. if the thermostat goes in a 300 watt it will just be quicker to boil the fish then a 150 watt. You will use LESS electricity with a higher wattage because you have to consider outside factors such as the cooling of the room the aquariums in at night. A 150 watt will take more then double the time then a 300 when fighting against a cold outside temp. Most modern heaters are very safe and some have a feature built in to disable the coil if the thermostat goes on the blink . I'm only offering you good advice here mate, go for the highest watt you can fit in the tank and save on ESB bills. I know this because I work in the industry.

mate most modern heaters are sposed to have that so called built in fail safe ,,, well ive seen loads that dont,,,
and you aint saving that much to be honest a 150 watt heater running on full is 2.25 cent an hour,,,, when it will not be running on full any way,,,

so if and we are saying if the 150 watt heater was running on full a day it would cost you 54 cent,,,, wow

rates are bassed on the elec been 15 cent per kwh


bigger heaters where not needed do more damage when broken,,, and they do break,,,

im in both industries here so ive seen them all,,(elec and Fishy)

Jimkel

Ok mate if you say so I may be wrong this is just what Ive been told by a few people. I go with the largest watt heaters myself

dbrock

sorry mate didnt seem to sound like a wan@@r

just saying dont listen to everything you hear,,,

Frisbee

I just picked up a Black Ghost Knife Fish there this morning. I was planning on getting two but girl in the store advised me against getting two.
I was planning on getting two as if their is two large fish of similair size they might stay away from some of the smaller fish I have (black and golden molly).
Whereas if I only got one knifefish it would be by far the biggest in the tank and knock the smaller fish about?
So should I have two??

Fishyfreak

I'm not trying to be smart or sound like a pr*ck, but you really need to learn about good fish husbandry.

Black Ghost Knifefish are predatory and will grow very big eventually, it will be too big for your tank and will pick of your small fish one by one.

You may get lucky (as fish don't read books) but chances are this fish will eventually wreak havoc in your tank when it gets bigger.

If you are intent on keeping it you should supply it with a large tube to hide in, lack of a hiding place will stress the fish out. In the wild they are found among large roots/bogwood.

Your lighting should ideally be slightly dimmer than normal too.

Please god don't put two in the tank, one is bad enough?

Where did you buy it anyway, Newlands??? They would say mass out there to sell a fish.

Fishyfreak

Frisbee wrote: »

I was planning on getting two as if their is two large fish of similair size they might stay away from some of the smaller fish I have Whereas if I only got one knifefish it would be by far the biggest in the tank and knock the smaller fish about?
So should I have two??

I don't get your logic here, they would probably hunt in a pair. Have you ever seen Discus hunting in packs cornering tetras and nose-diving towards them.

Jimkel

Frisbee wrote: »

I just picked up a Black Ghost Knife Fish there this morning. I was planning on getting two but girl in the store advised me against getting two.
I was planning on getting two as if their is two large fish of similair size they might stay away from some of the smaller fish I have (black and golden molly).
Whereas if I only got one knifefish it would be by far the biggest in the tank and knock the smaller fish about?
So should I have two??

Black Knifefish are predetory, they spend most of their time lurking in a hole in some wood or in dense plants and ambush small fish that pass by, but they will also come out to hunt at night, they are what you would call a "tankbuster" you need big fish that can look after themselves with Black Knifefish. You should bring that fish back to the shop man before It kills anything.