Magazine

School of the Year Marlpool Primary School

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In a departure from the usual format, here’s a fish which is currently arriving in our stores for all the wrong reasons. The Marbled clarias (Clarias batrachus) is a domestic strain of a fish that is also known as the Walking catfish. With an adult size of around 45cm, this tough and rather belligerent food fish is being sold as tiny, adorable youngsters by a number of irresponsible retailers – most of which are unable to house them when customers attempt to return them

As the weather cools and focus shifts indoors, the ‘trop season’ is upon us. Since the last one there’s been some changes to the names of things with Corydoras catfish and now it seems tetras being reclassified. Predictably, it takes suppliers a while to catch up with these name changes and many people will be pleased to hear that common names are pretty much unaffected.

Traditionally there’s a number of species that are bred and sold to us with the wrong names and have

Triggerfishes are some of the most responsive and rewarding marine fish pets but are often loveable rogues with borderline psychotic tendencies

Let’s look at temperate fishes. They’re not cold water but they’re not tropical either – most importantly they thrive at room temperature. The most significant aspect is that they’re a far better choice for modestly sized set ups than goldfish.

Cichlids are a very diverse group of fishes and if you were so inclined, you could find species for pretty much every type of aquarium whether community, unheated temperate (even summer pond!), or marine. The early days of the hobby were characterised by experiences of keeping territorial species of this group in tanks that were often too small to allow any tankmates to keep a healthy distance from angry parental cichlids and so a reputation was born.

Welcome to a new year! Traditionally a time of resolutions and change, as well as freezing weather. After the usual feasting and merriment, those who make resolutions will be joining gyms, giving up smoking, trying to swear less (or at least only under due provocation!) and perhaps be better fish keepers. Having done most of the above at some point, I can tell you that the last one is probably the easiest of the lot...

February can be a changeable month, with glimpses of spring between reminders that winter’s not intending on going down without a fight…Check out our top tips for fishkeeping indoors and out!

With signs of spring everywhere, it’s time to embrace the start of a new pond season before the warmth of Easter brings the traditional start of the outdoor season.  

The coming of Easter means it’s time for things to wake up in the spring garden and this month sees sunny days win over cold nights. In response, fish and aquatic wildlife become more active and plants start growing and flowering. With the current shenanigans taking place, it’s good to know that the water garden can absorb all the time you can give it…

Bank holidays have been a rollercoaster of high and low temperatures and we’ve had a good amount of rain. It can only mean one thing – spring is here!

This summer has been a record-breaker and continues to provide tropical temperatures, no matter how ‘cold water’ your fishes may be.

After the heat of summer, September is the point where pond keepers need to start planning for what’s to come.

So, it’s the time of year when nature shrugs off her summer splendour to take on the glorious glowing tints of autumn. For less romantically inclined water gardeners it’s the time when leaves start to get everywhere!

As the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness gives way to winter there are far fewer leaves on the trees. It’s time to go and fish them out of the pond and make the most of the warm autumn weather before it really does get cold out there. We may have had the first frosts but it takes a little longer for ponds to cool. Indoors, it’s always tropical...

So, here we are again – the robins are briefed and ready, the mistletoe is looking nervous and the stores are bracing themselves to explain to last minute gift shoppers that fish can’t be gifted in a brand new aquarium purchased the previous day. Here are our top fishkeeping tips for indoors and out for December.

Everybody knows what Dory looks like (it is the school holidays after all) but this has to be one of the most unique Regal tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus) that we’ve ever seen.