Dive into New Arrivals: Explore Northwest London's Biggest Aquatics Centre!
Hello and welcome, fellow aquatics enthusiasts! Harris Bard here from Pond Life Aquatics and Tropical Fish London. In this week's update, we're taking you on a tour of our latest and greatest fish stock, showcasing why we're Northwest London's biggest and best aquatic centre.
For those new to Pond Life Aquatics, we do things a little differently. Our fish room is organized continent by continent. This unique setup helps educate our visitors – from seasoned hobbyists to school groups – about the origins of different species, making your visit both enjoyable and informative.
South American Wonders: Livebearers, Tetras & More!
As you step into our fish house and turn left, you'll find our vibrant South American section. This week, we've received some truly stunning fish:
- Swordtails: These are fantastic beginner fish with pronounced sexual dimorphism, featuring long, sword-like tail fins on the males. Interestingly, if kept in single-sex groups, they can actually change gender to ensure reproduction! We recommend a minimum of 60-70 liters for these active livebearers. They're full of character and add a wonderful sense of scale to any aquarium.
- Blue Sunset Platies: Another easy-to-keep livebearer, these smaller, colorful fish (with blues, reds, and blacks) have settled in beautifully. They thrive in 60-70 liter aquariums and are perfect for a vibrant community tank.
- Dumbo Guppies: Our Dumbo Guppies are looking exceptionally healthy, adding to our strong livebearer collection.
- Red Whiptail Catfish: For a peaceful, community-friendly algae eater, you can't go wrong with these. They've become bolder throughout the week and are a great addition to any setup.
- Super Red Ancistrus: These gorgeous algae eaters came in as a pleasant surprise, appearing as super reds despite being a mixed color order. We've set them to work in our Endler Guppy (Poecilia wingei) tank, and they're doing an amazing job.
Moving further down, our tetra selection is looking excellent. We still have those beautiful Black Neon Tetras from last week, alongside fresh Rummy-nose Tetras, Cardinal Tetras, and Bentosi Tetras (which sold out quickly last time!). Our Diamond Tetras are also doing well. If you're looking to add to your shoals, definitely give us a shout!
And for those who love bottom dwellers, our Corydoras stock is fantastic! We have Similis Corydoras, fresh Sterbai Corys, and Peppered Corydoras. Corydoras are one of my favourite species – so fun, vibrant, and peaceful, adding dynamic movement to the lower levels of your tank. Remember, stocking your tank with a variety of bottom, mid, and top dwellers creates a visually rich and balanced ecosystem.
In this section, you'll also find our diverse range of Apistogrammas, all thriving, and a variety of L-number catfish (often referred to as Plecos), though they can be quite shy for the camera!
Larger South American Species & Exciting New Arrivals
On the right-hand side of the aquarium, we house our larger South American fish:
- Koi Angelfish: We're steadily selling through our absolutely beautiful Koi Angelfish from last week. There are only about five left, so if you're in the market, be sure to check our current stock!
- Baby Parrot Fish: Our Baby Parrot Fish are also finding new homes.
- L068 Gold Spot Pleco: I managed to get some fantastic footage of this guy! With his striking black coloration and bright white spots, he's truly special. At around £50, his beauty and unique appearance certainly justify the price compared to your average Ancistrus. He's perfect if you're looking for an L-number catfish that stands out.
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Hard Water Bred Blue Cobalt Discus: We are incredibly excited about these! To keep our Discus shoal happy and healthy, we've brought in two stunning Blue Cobalt Discus. They are hard water bred and tank bred, making them ideal for many home aquariums, and they’re priced the same as our other juvenile Discus. Their deep blue colorations are truly captivating, and I don't expect them to stay long. Maintaining a sufficient Discus shoal helps them display their best colours, and we're committed to keeping our stock high-quality and consistent. If you're looking for hard water bred Blue Cobalt Discus in London, come down to Pond Life Aquatics!
Asian Diversity: Bettas, Loaches & Rainbowfish
Moving into our Asian section on the left, you’ll find:
- Candy Cane Galaxy Female Betta Splendens: These beautiful Bettas are looking absolutely stunning. We’ve had different batches over the past few months, and they never disappoint.
- Torpedo Barbs: Our new Torpedo Barbs are a really good size, fat and healthy.
- Pakistani Loaches: A consistent customer favourite, these loaches are adored for their exceptional snail-eating capabilities.
- Asian Rummy-nose and Honey Gouramis continue to thrive.
- Glass Catfish: We've received some fresh Glass Catfish that are doing exceptionally well.
- Hillstream Loaches: These fantastic algae eaters are having a real moment online, and for good reason! Often called "Hong Kong Plecs," they prefer fast-moving water and smooth surfaces. Keep them in small groups and feed them a high-quality algae wafer. They come in a variety of colours, including blue spot, red spot, green, and leopard.
- Golden Zebra Danios, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, and Rainbow Medakas are also looking great.
- Golden Wonders: These top-dwelling species are back in stock, perfect for a 100-liter tank. The males develop deep red threads through their tails, while females have gorgeous sparkling green bodies.
- Rainbow Danios: Our Rainbow Danios are also looking particularly nice this week.
Shop Enhancements: Lighting Up Our Goldfish & Shiners!
Down at the end of the aquarium, we have exciting news about our shop lighting! Our goldfish and Rainbow Shiner tanks, which previously lacked good illumination, now boast fantastic new lights, thanks to a discount from Superfish and Aqua-Distor (a big shout out to Alistair!). The difference is incredible, truly making this end of the aquarium light up. We plan to update our barb tanks and other areas with these lights soon.
- Red Cap Orandas and Black Moors are looking magnificent under the new lights.
- Rainbow Shiners: These spectacular fish are getting a lot of attention! Many people are interested in keeping them in smaller outdoor ponds (around 350 liters), where they thrive and are less prone to predation by herons than fancy goldfish. With the new lighting, their colours are truly popping, and we expect them to be even more popular!
Dedicated Fighter Fish & Aquascaping Projects
Moving to our dedicated Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta) range, our fighters are all looking extraordinarily well. We also have a variety of Neocaridina shrimp (whites, oranges, reds, and blues). We’ve even upgraded the lighting in this section with RGB lights, which looks exceptionally good.
While some of our aquascapes are due for an overhaul due to some black beard algae, I’ll be spending more time in the shop over the next couple of weeks to refresh them. This brings me to a question for you, our viewers!
Australia & Africa: Blue-Eye Rainbows, Cichlids & More!
Our Australian section has some exciting new additions:
- Pseudomugil gertrudae (Blue-Eye Rainbows): Not to be confused with Pseudomugil luminatus (which we've had in for a while), these are truly special. They have greenish-tinted, stripy bodies with bright blue eyes. While juveniles don't show their full adult beauty, the males develop a thread-thin rainbow body composition. These diminutive beauties stay around three centimeters long, can happily be kept in a 45-liter aquarium, and are ideal for heavily planted aquascapes, where they often breed.
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Juvenile Boesemani Rainbows: As some of you pointed out last week, rainbowfish take time to colour up. These Boesemani Rainbows have a beautiful iridescent blue reminiscent of Praecox Rainbowfish and will develop stunning yellows as they mature. Watching a juvenile fish grow and develop its colours is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby!
Finally, in our African section, we’ve sold a lot of Malawi Cichlids this week! Our tank is a bit leaner, but we still have beautiful Yellow Lab Cichlids and gorgeous Dragon Bloods. We'll be bringing in more cichlids soon to keep our stock levels up – perhaps Sulfur Heads or more Giraffe Cichlids. If there are specific Malawi Cichlids you'd like to see, please let us know!
Our Ocellatus are still looking amazing, and our Congo Tetras are truly developing – at £8 each or six for £45, they’re an absolute steal! We also have gorgeous fan shrimp and Blue Cobalt Armored Shrimp, alongside everyone's favourite, Dwarf African Frogs.
Plant Stock Update
This week, we received a light plant order as we prepare for a major overhaul of our plant tanks. However, we did get some excellent floating plants, including Limnobium laevigatum (Frogbit), Salvinia minima, and Phyllanthus fluitans (Red Root Floater). We also received some beautiful Cryptocoryne and a variety of other popular plants.