Grange Aquatics and Water Gardens

20/12/2024

Plants plants plants🪴🌱

19/12/2024

Our final shipment of fish before Christmas has arrived, and we’ve added a little something special this time around… 👀👀

🐠 Back by popular demand, we have a small selection of Platinum Polar Parrot Cichlids, and some Blue Polar Parrots to compliment them 👀

🐋 Opal Angelfish and Bleeding Heart Ghost Seal Angelfish - Two unusual species that stand out beautifully as ornamental fish in larger aquariums (Our resident Angelfish lover is quite pleased with them too)🪽

🐧 Penguin Tetra! They may not glide across the ice on their bellies like their bird counterparts, but these lovely coloured tetras can still create an eye catching shoal in any tropical aquarium

And something new…
Baby Spotted Puffers! They are still tiny small and we have a limited number, so grab one while they are here!

With Christmas around the corner it’s the ideal time to add in a little something different to the tank 👀👀

The Grange Team 🙂

19/12/2024

Our new plants have arrived!! 🌱🌱

19/12/2024

Don’t forget Christmas gifts for your fish this year 🎄🎅

16/12/2024

“What’s the best way to scape my aquarium and what should I put inside it?” 🤔

It’s question we hear a lot a Grange, so we thought we’d pass on a few hints and tips that might help next time you decide on a revamp (or a new tank!) 🐠

There are two basic designs when scaping a fish tank, naturalistic and ornamental. Naturalistic involves more live plant, rock, bogwood and other naturally forming/growing pieces of scenery, while ornamental focuses more on artificial accessories such as ship wrecks, plastic plants, castles, tiki heads and more.

There is no ‘best layout’ for a natural aquarium, as different plants and species of fish will have different requirements and care standards that need to be met in order for them to thrive.🪵 Naturalistic scaping quite literally means creating a perfect slice of the wild habitat the fish originally come from and recreating it inside our homes, and might look anywhere from bright, sandy and stone covered to dim, quiet and tanin stained. These tank layouts are perfectly suited to keepers who want to get the most out their fish in terms of natural behaviors. Many fish, especially Cichlids species such as Discus and Angelfish, will display more colouration, breeding dances and hierarchy ladders in an aquarium that perfectly replicates the Amazon river from which they come.

Ornamental tanks are arguably much more colourful and creative and give the keeper a massive range of different plants, ornaments and wrecks to choose from when designing their aquariums🚢 In the case of these tanks, we recommend the perfect layout involve a decent sized centrepiece. This might be a large stone, a submarine wreck, a diving helmet or even just a figurine!🎅🏼 The centrepiece creates focus and draws attention to the tank, as well as providing a theme to build on. Those choosing shipwrecks might opt for other smaller wrecks, boat wheels, or masts to go around the centrepiece, creating a debris field, and a tank with a castle at its centre may be complimented with bridges, dragons, knights and other fantasy objects.

🌱Plants, plastic or not, are always essential within the aquarium as they provide shade from bright tank lights, resting and hiding points for the fish and may be the boundary marker for more territorial individual. At Grange we always recommend live plants over plastic - they look fantastic, keep algae levels under control and provide additional oxygen to the fish 🐟 it is best to place smaller plants to front and sides of the tank and larger specimens at the rear, giving a nice flow of ornaments across the space.

Sand or gravel? It’s a question as old as time! Neither is better than the other and both will make for brilliant substrates, the keeper should decide on what fish they wish to keep before choosing a substrate. Corydoras, Otocinclus and other catfish will prefer digging in sand, whereas Angelfish and small Tetra species will prefer a washed gravel bedding to remind them of home💧

Which of the two layouts do you prefer? 👀 Let us know in the comments! 🐟

The Grange Team 😊

09/12/2024

Get rid of those pest snails! Completely safe to use.. no need to worry about putting medication in your tank that might upset your fish especially if you have shrimps….it works we’ve tried it!

09/12/2024

Pest Snail Catchers! Those pesky little buggers are the bane of the fish world! Ruins the aesthetic of your aquarium!
We put one in the tank with a little cucumber as bait and 48 hours later we must of caught 30 of the little buggers! Winning! If you have the same issue we sell them at the Grange

09/12/2024

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… (almost)🎄🎄🎅🏼🎅🏼

We will be operating on a slighter shorter week starting the 24th of December and ending the 1st January 2025 to give our fantastic Aquatic and Reptile staff some well earned time to relax and unwind over the Christmas period.

We’re not closed all day for any of the holiday though, the Grange teams champ it all the way through the year to keep all you wonderful aquatic and reptile keepers of the area well stocked and well looked after 💪🏼

07/12/2024

Something special has arrived in our store… 👀👀

Hailing from the ‘Luagawa’ locality of Lake Tanganyika, Grange is now home to a beautiful little shoal of Frontosa Cichlids, and we couldn’t be happier with them! 🫧
Much like other members of the Cichlid family, Frontosa’s reach a moderate to large length in adulthood and are an omnivorous species, feeding on a mixed diet of pellets, sticks, livefoods such as mysis shrimp and mosquito larvae, prawns and other meaty frozen foods (we’ve been told they are quite fond of mussels, too!🦐) Despite their large adult size, this species of Cichlid is a relatively peaceful fish, mixing well with other Lake Tanganyika/Malawi Cichlids of a similar size. They are best kept away from larger, more aggressive fish - they can be easily intimidated! 🐠

Frontosa’s thrive best in groups of 5-10 in a low to medium lit aquarium, in which they can form their own sophisticated hierarchy chain and pecking order. A large male will often control a territory and group consisting of a few females and some younger, more immature males. Caves, smooth stones and sand make for an ideal setup - Frontosa’s will pick their own territories, and it isn’t unheard of for pairs to form and spawn within home aquaria 👀👶🏼

The Frontosa in our store are locally captive bred and raised in tap water conditions, so there’s no need to worry about mimicking wild lake temperatures and balances - they can be added straight to your current tank 🐟🐟
This particular locality is rare in aquaria and would make a staggering standout addition to a Cichlid setup. With a wonderfully long lifespan to match a colourful and charismatic personality, these are fish that will keep a tank looking beautiful for years to come. 🪼🐬

The Grange team 🙂

04/12/2024

And we’ll tell you something else that’s shrimptastic….Shrimps! 🦐 Another handy little helper to maintain a clean and healthy tank environment….
Nibbling away at all the unavoidable algae that settles its self all over your plants and aquarium decor…shrimps are definitely something that add to your tank rather than take away. Not to mention how pretty they are in themselves and how fantastic they are to watch while they work…

04/12/2024

Look closely at our Violet Clams… They are filter feeding!! 🐚

But how do they do it? 👀
Since Violet Clams aren’t the quickest at moving and don’t have a true mouth like fish, they have adapted to feed on the tiny detritus (particle sized pieces of waste and food) in the water.

The Violet Shells open their bivalve shells just a fraction, exposing the gill filaments on the inside. Along these filaments are large numbers of hair like tubes, called cilia. As the gill filaments catch particles and tiny food items in the water, the cilia move the food to the clams mouth to be digested. Simple!

The removal of these minuscule sized pieces of waste in the tank promotes better water health and quality, making for a cleaner aquarium and happier fish. They really are a win/win addition 🥇

The grange team 🙂

03/12/2024

Neon Stripe Gobies 🐠

Hailing from the shallow tropical streams of Indonesia, Papa New Guinea, New Caledonia and the Philippines, this beautiful Algae eater makes for a brilliant addition to small and large aquariums alike, and especially aquascape tanks! Growing to maximum of 5.5cm, these gobies are Algae and biofilm feeders, eating the natural green that grows on the glass and along ornaments, plants, and tank gravel (although they won’t say no to an algae wafer or two!)
The Gobies require a well filtered and highly oxygenated tank with a bright LED light to stimulate algae growth, as well as peaceful tank mates such as tetras, minnows and other smaller bottom feeders like Corydoras or Otocinclus. As this species exhibits a fantastic social structure (with males staying solitary and females grouping together) they should also be kept in group of three or more when possible 🐟

29/11/2024

Black Friday deals are here!! 🐠
And not just for one day - we will be carrying our deals across the entire weekend too! Since a certain holiday is just around the corner (🎅🏼) now is the best time to grab a sweet deal on a new fish tank 👀👀

Our Aquaverse Aquarium range are all now on offer, with or without their cabinets - these tanks come equipped with LED light units that have a day and a night setting, and also include a small filter pump 🐟

Marina Aquariums and cabinets - coming in 60L and 87L have filters, heaters and a dimmable LED light units 🎣

And the star of the show, the Ciano 150 Aquarium - this 5 foot beast comes with heating, lighting and filtration, is now £550 down from £799!

The Grange Team 🙂

28/11/2024

Did you know there are over 150 different types of Corydoras Catfish?

Found all across South America, Corydoras thrive in fast moving waters and feed on almost anything they can fit inside thier mouths! These little guys are very social with one another and make the perfect addition to a community tank that needs a cleanup crew!

What’s better for them though - sand or gravel?

While sand is preferred by Cory’s, they aren’t too fussed! They can often be seen ‘diving’ headfirst into the substrates to forage for food items, sifting sand through their gills and feeding on what they find inside (Our Albino Cory has provided a perfect demonstration in the pictures!) While sand is certainly easier to bury in, gravel still works too! As you can see, our Corydoras thrive on both in the shop 🏬

Here at Grange we have Cory’s ranging from Bronze, Albino and Peppered to the more uniquely patterned Sterbai, Julii and the absolutely beautiful Gold Laser. New to Grange, we also have some fantastic locally bred Panda Corydoras too!
If you’re looking for a helping hand to clean the bottom of the tank or even just a little something to liven your aquarium up, these are guys for you!

The Grange Aquatics team 🙂

27/11/2024

27/11/2024

27/11/2024

Perfect pink powerful poisson (that’s French for fish btw!) a strong hardy peaceful fish 🐟

27/11/2024

Tri-colour treats! An amazing mix of vibrant colours all on one fish! Friendly and fantastical!