Aquatic Specialist

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Aquatic Specialist We provide an aquarium & pond maintenance and installation service in Dorset. We are not open to the
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We have approximately 10-12 weeks remaining in the pond season. Regrettably, our current schedule is almost fully booked...
23/08/2024

We have approximately 10-12 weeks remaining in the pond season. Regrettably, our current schedule is almost fully booked. However, we are expanding next year and will have additional specialists on hand to accommodate the increasing demand. We sincerely apologise if you were unable to utilise our services this year due to our high booking volume. Thank you.

Karanteen (Sarpa salpa) picture here off the coast of Sardinia in the Mediterranean.
03/08/2024

Karanteen (Sarpa salpa) picture here off the coast of Sardinia in the Mediterranean.

The last couple of years we have been pretty much flat with work. We are booked up for months and have a bit of a waitin...
28/07/2024

The last couple of years we have been pretty much flat with work. We are booked up for months and have a bit of a waiting list so it's about time that I took some time off and guess what I do with that time? I spend most of the day in the water looking at fish. I was well chuffed to get a picture of this Sting Ray yesterday. It was a few hundred metres off shore in about 4m of water. Unfortunately the camera battery died so I only managed to get a couple of pics and not video. I've taken quite a few pictures and videos so far. I will select a few of the best and post them up.

Not shown this aquarium for a while. It's looking pretty dam good at the moment. A few months ago we changed over to  IC...
18/07/2024

Not shown this aquarium for a while. It's looking pretty dam good at the moment. A few months ago we changed over to ICP testing and started using a few of their elements too. I've got to say that their turn around time couldn't be quicker and so far I've found their element supplements to be really good and priced well. So far so good 👍

This job is a bit of a pain and really hard work. A complete clean was needed as it's been 3 years since it was last don...
16/07/2024

This job is a bit of a pain and really hard work. A complete clean was needed as it's been 3 years since it was last done. Everything needed to come out and washed. Quite satisfying once completed though.

We installed this Rio 240 juwel aquarium a couple of months ago in a child's play room. We set it up as a low tech plant...
12/07/2024

We installed this Rio 240 juwel aquarium a couple of months ago in a child's play room. We set it up as a low tech planted aquarium in our normal style to ensure nice plant growth and easy maintenance. It is slowly starting to fill out and the algae that often causes issues in the early stages has completely disappeared. This is the second Rio 240 we have installed in the last few months. This one was supplied by thanks guys for the excellent service again. 👍

This aquarium is pretty much there now. We installed this Juwel Rio 240 3 months ago as a low tech planted aquarium. The...
15/06/2024

This aquarium is pretty much there now. We installed this Juwel Rio 240 3 months ago as a low tech planted aquarium. The plants have matured nicely and algae growth has almost completely gone away. We are very pleased with the outcome and more importantly so is the client.

10/06/2024

Please be aware that I don't have a team of receptionists manning the phone so there are times when you will need to leave a message and wait for a reply rather than continuingly ringing.

This aquarium was installed about 13 years ago. It's set up simply with artificial plants, wood and some larva rock. Fis...
22/05/2024

This aquarium was installed about 13 years ago. It's set up simply with artificial plants, wood and some larva rock. Fish wise we have parrot fish, a load of rainbow fish and a couple of catfish. It's a popular tank with the residents of the home and the visitors.

This aquarium has now been running for 6 weeks. The water is now nice and stable and the plants are really coming on. It...
16/05/2024

This aquarium has now been running for 6 weeks. The water is now nice and stable and the plants are really coming on. It is almost fully stocked too. Algae growth is reducing now that the plants are maturing. Soon it will be a balanced system and will only require a monthly visit from us to keep it nice.

A simple Malawi cichlid aquarium set up in a doctor's surgery. The aquarium has been here for around 20 years. We took i...
02/05/2024

A simple Malawi cichlid aquarium set up in a doctor's surgery. The aquarium has been here for around 20 years. We took it on, last year. It is set up in the classic Malawi style with ocean rock and artificial plants. I think it's time for a bit of a re-vamp. Maybe some landscape stones and a few more fish. What do you think?

30/04/2024

Please be aware as of the 1st May, we are still unable to take on new pond clients and there is a back log of existing 'as and when' regular client jobs. The most frequent of customers will take priority so if we did clean your pond 4 years ago please don't expect us to turn up tomorrow if your pump stops. We will try our best to accommodate you if you have used us before.

Our hours of work are from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Unless you are a regular client and it is an emergency we will not answer. We are not an emergency service and we don't operate a 24 hour, 7 days a week hot line.

Aquariums are still only considered on an individual basis.

This is another aquarium which we took on a few months ago. It's a low tech planted system which just needed a bit of re...
25/04/2024

This is another aquarium which we took on a few months ago. It's a low tech planted system which just needed a bit of regular maintenance, some algae eaters and a trim plus a few new plants. It is starting to get back to how it should be after a bit of TLC.

Catching up with pond service visits. This pond I cleaned a couple of years ago and I've been back 2 or 3 times a year t...
18/04/2024

Catching up with pond service visits. This pond I cleaned a couple of years ago and I've been back 2 or 3 times a year to keep it nice. Today it was a spring clean, nee bulbs for the U.V and a filter clean. I also added a blanket w**d treatment.

Please be aware that we are currently fully booked for pond work at present. We will consider aquarium jobs but we are very limited on availability for new customers.

Yesterday I added the first fish to this install that I did just over a week ago. The plants were starting to grow and t...
16/04/2024

Yesterday I added the first fish to this install that I did just over a week ago. The plants were starting to grow and the water quality was spot on. Looking good already.

Another low tech planted aquarium that we maintain. This one is in a Doctor's Surgery. One visit a month keeps it in pre...
09/04/2024

Another low tech planted aquarium that we maintain. This one is in a Doctor's Surgery. One visit a month keeps it in pretty good nick.

A few more pictures of Cambridge Botanical Gardens. A very beautiful place to visit.
08/04/2024

A few more pictures of Cambridge Botanical Gardens. A very beautiful place to visit.

Working on a Saturday morning, that's how busy I am at the moment. We have a bit of a backlog of work so if you are wait...
06/04/2024

Working on a Saturday morning, that's how busy I am at the moment. We have a bit of a backlog of work so if you are waiting then please bear with us. Our regulars will also take priority, sorry.

This is a Juwel Rio 240 set up as a low tech planted aquarium. Most of the plants used are cuttings from other aquariums that we maintain. I bought just a handful of vallis and cryptos from Southern Aquatics this morning to fill in some expected gaps. There's no point spending a fortune on new plants when I take handfuls out of various aquariums that we maintain every week. The cuttings will take a few days to right themselves after being in a bag but they will root quickly and fill out to create a beautiful easy to maintain aquarium at a low cost. Update pictures will follow. I have another just like this to do in 10 days time, pretty much copy and paste.

05/04/2024
Yesterday was hard work, I'm definitely getting too old for this hard work 🤣. This water feature and pond needed some TL...
27/03/2024

Yesterday was hard work, I'm definitely getting too old for this hard work 🤣. This water feature and pond needed some TLC. The fountain was full of silt, completely full and solid! The Laguna filteration hadn't been serviced or cleaned in quite some time and we're also solid with muck. The sediment was being pumped from the pond through the blocked filters and then back into the pond again. A good filter service with new bulbs and sponges, it is all good again. I used quite a bit of the old water to help maintain a healthy bacteria level until the system becomes stable again. The pond should clear fully in a few days. Just look at that colour when I first started draining it!

Another one of our regular aquariums. This one featured on a short YouTube video on our channel a few years ago. It has ...
26/03/2024

Another one of our regular aquariums. This one featured on a short YouTube video on our channel a few years ago. It has changed very little since then. It is a very popular tank with visiting guests at this beautiful holiday let in the New Forest.

I have been looking after this beautiful planted aquarium for a couple of years now. It has matured lovely and continues...
23/03/2024

I have been looking after this beautiful planted aquarium for a couple of years now. It has matured lovely and continues to go from strength to strength. The filter copes beautifully with the waste. The easily removable filters are washed once a month which means I don't have to take the whole filter apart. I really enjoy working on the aquarium.

Time for a clean. Another of my regular maintenance visits.
22/03/2024

Time for a clean. Another of my regular maintenance visits.

First pond clean of the year and disaster strikes. Just after I took this photo I damaged a small section of the fibre g...
13/03/2024

First pond clean of the year and disaster strikes. Just after I took this photo I damaged a small section of the fibre glass with my foot. It is the first time in 20 Years that it's happened. The pond was well installed and bed down on sand but there must have been a small section that had washed away and I managed to put my foot on exactly the wrong spot at the wrong time. It is an easy fix with fibreglass and paint but a right pain in the arse as it takes days for the fibreglass and paint to dry. Needless to say that I've run over on what was a fairly straightforward job. Looks like I'm working Saturday! 😕

It's Friday and I'm cleaning this beautiful aquarium. Check out the little fella, making sure I don't miss a spot.      ...
08/03/2024

It's Friday and I'm cleaning this beautiful aquarium. Check out the little fella, making sure I don't miss a spot.

This is a new job which I took on just after Christmas. The client had some maintenance issues and the aquarium was in q...
07/03/2024

This is a new job which I took on just after Christmas. The client had some maintenance issues and the aquarium was in quite a mess. Slime algae covered everything and the fish had slowly dwindled away. It was an easy fix (for us). Drain and clean plus black out the aquarium completely for a week or so to ensure the slime algae couldn't return. Simple aquascape using the existing wood and rocks and a few new plants. I used only 3 shop bought potted plants here and a handful of cuttings from other aquariums which we maintain. I used a few fertiliser tablets which we make ourselves to ensure good plant growth and here we go 6 weeks later. Cheap, easy and effective. Now I'm not claiming any aquascaping awards with this but for a low tech planted aquarium it looks pretty good already. Low cost, fertiliser tablets work out at 20p each.

04/03/2024

Please be aware that we are currently very busy. We have no availability for pond work for the foreseeable future. We will however consider aquarium work on an individual basis.

29/02/2024

Charlie wants to let you know today is the last day to get 20% off the Juwel aquarium range 😀

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About us....

We have over 20 years experience within the fish farming and aquatics industry. The Aquatic Maintenance Business was established in 2003 and we opened our retail shop in Bournemouth in 2013. The shop closed in 2017 so that we could concentrate on the aquarium maintenance part of the business which has continued to grow and grow.

Aquatic Specialist provides the complete Aquatic Service from design, installation, stocking and long term maintenance. We specialise in providing quality aquariums either bespoke or off the shelf and can cater for both commercial and residential locations throughout Dorset and Hampshire. We maintain over 70 aquariums along the south coast. Our clients include Poole NHS trust, several schools, doctors surgery’s, jewellery shops, hotels, nurseries, nursing homes and many private customers. If you have an existing aquarium that needs a service we are able to help.