Aah thanks so much, it's these kind of comments that keep me going. Glad you are finding the channel useful. I have a feeling that Fridays upload is going to be right up your street! 👍
Great advice mate. 👍 your channel helped me with cheap co2, and so much more insight into how to achieve the high tech look with the fraction of the price. Thank you
Great advice, I saw the economy becoming very unstable, U was planning on having two high tech tanks, but I settle with just two one high tech and the other low tech, best of both worlds and it was the best decision I ever made when it comes to this hobby, I am enjoying the hobby even more by having so much more time to enjoy my tanks. 👍
Apart from 2 Maidenhead aquatics retailers, there's literally no Local fish shops in northern Cumbria unfortunately. The last small mum and pop shop is closing this week that is near me because their electric bill went from £500 a month to £1500, such a shame as the older couple have been open for over 40 years
Ouch, that is such a shame. We only have two small independents in Cardiff and I worry about both of them with everything that's going going on. It's such a tricky business unless you approach it at scale, but we'll lose so much knowledge and variety if they are allowed go under! 🤞🤞
Fantastic advice, your speaking my language I'm obsessed with power consumption using cheaper (works as well) options. I run a small fishroom in my garage it's insulation with polystyrene but I'm bulldozing it to build a bigger one I will be using a top rated insulation 80mm thick. With the information I have gathered over the past few years it will cost on electric approx £120 a month room size will be 4 meters square.20+ tanks. Filtration system will be air . Chlorinator don't use any I keep a barrel of water in fishroom at moment and let it sit for few days for temperature to rise and chlorine to evaporate my water is not city water it pretty good .. all lighting is led .. some time people in this hobby gets down due to costs £120 a month on electric yes it's an big cost but I would spend that on a night out or on stupid stuff. But your 2 fingers up to the establishment and greedy fat cats and enjoy you hobby and nature don't let them get into your head and drive you away from wat you enjoy... I enjoy your content keep going 👍👍
Thanks for this. My local scene is dominated by two firms. It is a good 30 mile round trip to a mediocre independent store, large, but rundown and badly insulated. My local options are two fold. Pets at Home, with their relatively low prices on livestock, but with fish not always in tip top condition and frankly past their non-existent sell by date Tropica plants in plastic packaging hung at room temperature. I asked Tropica to put sell by dates and storage advice on packaging, but of course they leave decisions to retailers, thus the dying plants hanging sadly in public view. Pets at Home also have little useful advice to provide, the sales team with basic training on essentially minimum wages. Sometimes an enthusiastic youngster does give advice to an old hand, which is simply excruciating, even if well meant. No serious CO2 equipment or anything unusual or advanced in any way. Maidenhead Aquatics. My local store does not look attractive, no interesting display tanks and can be rather grumpily managed. And little by the way of serious CO2 equipment, and though livestock is usually in good condition, prices are, to put it mildly high. Neither store has a heat pump so gas is used and, predictably, not efficiently - large badly insulated open access fish housing. In days of old, stores had dark insulated rooms, with the tank lights providing the illumination, with internal doors to keep the heat in. There is a good Maidenhead Aquatics store in Wilton which has excellent display tanks and is full of friendly and interested staff but that is a 100 mile round trip there and back for me. Hardly local, but my nearest really good store. So, what do I do most of the time? The same as most high tech fish keepers I resort to the internet. My pennyworth of advice would be to think about cost benefit when spending. Fancy lights are often better but are they three four times better or 20% more effective? Do you really need to heat each tank individually or could you insulate and use space heating? Do you really need a big canister filter? Cylinder CO2, go big it is much cheaper. Better still, go green, think about using yeast & sugar and natural substrates. My personal plans are to, in due course, move over to under gravels with yeast and sugar CO2 and cheap LED floodlights, but with expensive serviceable kit that might be a few years away. But heating is a challenge, I have Rummy nose tetra fish, 23 C is the minimum according to my books, my experience is, take that with a 'pinch of salt', so I am committed to keeping the tank at around 25, on the basis 24 is a low as I dare go, but, I have insulated the back panel, which so far seems to have helped stop temperature fluctuations. Anyway, hope that helps develop some ideas.
Hi William, thanks for such an in-depth reply. Sorry to hear you don't have any good independent options. Without naming names, the issue you have outlined was precisely what I was getting at, and I too share the frustration about Tropica plants sitting on a shelf slowly dieing and somehow still costing the same after several weeks of neglect. We will definitley be left with a bland and homegenous hobby if those two examples are all that is left to visit. I'm a little frustrated that I forgot to include your point about heating the space. It is such an obvious one, and something I regularly do a calculation for. At the moment, I am about two tanks away from it making economical sense to heat the room instead of the tank. Good luck with your plans, I hope some of my upcoming videos will provide some inspiration. They are in a similar vein!
I'm a new reptile breeder ( frillys , leos , crocodile skinks . ) was really looking forward to the future last year but since April this energy issue is a absolute joke . Our income didn't go up by 300% so why has the essential bills . The government need to raise minimum wage to 60k a year just to keep in line with this price increase.
@@AquariumShed thank you . We was looking at opening a shop but all that's on hold till things settle . The dreams to have a educational mini reptile zoo, with our own stock of starter reptiles and slightly more advanced like leos and frillys . The dreams to have it set up that any one old or young can come in and enjoy the reptiles thriving. I'm still holding on to the dream . The government might take all our money but they won't ever take our dreams .
Five years from now, I expect that a lot of your chemicals will come from Holland or US-Canada rather than Germany. And if you can get cheap sponge filters and LED lights, they may be coming from India, Malaysia or Sweden and won't be quite so cheap. Both Germany and China are in serious trouble, but as long as there is a demand, it will be filled. But I can certainly see a few years when manufacturing moves, supply chains cease and the world sorts its self out. My recommendation is, if you see a bargain (and anything coming from China is already a bargain) then you may want to stock up. We have never had it so good, and it will probably never be this good again.
I am really glad, and fortunate, to have found your channel. Such good advice, and practical as well - binge watching your uploads.
Aah thanks so much, it's these kind of comments that keep me going. Glad you are finding the channel useful. I have a feeling that Fridays upload is going to be right up your street! 👍
Excellent. Great, well-balanced advice for everyone.
Aah thanks so much, glad you felt I hit the mark. Was tricky balancing all of my thoughts. Thanks for watching! 👍
Some great, sound advice and straight to the point. The first video I've watched of yours and I liked it, thank you.
Aah thanks so much. Glad you found the channel, hopefully a few of my other videos are up your street too! Cheers. 👍
Great advice mate. 👍 your channel helped me with cheap co2, and so much more insight into how to achieve the high tech look with the fraction of the price. Thank you
Amazing! Glad my approach is resonating with people and that it is helping people to find a balance between low tech and high tech! Cheers. 👍
Great advice, I saw the economy becoming very unstable, U was planning on having two high tech tanks, but I settle with just two one high tech and the other low tech, best of both worlds and it was the best decision I ever made when it comes to this hobby, I am enjoying the hobby even more by having so much more time to enjoy my tanks. 👍
That's a really good idea, you'll be learning so much more from the variety of approaches too! Thanks for watching! 👍
Apart from 2 Maidenhead aquatics retailers, there's literally no Local fish shops in northern Cumbria unfortunately. The last small mum and pop shop is closing this week that is near me because their electric bill went from £500 a month to £1500, such a shame as the older couple have been open for over 40 years
Ouch, that is such a shame. We only have two small independents in Cardiff and I worry about both of them with everything that's going going on. It's such a tricky business unless you approach it at scale, but we'll lose so much knowledge and variety if they are allowed go under! 🤞🤞
Fantastic advice, your speaking my language I'm obsessed with power consumption using cheaper (works as well) options. I run a small fishroom in my garage it's insulation with polystyrene but I'm bulldozing it to build a bigger one I will be using a top rated insulation 80mm thick. With the information I have gathered over the past few years it will cost on electric approx £120 a month room size will be 4 meters square.20+ tanks. Filtration system will be air . Chlorinator don't use any I keep a barrel of water in fishroom at moment and let it sit for few days for temperature to rise and chlorine to evaporate my water is not city water it pretty good .. all lighting is led .. some time people in this hobby gets down due to costs £120 a month on electric yes it's an big cost but I would spend that on a night out or on stupid stuff. But your 2 fingers up to the establishment and greedy fat cats and enjoy you hobby and nature don't let them get into your head and drive you away from wat you enjoy... I enjoy your content keep going 👍👍
nice video keep them coming
Cheers mate, really appreciate the support! 👍
Thanks for this.
My local scene is dominated by two firms. It is a good 30 mile round trip to a mediocre independent store, large, but rundown and badly insulated. My local options are two fold.
Pets at Home, with their relatively low prices on livestock, but with fish not always in tip top condition and frankly past their non-existent sell by date Tropica plants in plastic packaging hung at room temperature. I asked Tropica to put sell by dates and storage advice on packaging, but of course they leave decisions to retailers, thus the dying plants hanging sadly in public view. Pets at Home also have little useful advice to provide, the sales team with basic training on essentially minimum wages. Sometimes an enthusiastic youngster does give advice to an old hand, which is simply excruciating, even if well meant. No serious CO2 equipment or anything unusual or advanced in any way.
Maidenhead Aquatics. My local store does not look attractive, no interesting display tanks and can be rather grumpily managed. And little by the way of serious CO2 equipment, and though livestock is usually in good condition, prices are, to put it mildly high.
Neither store has a heat pump so gas is used and, predictably, not efficiently - large badly insulated open access fish housing. In days of old, stores had dark insulated rooms, with the tank lights providing the illumination, with internal doors to keep the heat in.
There is a good Maidenhead Aquatics store in Wilton which has excellent display tanks and is full of friendly and interested staff but that is a 100 mile round trip there and back for me. Hardly local, but my nearest really good store.
So, what do I do most of the time? The same as most high tech fish keepers I resort to the internet.
My pennyworth of advice would be to think about cost benefit when spending. Fancy lights are often better but are they three four times better or 20% more effective? Do you really need to heat each tank individually or could you insulate and use space heating? Do you really need a big canister filter? Cylinder CO2, go big it is much cheaper. Better still, go green, think about using yeast & sugar and natural substrates.
My personal plans are to, in due course, move over to under gravels with yeast and sugar CO2 and cheap LED floodlights, but with expensive serviceable kit that might be a few years away.
But heating is a challenge, I have Rummy nose tetra fish, 23 C is the minimum according to my books, my experience is, take that with a 'pinch of salt', so I am committed to keeping the tank at around 25, on the basis 24 is a low as I dare go, but, I have insulated the back panel, which so far seems to have helped stop temperature fluctuations.
Anyway, hope that helps develop some ideas.
Hi William, thanks for such an in-depth reply.
Sorry to hear you don't have any good independent options. Without naming names, the issue you have outlined was precisely what I was getting at, and I too share the frustration about Tropica plants sitting on a shelf slowly dieing and somehow still costing the same after several weeks of neglect. We will definitley be left with a bland and homegenous hobby if those two examples are all that is left to visit.
I'm a little frustrated that I forgot to include your point about heating the space. It is such an obvious one, and something I regularly do a calculation for. At the moment, I am about two tanks away from it making economical sense to heat the room instead of the tank.
Good luck with your plans, I hope some of my upcoming videos will provide some inspiration. They are in a similar vein!
Got all excited then thinking I just sold multiple items on eBay! 😂😂.
Great video as all ways👍
I'm a new reptile breeder ( frillys , leos , crocodile skinks . ) was really looking forward to the future last year but since April this energy issue is a absolute joke . Our income didn't go up by 300% so why has the essential bills . The government need to raise minimum wage to 60k a year just to keep in line with this price increase.
Aah man, its such a nightmare to be starting out right now with everything that is going on. Wishing you all the success possible!
@@AquariumShed thank you . We was looking at opening a shop but all that's on hold till things settle . The dreams to have a educational mini reptile zoo, with our own stock of starter reptiles and slightly more advanced like leos and frillys . The dreams to have it set up that any one old or young can come in and enjoy the reptiles thriving. I'm still holding on to the dream . The government might take all our money but they won't ever take our dreams .
Hear, Hear! Not to mention those ridiculously priced fert. capsules - make your own for pennies!
100% Adding the word aquarium to a product seems to be a licence to print money sometimes! Which ironically would be really useful right now..... lol
Five years from now, I expect that a lot of your chemicals will come from Holland or US-Canada rather than Germany. And if you can get cheap sponge filters and LED lights, they may be coming from India, Malaysia or Sweden and won't be quite so cheap.
Both Germany and China are in serious trouble, but as long as there is a demand, it will be filled. But I can certainly see a few years when manufacturing moves, supply chains cease and the world sorts its self out. My recommendation is, if you see a bargain (and anything coming from China is already a bargain) then you may want to stock up. We have never had it so good, and it will probably never be this good again.
Great video as always. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate the support! 👍
💪 Ｐｒⓞм𝕠𝕤𝐌