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Where to buy in the North West.

Swell UK are website only, but you can collect from their warehouse in Hyde (see opening times on their website).
 
Pets at Home in Oldham,
Unit 5 Elk Mill
Retail Park,
Broadway Royton,
Oldham,
OL2 5HX

Not too bad. Had lots of luck with fish I have purchased from there to the point where I'm questioning whether or not it's luck or whether they are actually well kept! Last batch of cardinals had whitespot though.

Good selection of tropical fish, snails and shrimp but cold water section is not great.

Plant selection is progressively getting better with new species coming all the time. They are normally very healthy too. Spent a lot of money in there on plants and staff are very helpful.

Again Maidenhead at Ashton is my other go to place. Staff friendly and very helpful. Good plant selection and can order in anything you like on their database.
 
Update on the Abyss. There is a new member of staff who knows his plants. As a result they now have a very impressive selection of potted plants (Aquadip and Tropica) and culture pots (Tropica).

Took the 70 mile trip to a certain shop in Wrexham earlier this week; Abyss had the better selection of plants.
 
I'm off to The Abyss on sunday for a scout around to see if they have any plants I like the look of, I'll report back sunday evening
 
I always find The Abyss to be the best around for most stuff, unless your after a rare pleco/cory then Pier Aquatics is a great visit. Like others have said, they have recently got much better plants. I think last time I was there I got 3 big portions of monte carlo for around £6.

All the staff are great and if you speak to them they can normally attempt to get most things for you, whether it's fish/shrimp/plants. I wish they gave an employee a decently sized tank for a great planted aquascape though, could look stunning alongside their big reef.
 
Visited Water World in Altrincham today. Underwhelming. Plants were looking a bit unloved. Nice selection of Rift Valley cichlids.

Called in at Abyss on the way home. Heaving. Very very busy. Wonder when they'll open up their new room? Plants were top notch. I really should save myself time and effort and only visit here.

Visited Maidehead Ashton last week. It's had a bit of a revamp, plants were clean and healthy.
 
Fishrooms Poynton, at the reopened and revamped Brookside Garden Centre. Small but well kept. Basic ranges of dry goods, good healthy tropical stock. Tropica plants.
Stocklists posted on their website. Miniature railway if you need to placate/bribe small people to visit another fish shop.

Abyss update: going from strength to strength. Bartek will happily order plants in for you (Thursday or Friday delivery). He knows his plants and will happily spend a long time talking plants. Very helpful chap. In stock plant range very clean and well cared for.
 
The Aquarium at Cockfield's is no more. Now a children's petting birthday venue.
 
As an addendum to NathanG's post. I agree with his analysis of Gordon Riggs, however, the branch in Rochdale has just had a make-over. The fish selection has improved (and the prices seem reasonable) - but still nothing special. They have also had a extremely large display tank delivered (about 4 meters long by 3 meters high) - which I think they are still considering what t to do with! The staff in the Littleborough branch do, however, seem much more knowledgeable, the range of fish is wider and the plant section is better, however, ironically for a garden center the plants remain poor.
 
Can I resurrect this thread and see if anyone has updates on shops already listed or new ones?

I live near Warrington but happy to travel

The Abyss is somewhere I go regularly and it's a great shop but always keen to look around and find new places

Any suggestions for anywhere worth a visit in the North West (ideally not Pets at Home type shops, I hate those places!!)

Cheers
 
Can I resurrect this thread and see if anyone has updates on shops already listed or new ones?

I live near Warrington but happy to travel

The Abyss is somewhere I go regularly and it's a great shop but always keen to look around and find new places

Any suggestions for anywhere worth a visit in the North West (ideally not Pets at Home type shops, I hate those places!!)

Cheers

Abyss is always my favorite, hell of a place that! But I'd always recommend Pier Aquatics up in Wigan if you haven't been before, they have some stunning fish in there.
 
I love Abyss for fish. Expensive but stock is second to none! Some gorgeous BPT's and Khoolis in at the moment! I thought while they had a good range of plants they were a bit tired considering the prices they were asking!

Altrincham World of water is pretty good too. I would personally steer the hell away from P@h I'm afraid. I can find diseased fish every time I go and Stockport has seriously reduced their range thankfully as the quality of stock was poor at best. Before I new better I took home some neons and introduced saddleback to the tank. LOL, whenever I see staff questioning the public about fish husbandry I can't help but comment on sick fish I have just seen :D

Abyss Manchester has always had healthy stock but they are more marine. They use to buy Platties off me.

Need to check Pier but off to Gay life for some bogwood now me thinks :D
 
ok I think WoW gone in to winter hybernation plants a bit sorry and no bogwood now :( Saddest thing is Gay life has gone!
 
Try Gordon Riggs Walsden. They normally have a good selection of fish and the guys looking after them really seem to understand the fish. The plant selection is cheap but limited.
 
Premier aquatics in Runcorn is new (a year old) and seems good for fish. Has a selection of rocks/wood for aqua scaping too - although not cheap (but are they ever?)
Its pain to find and you need to be let in as they started thinking internet business...but soon found a lot of trade from people visiting. Check them out on Facebook as they post most frequently there.

I'm in liverpool but work in st helens. New to the hobby in this area - so any suggestions in those areas appreciated as the previous recommendations seem pretty old now.
 
@Daniel Vanboyd

Barlows aquatic trading: Accrington.
Not an aquascaping shop but have good selection of wood, stone and sand e.t.c

The Aquarium people: Preston.
Excellent quality fish and have some odd ball and not so common fish in.

Both places sell generalized plants.
Cheers.

 
Shop name:
Premier Aquatics

Location:
Lab 507a
Heath Business and Technical park
Runcorn, Cheshire
WA74QX

Tel: 07725516558

Directions:
If you come into the back of the science park from the Weston Point Expressway, follow the road to the roundabout and you are looking for the black gates on the right, next to the water place. Either park in the car park or the concrete opposite and then phone them to come and let you in. Don’t use the layby on weekdays.
They are open every day 10am-5pm, except Friday when its 12-8pm (for late night plant shopping 😊 )

What they offer or specialise in:
They specialise in freshwater fish and live plants. They also have a great selection of aquascaping supplies (I think their big aquascaping wall is taking over the shop slowly). The quality is excellent and the prices are surprisingly cheap. The plants are Aquadip and I’ve been very impressed with the quality and size of portions. They also have mother plants in when available. They get a fresh plant delivery every Friday. They will order items on request and also do delivery.
They also build custom tanks of any size. I have one of their opti-white nanos and the silicone work is impressive.

Overall verdict of the shop:

Absolutely recommended. This is the best shop I have found in the Cheshire area and definitely the best I’ve found for plants since The Green Machine closed down. They have only been going a year, but have been doing amazingly well and grown so much. The staff are very friendly and really know their stuff, especially the owner Ste. They are happy to order things in for you, even if they don’t currently stock it and I’ve found that most of the time thing are also cheaper than I can get it elsewhere.
It’s well worth a visit if you are in the area. The only slight pain is the access as they are behind a swipe access gate, but saying that the most I have ever had to wait was 5 mins at the gate. They are looking to move into a more accessible place in the future. Have a look at their website for their full story behind the lab space.
Most of their communication and updates are on Facebook, including the live unboxing videos which are always great to watch.

Website:
http://www.premieraquatics.co.uk/
Premier aquatics ltd
 
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