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Charlie Swallow
Sales Assistant
at
Tong
How long have you been a Maidenhead Aquatics team member?
Almost 2 years now! The time has flown by.
How long have you been keeping fish?
I have kept fish for as long as I can remember, but things got serious about 5 years ago.
What was your first aquarium and what fish did you keep in it?
My first tank was a Superfish Qubiq 60 pro, with a stunning red Halfmoon betta fish and a school of neon tetras. The tank was scaped with a few live plants, wood and rock, and this is where my passion started.
What species do you most enjoy keeping and why?
Malawi cichlids: specifically, Chindongo saulosi. These dwarf Mbunas have great colouration with the males going vivid blue with black bars (very similar to a Demasoni) and the females stay bright yellow. Great colour, great personality and easy to breed!
What pearl of wisdom would you give to first-time Fishkeepers?
Get yourself some live plants and always over filtrate! The best type of maintenance is when it only takes minutes to do and by using excess filtration and heavy planting you can reduce your workload.
What would be your dream aquarium?
A huge 8ft X 3ft X 3ft tank, so about 2000L. I would run 4 Oase bio master thermo 850s for filtration and full inline CO2 to help with growing the plants. I would plant the tank Iwagumi style using an ADA Amozonia v2 substrate. The tank would be a dual island style composition made out of Seiryu stone with a dwarf hairgrass carpet and an array of red orange and green stems behind the islands. This masterpiece would be lit by 2 ADA Solar RGB light units and I would have to backlight the tank with an LED background. To top it off I would stock this feature tank with a few different types of discus, a school of rummy nose tetra and a pair of Apistogramma agassizii tefe redbacks. I’d also add a cleanup crew of the best cleaners in the world: Otocinclus and Amano shrimp.
What’s your favourite aspect of work at Maidenhead Aquatics?
Getting new people into the hobby and getting to see them progress through their fishkeeping tank by tank. I really enjoy working with customers who are willing to learn and getting to teach them the right ways to keep fish.
What question do customers ask you most often?
What plants are easy to keep in a first tank? There are loads of great examples for beginner plants and any fast-growing stems like Limnophila heterophylla and Hygrophila rosae australis are easy growers. Epiphytes such as Anubias and java fern can also be a great choice as they don’t need to be planted in a substrate.
What’s your secret fishkeeping “top tip”?
My top tip (especially if someone is setting up an aquascaped tank) is to plant heavy from the start. The plants will help keep the nitrates low and you reduce or eliminate any algae blooms that most fishkeepers experience.
How many aquariums do you currently keep at home, and what are these?
Somehow, only 2! I keep my Chindongo saulosi in a 3-and-a-half-foot tank which I have massively over filtrated. This tank also boasts a black ghost knife fish )who is currently about 30cm long), 5 cuckoo catfish and 3 plecos (a golden blue eye bristle nose, a blue phantom, and a galaxy plec). My second tank is a 60L my hi-tech planted tank, in which I keep a stunning pair of gold rams and a school of neon blue rasbora. I’ve scaped the tank Iwagumi style and let the plants and fish speak for themselves.
What do you think is the future of fishkeeping and what developments would you most like to see?
I would love for first-time fishkeepers to understand how easy a planted tank is to keep and how beneficial it is for the fish. On the pond side I’d love for our store to start stocking extra-large Japanese koi and stock big, preformed ponds with viewing windows so that our customers get the opportunity to keep and appreciate some amazing fish.
What’s the most unique species you’ve ever cared for at Maidenhead Aquatics?
The animals that have stood out have been the vampire crabs, bichirs, black ghost knife fish and a few Malawi’s here and there.
What is it that first got you hooked on fishkeeping?
I started watching videos on YouTube from green aqua. The guys/girls there scaped tanks with a myriad of different plants and I loved how calming tanks could be in the right setup. I have also had the pleasure of meeting Tamás Danyikó (Tommy in right of my photo) who helps run the channel. Meeting him was a long-time aspiration of mine and being able to pass on knowledge I gained from him is an absolute honour.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned since joining Maidenhead Aquatics?
Every day we learn something new, but the I think the most interesting thing I’ve learnt is that some fish do grow to the size of their tank. Though animals like goldfish do produce a growth inhibiting hormone in poor conditions, it’s very cruel to keep them in this way as it shortens their life span quite considerably. In conclusion if you can’t keep it responsibly don’t keep it at all.