Surely no hobby has evolved quicker than marine keeping. Our forward thinking marine team will guide you carefully through each stage of the hobby. We focus on system design, husbandry and animal selection. A strong relationship with the worlds best suppliers enables us to bring you an unbeatable range of live stock. At each of our branches we stock fantastic ranges of marine fish, corals and invertebrates. We can also offer set ups from the simplest “nemo” package to fully automated hybrid systems.

This month: Brazilian live rock is now available at all stores, its unique shapes offering a new aspect to aquascaping in the reef tank. Also our Hawaiian fish are now ready for sale so lots of yellow tangs, flame angels, yellow eye tangs and lemon peel angels at some great prices.

Terrestrial plants form a very important part of our living world. In the same way aquatic plants enhance both pond and aquarium ecosystems. Despite this analogy many aquatic plants are not given the same care as even house plants. Knowing this we specialise in all types of aquatic plant offering extensive advice on fertilizers CO2 lighting and substrates. All to help you get the best out of any garden pond, bog garden or aquarium biotope.

This month: Plants gallore as pond season starts early we have got a full display of hundreds of marginals, oxygenators and lilies on display.

Shirley Aquatics was one of the pioneering companies to first bring Koi Carp into the UK, with its Chairman John Cook being the first to import Koi on a large scale. Selling thousands of hand picked Koi every year we are able to offer a fantastic range of Koi to suit any pond. From 10cm babies to 80cm monsters each one is hand picked and cared for by our expert team. With decades of experience Shirley Aquatics is your only stop for advice on Koi health, water quality, feeding, pond filtration and design.

This month: Our latest shipment of hand selected koi are on sale.

Tropical fish are at the heart of our business. All of our staff are passionate about this aspect of the hobby offering unrivalled advice and friendly service. We always keep fantastic selections of all the favourites such as guppies, mollies, swords, tetras and gouramis as well as specializing in Discus, African Cichlids, rainbows, L number plecostomus, corydoras catfish and puffers (please contact branches for day-to-day stocks)

Driven solely by a passion for the animals they love, our reptile staff offer not only some of the worlds most up to date equipment but also a vast knowledge of captive care and an insight to natural behaviours and environments. We stock beginner species such as corn snakes, leopard geckos, bearded dragons, Chilean rose tarantulas and royal pythons as well as more advanced species such as tortoises, chameleons, reticulated pythons, tree boas, large monitors and poison dart frogs. Our stock list is potentially limitless so if you can’t find your dream reptile we’ll try our hardest to find it for you. Whether you’re after lizards, snakes, invertebrates, amphibians, turtles or tortoises, or if you just want to see some fascinating animals, come and pay us a visit. For an up to date stock list contact…

Reptile of the month: The chinese water dragon.

Fancy a new pet? Or just need something for a faithful friend, why not visit either our Oxford or Solihull branches for pet equipment and advice.

Our Solihull branch holds an extensive selection of pet toys, homes hutches and accessories as well as a great range of bird cages. Whilst our Oxford branch boasts the areas fastest growing pet centre with an extensive bird department holding a large selection of both cage and aviary birds, from finches and canaries to parakeets and parrots. Hand reared birds are also one of our specialities with a constantly changing selection of species such as African grey and Amazon parrots.

Our new cute and furry section shows off a fanstic selection of small mammals including mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits as well as other small species. We also stock all the correct housing and equipment, combine this with a helpful team of experts and we have all you need to keep your pets happy.