Fish Room Journal

October 19, 2026

Strawberry Peacock

First hold of the season

One of the Strawberry females went into a hold this morning — first of the fall. She came off a spawn on the 14th and has been holding tight since. Holds are the quietest, most important part of this. She won't eat while she's carrying, so she sits in her own tank with nothing to chase her. If all goes well we'll strip her at 18 days and raise the fry in a bare-bottom 20.

October 6, 2026

Red Cheeked Johanni

The grow-out rack is full

Two Johani broods have now grown into the same 40 and it's getting crowded. The older group is eating 1mm pellets and already showing the red cheek edge — the colour comes early on this line, which is exactly why we kept it. We're moving the larger group up a size this week and letting the younger one catch up. Slow and steady beats a growth blowout every time.

September 22, 2026

Whole fish room

Why we cull, plainly

We hold back more fish than we sell, and that's deliberate. Any juvenile with a bent spine, an odd body line or a colour that doesn't belong in the line stays here — it never goes into someone's tank and it never gets bred. It's not a fun part of the hobby, but a line stays clean because somebody made that call early. We'll happily show you the keepers and the ones that didn't make it at a viewing.

September 3, 2026

Dragon Giraffe

New line into the room

Six young Dragon Giraffes settled in this week after a two-hour drip acclimation. They went straight into a quarantined 33 with a sponge filter and a light feeding schedule. They'll stay there under observation for three weeks before we mix them near anything else. Every fish that enters this house goes through the same window — it's the cheapest insurance in the hobby.

August 17, 2026

Whole fish room

Rebuilding the room for January

The racks are getting re-plumbed and the last two 40s are curing. New season, new layout: grow-outs on the wall, holding and fry tanks on the island so we can watch them from the door. Still Kingston and Battersea, still by appointment, still local pickup only. The plan is to open for viewings in January 2027 with four lines established and a few grow-outs available.