Beginning to stock some aquatics essentials is easy and can provide a welcome boost to profits
As a shop that will mainly cater for canines, felines, and small companions, delving into the world of fish can appear to be quite intimidating. While selling live fish is best left to the aquatic specialists stocking a few essentials can really boost your offering and open up new markets.
Brands and wholesalers will be keen to help and you can discuss with them what would suit your store. A display of carefully selected products doesn’t need to take up much room, either. And don’t worry that your customers are likely to know a lot more about fish than you. They will recognise you’re stocking the essentials for convenience, rather than coming to you for advice.
Here, we look at what could be on your shelves to draw in those a-fish-cianados!
Aquarium consumables (high turnover items)
These are consumables or regular replacement products hobbyists often need:
• Water conditioners – these can make tap water safe for fish and remove chlorine
• Bacterial supplements – boosts water with beneficial bacteria
• Test kits and strips – hobbyists need to check the water regularly for things such as pH, ammonia, hardness, nitrate, and nitrite. These come in handy paper dip and liquid tests
• Filter media – these remove waste from the water, either mechanically by trapping it or chemically by neutralising it
• Fish food – foods such as flakes, pellets, and wafers are regular purchases that are easy to stock
Tank accessories
• Heaters – small heaters can be good to offer, although these are usually a bit more expensive than consumables so will be more of an investment
• Air pumps – like heaters, these will cost more than consumables (usually retailing around £15-£50), but are essential for tanks and don’t take up much shelf space
• Substrates – these line the base of the tank, and include materials such as sand and gravel. Many leading brands produce easy-to-use packs and buckets of substrates. Discuss this with your sales rep and they can advise as to the best-sellers
• Aquarium-safe ornaments – from the classic pirate-themed ornaments to ornaments that will enrich fishes’ lives, you could offer a small selection in your store
Cleaning equipment and tools
• Aquarium nets – hobbyists use nets to move fish and these come in a range of sizes and telescopic varieties
• Cleaning tools – these include gravel vacuums, algae magnets, brushes, gloves, pads, and wipes
• Transport bags – water-tight bags are used to transport fish
Getting started
If you want to start stocking a few aquatics essentials, the best place to start is speaking to a sales rep. You can discuss your budget and space, and they will be able to advise on the best products to get you started. That could be speaking to a wholesaler that stocks a variety of brands or speaking to a leading brand who could provide a range of products. To get the range of products you want, you could use a mixture of the two!
Recommended brand: Fluval
A Hagen brand, Fluval is one of the leading brands in the aquatics industry and has an extensive range of products, from foods, lighting, pumps, cleaners, and filter media. Its website also directs visitors to stockists.
Visit: fluvalaquatics.com/uk