Marine Invertebrates

We apply the same care and attention to the selection of our marine invertebrates as we do our fish. The vast majority are hand picked on our weekly trips to the UK’s leading marine livestock wholesalers.

Keeping tropical marine invertebrates in saltwater aquaria has undergone a massive expansion over recent years. Affordable systems, improvements in technology, design and understanding of the requirements of photosynthetic corals have driven the popularity of reef aquaria sky high. It’s really not that difficult to get started and every year we have several newcomers to fishkeeping who begin with a marine aquarium and who go from strength to strength. The introduction of affordable micro and nano-reefs, together with the creation of some very aesthetically pleasing self-contained aquaria has meant that coral and other invertebrate are here to stay.

At Cheshire Waterlife we pride ourselves on the selection of tropical marine invertebrates. We visit wholesalers weekly and hand-pick livestock ensuring the best possible quality and the best price possible. Every coral specimen is different, even if cultured - and so we choose the best those specimens that offer something more for our customers, perhaps some interesting encrusting life or a special growth form of a particular species. We seek them out when available!

Animals like anemones, particularly those that host anemonefish, are hugely varied in colour and also condition and using our experience we can check that the specimens that we stock are the best available. And if the wholesalers stock is not up to standard then it stays there.

We also regularly import certain species of invertebrate including several cultured species of stony coral (Acropora, Montipora, Porites, Merulina, Hydnaphora, Echinopora, Pocillopora, Seriatopora and many more). We will also occasionally source some interesting soft coral specimens from the areas in which they are cultured.

The majority of our “clean up crew” stock is also derived from non-wholesaler stocks resulting in competitive prices on these essential animals. Snails, dwarf hermit crabs, brittle starfish, sand-shifting herbivorous conches are almost always in stock meaning that you can keep detritus and / or algae to a minimum in your aquarium. We also have a dedicated anemone aquarium, home to some of the most useful and hardy of the common host anemone species.

Any aquarist wanting to stock their aquarium with tropical marine invertebrates wants to source the best possible specimens of the best possible species. We are always reluctant to stock corals or other inverts that might be difficult for the majority of aquarists to keep. We usually try to give aquarists the benefit of our experience with invertebrates - the culmination of many years experience in the trade. Staff members regularly contribute to dedicated marine aquarium magazines and have even had books published on the subject.

Whatever the tropical marine invertebrate you need, hard coral - including SPS, soft coral, colonial polyp, clean up crew, shrimp, crab or something different then you might find it here.

Check-out our current livestock: Marine Invertebrates