About Us


Fishkeeping.eu was established in 2001 under the name ‘Aquaticare’ by Ben Woodward who oversees and manages all contracts and clients directly.


Ben Woodward and Fishkeeping.eu Experiences:


Brief List of Qualifications
    1999 – OATA (ornamental trade association) Course in Fish Biology
    2001 – Sparsholt certificate of Fish health and Welfare and Disease and Pathogens
    First Published paper through freestyle publishing in tropical fish magazine (www.fishkeeping.eu) Feb 2001.
    2003 – National Diploma In Fishery management for Ornamental fish – Obtaining a triple distinction and a 98% level of attendence (the highest since the aquatics course began) .
    2004 – Awarded the Rolfe C Hagen glass rose dish for best performance in fish science at Sparsholt College.
    2005 – Studied Bsc Marine Biology at The university of Wales Aberystwyth
    2006 – Left to specialise in a Bachelor of Science in Aquaculture and fishery management
    2008 – Obtained Degree in Aquaculture and Fishery Management

 

Ben Woodward has been a fish keeper since the age of 8, where he started off with some humble goldfish obtained from his father’s pond. Over the years this quickly evolved into a wide range of specialist tanks including elaborate planted displays and marine reef aquariums.
A course run by OATA (Ornamental Trade Association) was completed in Fish Biology while still at school.
 School leaving he accepted full time employment at a leading aquatic shop specialising in tropical freshwater and marine fish. In this year he successfully completed short courses at Sparsholt College Hampshire in:

  1.  Anatomy and Physiology of Fishes
  2.  Diseases and Pathogens


Shortly after this Ben published his first article in Tropical Fish magazine on the Horse Faced Loach Acantopsis dialuzona.
After over a year’s employment full time in the trade he left to study full time at Sparsholt College on the National Diploma in Ornamental Fish Management. A triple distinction was obtained on the two-year course and the highest attendance record since 1986. The Rolfe C Hagen Glass Rose Dish was awarded for the best performance in fish science.
After this he was accepted in various universities including, Bangor, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Cambourne. But it was Aberystwyth University that was offering Marine and Freshwater biology and he went there in 2004.

A year in employment was taken at one of the UK’s largest aquatic retailers. Also During this year international work was undertaken as a self-employed consultant:


Fishkeeping.eu was selected to design some very different kinds of fish farm:

  1.  A hybrid parrot cichlid farm was designed in Syria for an ornamental fish breeder; this program has been running successfully for years.
  2.  A trout fishery in Jordan was designed and has been very successful; an eat what you catch restaurant idea on the side was also developed.
  3.  A large aquatic retailer had a disease outbreak on the Channel Islands and successful diagnosis was undertaken. Staff training in maximising sales and getting the best performance from the systems was also implemented.


After the year out Ben went back to Sparsholt to finish the degree specialising in Aquaculture and Fishery management.

Work experiences among the years have included:

  1.  Brighton Sea Life Centre – working closely with Cephalopods (Octopus, Cuttlefish), Sea Horse breeding, system design and general management of systems.
  2.  National Trust, promoting otter habitats and increasing numbers of water voles and invertebrate life along the highly acclaimed River Test.
  3.  Expeixe Brasil – Working alongside charities to improve the environment after the catastrophic floods in Santa Catarina winter 2008.
  4.  Various aquatic retail outlets combining over 6 years of experience direct with the ornamental aquatics trade.



About the company:

The first contracts from 2001 were maintaining aquariums and installation. As experience grew pond maintenance gradually built up and design work started coming in. Training in microscopy enabled accurate diagnosis of fish diseases and water quality testing at a high level of competence. 
Pond construction was the next natural step for the company to take and proved very popular through recommendations from local shops.
The company has organically grown a reputation built on fish health and welfare first, excellent customer service and after sales and pride in any work carried out from small private contracts up to the highest level of business including large landscaping and lake renovation and construction.
Consultancy is the bulk of the business at present, providing solutions and labour for all aspects of aquatic problems, including:

 Fish disease diagnosis
 Filtration design for obtaining the best possible water quality from the area available.
 Affordable maintenance contracts for ponds and aquariums are available.
 Pond Construction / Design
 Aquarium installation for homes and business
 Staff training in maximising systems and sales for ornamental retail outlets


This website is currently under construction and a portfolio will be added soon of various projects undertaken.