Alex ChongDo you know that Singapore is the biggest ornamental fish exporter in the world? Well, I didn’t know this until recently. It is so impressive to know that this country with the size of just 719.9 km² is the ornamental fish capital of the world. *applause, applause*
So on my recent trip there to visit my sister and her family, I only made one specific request to her… bring me to an ornamental fish farm. She kept her promise, and we ended up in Qian Hu Fish Farm in Singapore. Hooray!!!
Qian Hu Fish Farm
Qian Hu was incorporated in Singapore in 1998. This company is involved in breeding, farming, importing, exporting and distributing of many varieties of ornamental fish worldwide. Besides that, they also manufacture and distribute a wide range of aquariums and pet accessories.
Qian Hu Fish Farm is located at 71 Jalan Lekar, Singapore 698950. It is opened to the public and its operating time is:
- Weekdays & Holiday Eve: 9am – 6pm
- Weekends & Public Holiday: 9am – 7pm
There are a few sections in this place. There is the Fish Gallery section where you can view and buy ornamental fishes. Just besides it is the Aquarium Accessories shop for your aquarium needs. Further away is an Agro Education center where you can spend some time feeding the Koi, terrorizing the guppies, mollies and platies (by freely catching them) and a fish spa. All these for a small fee, of course! Oh, there is the fish farm section too where they breed and raise the fishes.
There is a guided tour available for visitors to go around the place. They will bring you to the Agro Education Center and the fish farm. You will need to make booking for that prior to your visit though!
Click here for the information on Qian Hu Fish Farm Tour. The link will tell you how to get to the place as well.
I wish I could tell you more but unfortunately, I did not take this tour. It’s all my fault because I did not make any booking for it. Besides that, it was raining heavily not too long after we got there. I know, that didn’t show in the pictures, but this is the “calm before the storm”.
Oh! their office for wholesale and export is there too. When I peeked through one opened door, I saw a huge space with lots of tanks in it. I was quickly told that it’s no entry though.
For this trip, I only visited the Fish Gallery and Aquarium Accessories shop in Qian Hu Fish Farm. Not very productive, I know… but here are the pictures anyway.
Fish Gallery in Qian Hu Fish Farm
This fish gallery is massive. I have to say that it is the biggest for me so far. Right in front of this building are the concrete ponds where they have Koi and Goldfish for sale.
As you enter the fish gallery, you will be at awe as there are rows and rows of fish tank racks.
Many of these tanks contain Cichlids. I found this one to be the most interesting!
I know, I know, the picture is rather shaky. I either need to improve my photography skills or get a better camera phone, or both.
There are many pretty fancy guppies. I can’t seem to find them back home in Malaysia, perhaps I need to explore more places.
Of course, Goldfish too! I specifically like the Ranchus very much.
There is an air-conditioned section there for Arowanas. Talking about playing favorites eh?
The Arowanas there looked juvenile though, and the tanks did not look well maintained.
Along the paths between the Fish Gallery and the Aquarium Accessories shop, there are these big tanks on worn out cabinets. I think they are like around 10 feet long, and I wish I will get to own one like this soon, with better cabinet of course!
Aquarium Accessories Shop in Qian Hu Fish Farm
The Aquarium Accessories shop is just a stone throw away (but seriously, don’t do that) from the Fish Gallery.
Two big tanks at each side of the entrance, one freshwater and one saltwater. I wanted to say that they are beautiful, but seriously they need some maintenance.
When you enter the shop, the first thing that will catch your eyes will be this:
That’s a Platinum Alligator Gar.
Alligator Gars are really living fossils as their existence traced back to early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. They are typically brown or dark olive-green in color, but this one that you see in the picture has a pigmentation disorder called Leucism, which causes it to be white.
Then the next thing that will catch your eyes is this:
An Arowana Tank. Gosh, these look so majestic… and mean.
What is an aquarium accessories shop if it doesn’t sell accessories, right? So these are among the things they sell there.
These are just some of the nano tanks available there. They have tanks of many sizes, and the cabinets as well.
Many fish food and medications to select from.
Actually the shop itself is very big. However not every space is fully utilised. Some stuff are just thrown at some corners and some shelves are left empty. I can’t help but to wonder the level of maintenance in this place. I don’t know, maybe they are just waiting to restock.
Anyway, more display tanks in the shop.
Conclusion
This concludes my trip to Qian Hu Fish Farm in Singapore. Now that I think about it, it is funny that I was there but I did not actually get to see the fish farms. It would have been much more interesting to see how they breed and raise their fishes.
Well anyway from what I have seen in the Fish Gallery and the Accessories shop, I would say that yes, the area is really HUGE and there are many species of ornamental fishes available. What is needed though, is better maintenance of the place.
If you intend to visit Qian Hu Fish Farm in Singapore, remember to go for the Fish Farm Tour. I think that will be very educational. I missed that this time around, so maybe next time. Singapore is not so far from Malaysia after all. 🙂
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