A lifetime in business all began for Mike Wall, pictured, with a fish won at a fairground.

It wasn't a goldfish but a shibunkin - a rather posh variety of the same. And it wasn't won by Mr Wall but by his older brother Terry.

It led to an interest in tropical fish which has sustained Mr Wall and his family for 35 years.

In fact, he is one of a rare breed of businessman in Newport, where longevity among retailers is not the norm.

Top Trop Aquatics, his business in Caerleon Road, is up for sale as he looks forward to doing the things that being in business doesn't always allow.

That fairground fish interested Mr Wall's other brother, Jim, the most. It was an interest which meant his keeping tropical fish at a time when few people were doing it.

"In those days you had to travel to Birmingham or London if you wanted tropicals," said Mr Wall, now 58, who was then a teenager.

As his brothers' interest waned, Mr Wall's continued. But a business opportunity involving that interest arrived literally by accident.

At 19, he was badly injured in a motorbike crash. It wasn't his fault and the cash compensation he received was used to set up the business, first by buying stock from premises being used mainly as a poodle parlour.

"The industry was very young in those days," he said. "Only one in a thousand knew anything about fish. Garden ponds were few and far between and there weren't any tropical fish tanks around."

Mr Wall's expertise grew with increasing knowledge so that he was able to teach others. He is now sharing his wisdom and experience with a third generation. But it is a race to keep up with advances.

"It's a huge subject," he said. "I've been keeping fish for forty years and even now I cannot say I know it all. There are so many different areas."

The Caerleon Road premises, formerly a Victorian confectioners, were derelict when he moved in. Being a carpenter by trade, he refurbished them with help.

He and his wife, Janet, lived on the premises and started a family there, though didn't stay for very long. The Walls now live in Ponthir.

Daughters Stephanie and Cerrie and son David have all helped in the shop at various times.

"Customers come from a fairly wide area, including Monmouth and the Wye Valley," he said. "They find us in Yellow Pages but a lot of them hear about us by word-of-mouth.

Garden centres often start people off but when they get into the subject they generally end up with us.

"Some of our older customers have passed on but their children are interested, though they are sometimes 40 years old.

"This is a growth business. Fish are in the top three pet hobbies and TV garden programmes have helped - whenever Charlie Dimmock does a garden with a water feature it is surprising the interest it creates.

"Equipment is so much better now. In the early days, tropical fish were so difficult to keep. I remember heating a tank with small paraffin lamps underneath. You couldn't diagnose half the diseases let alone treat them. I'm retiring because I want to see a bit of the world while I'm still able. I just hope someone will take over the business as a going concern."

Number 123 Caerleon Road is for sale with estate agents Garn and Sells at £99,950 or £79,950 as an empty shop.