United States Fish Store Directory

[aquaticadmirer]

State: Virginia
City: Virginia Beach


Store: Animal Jungle
Variety/ Selection: 9
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 6 (reduced points for unfriendliness/long wait time)
Smiley rating:
Comments: This is usually my LFS of choice because they have good quality fish, variety, and reasonable prices. However, their customer service usually leaves lots to be desired.

Store: Fish Safari
Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 9
Smiley rating:
Comments: This LFS is privately owned by a Marine Biologist, and the staff is very knowledgeable (as long as you know who to ask). I would shop here more if it weren't for their inflated prices (I'm a college student on a budget!).

Store: PetSmart
Variety/ Selection: 7
Cleanliness and quality: 7
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 8 (friendly, but not too knowledgable)
Smiley rating:
Comments: These are pretty much what's expected for a Petsmart, but their prices are reasonable and they sometimes have fish in stock that I can't find other places.

 

[gettotank110]

i like the idea
state: LOUISISANA
City: METRIE RIGHT OUTSIDE OF NEW ORLEANS
Store: 50 FATHOMS

Variety/ Selection: 7
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
THESE GUYS ARE VERY HELPFULL

STATE; LOUISISANA
CITY: KENNER RIGHT OUT SIDE NEW ORLEANS
STORE:ACUATIC SPECIALTIES
VARIETY; 6
CLEANLINESS; 5
STAFF; 5
THEY CARRY SOME FISH THAT OTHERS DONT HAVE BUT THEIR VARIETY IS KINDA SMALL

 

[bmcelfresh]

Tideline

City: Charleston, South Carolinan Remount Road

Variety/Selection: 9 (fresh and saltwater, all sizes)
Clean/Qualitry: 7 (Store and tanks spotless, I have had problems with disease)
Staff: 9 (know more than me, but don't act like it)


If you live in this neck of the woods this is the place to go. Only problem, not open on Sunday. I was also told if some of my choices got too big they would take them back. Not true!

 

[bjanbkboi]

State:Florida
Cityembrooke Pines
Store: Beverly's Pet Center
Website: http/www.beverlyspet.com/

Variety:8(freshwater, saltwater, plants, anemones, coral, everything)
Quality:9(well maintained, clean tanks, very attractive layout)
Staff:8(knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly...for the most part lol)

I discovered this store a few times after getting frustrated with the quality at walmart and a few pet supermarkets, and I never visited another pet store since!!

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

I'm genuinely surprised some of these NJ ones haven't turned up yet. Oh, and just so you know, I'm really only rating the FW part of these stores, I have no SW experience.

State: New Jersey


City: Clifton
Store: Absolutely Fish

Variety/ Selection: 6
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 9
Smiley rating:
Price: A bit steep, especially for some of the larger fish. However, generally doable and fair.
Website: http/www.absolutelyfish.com/
Has a lot of great varieties of easily kept fish and beautiful colorations on all sorts of fish. Lots of flashy, community fish - tons of tetras, various discus, angels, etc. Also a nice selection on flashier SW fish. Friendly, highly knowledgable staff. However, does not have many oddballs, or the larger catfish/carnivorous fish, though the ones they do have are very nice and flashy.

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City: Scotch Plains
Store: Pet Shanty

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and Quality: 8
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Similey rating:
Price: Fair. Never cheap, but never extravagantly pricy either.
Website: http/www.petshanty.com/
The guys who work here really know what they're doing, and the fish that they have are generally top-notch. Generally, if they don't carry the type of fish you want, the guys are more then willing to order some in. Despite being a smaller store, they have tons of oddballs floating in and out of the store, and they're quite knowledgable about most types, too. Sometimes a little understaffed seeming though, and because of that, some of the newer tanks can be a bit messy. Nothing too bad, though. It's very home-y and friendly, I love the place.


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City: Hillside
Store: Shark Aquarium

Variety/ Selection: 10+ on predatory fish, haha. 7 on everything else.
Cleanliness and Quality: 9
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 7
Similey rating:
Price: High prices, but only cause they're high end fish. Rather cheap considering some of the sizes/types of fish they stock.
Website: http/www.sharkaquarium.com/
They specialize in predatory fish, as their name suggests. They treat everything else as if it's sissy, so if you're a tetra lover or something, move on - there is nothing for you here. However, if you're looking for catfishs, arowanas, just about any type of pirahna, or a tempermental oddball, you might as well try here, there's a good chance you'll find them. The people here are knowledgable, but snarky - they don't give up their knowledge easily, and they'll sell to anybody, it seems. They run a well done store though, so if you know your stuff and know what you're looking for, go ahead and give this place a try. It's definitely worth a visit.

 

[mollylver]

State: Virginia
City: Virginia Beach
Name: Fish Safari

Cleanliness: 6
Varity: 6
Staff Knowlage: 9
Comments: The staff is very helpful and the store uses proper testing equiptment for water unlike petsmart which uses the unreliable 5 in 1 test strips.

State: Virginia
City: Virginia Beach
Name: Animal Jungle

Cleanliness: 2
Varity: 10
Staff Knowlage: 3 - run by hicks
Comments: The place has the best selection of whatever you could desire but one has to question if the fish were obtained legally. The tanks seem set up so the fish will last just long enough to be sold but not to live beyond that. Dead fish are everywhere and the staff, half of whcih is knowlagable, is either running about attending to the hundreds of tanks or selling plecos to children with five gallon tanks.

 

[Eskielvr]

State: Ohio
City: Columbus
Store: Aquarium Adventure

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and quality: 10
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Smiley rating:
www.aquariumadventure.com"]Aquarium Adventure

Comment: The only problem is it can be hard to find someone to help you, since they're usually always so busy, esp on weekends. But the wait is well worth it. They'll even come to your home and do your aquarium maintenance for you, though you may need a second mortgage or two! lol

 

[dasmall1]

This is my previous post. Just updating that this store is going out of business on May 23rd. It is very sad because they are the only place around that sells things I need like amano shrimp and SAE's. They were amazing people with an amazing business.


State: Pennsylvania
City: Pittsburgh
Store: All Oddball Aquatics

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and quality: 10
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Smiley rating:

Here's his website. It's not the best site ever, but the store is great. Nobody pressures you to buy anything. Eric actually suggested that I don't buy Eco-Complete and suggested a much cheaper alternative. We talked about planted tanks for a while, and he offered to take some of a plant from a display tank and give it to me! I should ask him to check out his fish room. The upstairs is pretty big. My great aunt used to own a pet shop there, but when her husband died, she sold everything, and he moved in!

 

[-Nemo-]

State: New York
City: Lathem
Store: Eddie's Aquarium

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 10
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 9
Smiley rating:

Wonderful, Wonderful place. I have NEVER had any problems with them at all.

 

[loachman]

I have to add a new one on for Maryland. I just went there on Friday, and it's FANTASTIC!

State: Maryland
City: Silver Spring
Name: Scales Tropical Fish Warehouse
Address:
Cloverly Towne Center
744 Cloverly Street
Phone: 301-384-7839
(No website)

Variety: They have a ton of "oddball" fish, along with a good healthy variety of freshwater and saltwater fish. I'd give it a 9.

Cleanliness and Quality: Very good. It's a lovely store, the fish all look great, the tanks are nice and clean. 10.

Staff Friendliness and Knowledgeablility: I haven't tested them yet ( ), but they were very sweet. They even offered to move my 90g for me when I moved. So 10 on the first part, not sure yet on the second part.

Smilie Rating:

My rating of the same store.

Variety: 9 - Good variety of relatively odd fish, discus, and pirahna. Good selection of other stuff. Have alot of live foods. Plant selection varies.

Cleanliness and Quality: 9 - Brand new and they make an effort to keep it looking that way, so it's clean and I've rarely seen any signs of diseased fish (unlike some of their competition). I'll be buying all my fish here for my new tank.

Staff Friendliness and Knowledgeablility: 9 I haven't asked any specific fish questions (mostly on pricing and "can you get XX?", but overhead one employee giving a good explanation of the nitrogen cycle to another customer.)

Pricing: 8- Good prices on fish, a bit high on some acessories.

Smilie Rating:

 

[Amunet]

State: South Carolina
City: Columbia (Garners Ferry Rd)
Name: Pet Lover's Warehouse

Cleanliness: 9
Varity: 7
Staff Knowlage: n/a personally
Comments: The only place I've found that sells Bio-Spira. Also even though they don't have alot of variety with their fish, most of the fish seem very healthy and very happy. Only gripe I have with the place is that they keep their male bettas in VERY tiny cups. But I'm pretty sure the bettas sell very quickly. We went in 2 days in a row and there were different bettas being sold the next day. Oh wait.. I have another gripe.. they sell those god-aweful donut looking tank things for bettas.
The staff do seem to know some info though. We didn't really get to talk to anyone, but they have signs on some of their animals that tell people that they need to have certain things and if they don't they shouldn't be buying it. Also with their small planted section they mention that CO2 is something to look into. So yeah.. they know some stuff heh.

 

[Danno]

State: New York
City: Cobleskill (in the main road)
Store: Canine Cosmipolitan

Variety/Selection: 4
Cleanliness and Quality: 3
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 2
Comments: It's a local pet store not a local fish store so it is half and half. They do have both salt and fresh water fish.
Smiley Rating:

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State: New York
City: Albany (on Wolf Road)
Store: Benson's Pet Shop

Variety/Selection: 6
Cleanliness and Quality: 6
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 6
Comments: It's a local pet store not a local fish store so it is half and half. They do have both salt and fresh water fish. Pretty much the same as the previously listed store only cleaner
Smiley Rating:

_____________________________________________________________

State: New York
City: Laytham
Store: Eddie's Aquarium

Variety/Selection: 9
Cleanliness and Quality: 9
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 8
Comments: THIS PLACE IS AMAZING. They have everything and I mean everything...
Smiley Rating:

 

[Amunet]

I have to change my views of Fishy Business
The time before last time we went into the place, we just got helped by a really bad employee.
But when we went in this last time, a really nice guy (think he was the owner) helped us out. We also overheard the salt water guy talking to some customers and he was VERY knowledgeable and gave them really great info.

So yeah.. even though their cleanliness and such could still use some work... most of their employees are nice.. we just had the misfortune of encountering the one guy that wasn't.

 

[karmagl]

State: Colorado
City: Steamboat Springs

Tropical Rockies Aquaria and Exotics
Selection:6
Cleanliness and quality:10
Knowledge:10+
This is a local shop run by one person we call the fish Nazi (he's a sienfeld fan) His selection isn't huge due to the fact that he special orders your fish for you. He says he doesn't like to have a lot of home less fish lol. His knowledge is amazing and when I go there he will sit and educate me for at least an hour. I always learn something. He will not sell you fish without first testing your water, he does not offer a 14 day guarentee because he believes it puts a price on a fish's life (hence fish nazi) He will go through with you every fish in your tank to make sure they all get along yes I know mine don't but I started at petsmart. He also runs a 24 hour emergency help line for all questions. He does not have any employees don't know how he does it but that way he knows all his customers by name and knows their tanks. He gives every loyal customer discounts. It is a wonderful store and worth my 2 hour drive.

 

[Sysiphus]

Seem to have seen all the key fish shops in Arizona cept:

Ocean Floor
2347 W Thomas Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85015
6022548252

Selection 7
Cleanness and Quality 8
Knowledge 7
Friendlyness 9

Its good

Comments: Felt I had to separate knowledge and friendlyness - Freshwater, Salt Water, Cold Water, reptiles - LOTS of supplies. Probably 50 salt water tanks and I guess 150 freshwater tanks. You can get some very good large tank prices at this shop and good selections.