I have been in the hobby for 20 years and purchased in all Richmond stores and online. Of the three saltwater aquatics stores in the Richmond area, this one is my least favorite. If you are experienced, this place is ok. You must be able to spot if something is healthy, identify stress, and know your species. If you are able to do so, you can find some gems here, as items are often mislabeled. I have found some rare coral that was labeled as something else. On the flip side, you must be careful. The staff is very nice, but they will say anything to make a sale. It may not be intentional, it may be lack of knowledge, but purchase with caution and do your research. In addition, they have the worst return policy of any of the other stores in the Richmond area and online. Coincidence? Finally, I have found RA livestock to have the worst survivability rate in my tanks. When investing time and money this is crucial. I have had a greater success rate, by a substantial amount with the other stores and online. My advice, spend the extra money elsewhere, you’ll end up saving in the end. I will not advertise other businesses in this review, but I will encourage you to make the extra drive. Again, if you are experienced, you can find some great livestock here, but your purchase comes with a risk.

They can not do custom well. Here is what I ended up with and then the owner screamed at me on the phone when I requested this to be torn out. They can not follow a set of architectural drawings and details, nor do they work well with maintenance agreements with a commercial business. I was shocked at how rude and crude he was on the phone when I was trying to work with him on this issue. The nice photo below is another project and what we asked for on this project in Richmond.. they were given the photo with the drawings and still could not make it work.

It is a little beat up but plenty of selection to choose from. Locally owned place

These guys know their stuff about fish! Amazing place to shop

Very helpful staff.

Fun aquarium to visit.

Very nice, helpful and knowledgeable!

Great selection of fish and the staff is ver helpful. The only complaint I could make is that I wish there was more aquarium accessories (filters, lights, etc) available.

Jeff is the man David is cool and Richard is the best love this place

Always pleasant and on point. Stop in and see them.

Great service and selection.

Items were mislabeled and almost all saltwater AND freshwater fish had ICK. I wouldn't recommend at all.

So this place is really knowledgeable so I like calling them for advice. They know a lot. This is nothing about the workers, but I was very disturbed to hear that their suppliers advocate for euthanizing a fish by freezing it. Please stop doing this, this is not humane. Freezing is considered inhumane by the American Vetinary Medical Association. Fish are cold-blooded - they don't "fall asleep" like we do, they stay awake the entire time. This is is one of the cruelest methods of euthanizing a fish. Extreme cold water can cause their blood to become crystalline snd is extremely painful. This is actually very cruel. I hope that this place can learn about humane euthanasia, like the use of clove oil in the water before freezing. Clove oil puts the fish in a deep sleep, so they don’t feel any pain. I hope this review will make them take humane euthanasia seriously. Thank you.

New location. Very helpful staff! He could've easily sold me anything, but my problem with cloudy water was answered in detail and he didn't try to trick me into purchasing something I didn't need. Love the salt water tanks and selections of fresh and salt fish.

Interesting place, wanted to check them out after starting to keep fish again. Employees seemed nice and eager to help, though the general feel of the store seemed disheveled. Although it was my fault for not asking, from just walking around it felt like things were just lazily placed with no direction of where things are. I feel I should at least be able to find where their plants are, but hey must just be me. Had a decent selection of supplies and hardscaping stuff. Unfortunately had a low selection of fish with tons of empty tanks, and one of the first things I see is a dying blenny so that wasn't good impressions. I also saw large amount of fish with what seemed to have had Ich in a display tank with other fish. The store seemed fine with clearly a lot of underlying problems, its unfortunate to see this since I like supporting stores like this. I don't think I will be returning again if other stores in the area can impress.

Everyone here is so nice. Helpful employees and nice products.we drive from Fredericksburg to Richmond just to go here because of the customer service

Very knowledgeable. Not pushy. Didn't hawk us. Let us just roam around. Fish selection was good. Can't wait to see what the next shipment brings. Definitely will be my go-to aquarium store

The staff makes all the difference. They take the time to talk with you and generally have what we need. I love looking at the variety of fish and coral. They sell duckweed too!

Highly knowledgeable staff of all fish and they service numerous restaurants and homes that have aquariums. When you enter the bldg. I have not ever seen any aquarium store set up like this. When you look to the right, you will see how they maintain and make salt water plus fresh water for fish to live in. Directly in front of you are salt water fish in reach for kids to possibly touch. It is not recommended to touch, though. Excellent place to shop for fish and aquariums. Also rent aquariums.....

I came here looking to be educated on purchasing a fish & tank & the staff member working did just that. He was nice and explained everything to me and also recommended other places that might have what I was looking for. I am truly a beginner in this space so his willingness to help was much appreciated. The inside seemed a bit cluttered but I didn’t expect much. Overall I would return when I am ready to purchase.

Staff knows what they are doing. Will test your water and determine if fish will thrive.

The staff are great. They are knowledgeable and the prices are fair. By far the better tropical fish store in the area.

Very satisfied. They have a lot of rare and unique fish and all of the fish I have purchased seem (or seemed, some of them died for different reasons) very healthy and of high quality. The customer service and staff are very friendly, as well. I have purchased tetras, loaches, dwarf crayfish, crabs (a panther crab, at that. they're kinda rare,) pea puffers, danios, cory catfish and more. There are also plenty of cool animals that I can't keep ATM like eels, toadfish, sharks, rays, arowanas, bichirs, alligator gars, frogfish, large catfish, groupers and more. Price wise, it's a little expensive but it's worth it. I heard later this week they are getting some pretty rare stuff and I will get some.

(Translated by Google) Very good prices and a good staff, they attend you in English or Spanish ... ask for David ......... the best in the area. (Original) Muy buenos precios y un buen personal, te atienden en inglés o español.......pregunta por David.........los mejores en el área.

Great people and good pricing

Was very helpful and knowledgeable about the fish I wanted definitely will be going back

Loved it

The guy in the front was extremely helpful with teaching me about not only the difference between fish and the waters they go in but as well as he taught me a lot about the tanks in which to hold them in.

People are very friendly and make sure that you are taken care of, and have a fairly good selection of aquarium supplies, and fish.

We love coming here for all of our tank supplies. Sometimes the selection is low, but come on Wednesday or Thursday for the best selection. We’ve also trusted them to come to our home to work on our tank and they did a fabulous job!

My second favorite fish store I've ever visited. Highly recommend!

I learn something every time I go to the store

This is one of the best aquarium places in Chesterfield. They have such beautiful coral here! I'm new to fish aquariums but went along with my bf who has a 65 gallon tank with salt water fish. He has been searching for alot of things to fill his tank and found a couple things here no one else had. The guy at the counter was super knowledgeable and explained things to me so I understood everything. We went to 4 aquariums today and quickly realized not all fish aquarium stores are the same this place and one other place were very clean, with well kept tanks. The other two were poorly cared for. One thing that blew me away here besides the very friendly and knowledgeable staff was the clear water in all the tanks. I had to double take because it literally looked like the fish were swimming on air..that's how clean and clear this water was in the tank. I look forward to coming back again.

Knowledgeable employees and super friendly and helpful! Can't wait to get my tank set up with these guys. Highly recommend for fish newbies and experienced owners alike.

Nice place. Mainly saltwater. Limited cichlid selection.

One of the workers was soooooo rude. I wanted to come back and purchase a fish tank that another worker told me about(he was great) but when I came in, and asked about a fish, the way they guy talked to me, I decided to leave and just purchase the tank elsewhere. He should be retrained in the customer service department. Customers won't return with that type of service!!

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff!

Bought 1 fish and destroyed my whole tank with ick. Dont do it

They were very helpful in getting me started and setup thanks guys

These guys know their stuff! May want to call first to make sure they have had a delivery recently. They were out of a lot of fish and while you are on phone ask for directions if you are a first timer.. they are hard to find and google maps is zero help this time!

Everyone was extremely helpful and informative! The aquariums are beautiful and all the fish seem very well taken care of. I enjoyed my visit and intend on taking all my business to them from now on!

Love this place! Staff is always friendly and very helpful.

Got some clean up crew snails/crabs and and a couple of really nice looking Talbot Damsels. Great service at a great price.

Gotten exspencive

This is the fish I got. In the store I was not able to see details. I asked to the manager and his words were: "This fish is healthy, this is because it is changing the color"! Velvet and Ich!!!

Best fish store in town

Great selection, but the tank presentation could be better. Prices are somewhat competitive.

Answered all my questions and was a great help!

Great customer service!

Friendly staff and super knowledgeable!

Had salt water and tropical fish..very interesting visit

great atmosphere great people and a lot of fish aquariums to look at

Wide variety

Love the customer service

Richmond aquarium is doing a great job with there new store and as always a great place to visit.

I really want to like this place as it is the closest independent fish store to me. The new location is nice. They have a decent selection of dry goods, but the fish selection always seems to be lacking compared to the other independent stores in RVA.

Great selection of saltwater & freshwater fish, very knowledgeable staff.

(Translated by Google) Horrible I made a 40 min trip to this place and there was almost no fish ... (Original) Horrible realize un viaje 40 min para este lugar y habia casi nada de pescado...

Great place to get all your Aquarium needs