The go to store in the Triangle for serious hobbyists. I've never gotten bad advice from them, and they have great livestock and plants

Some of the folks there are great others meh. I get they are busy but no fish store should have dead fish in their tanks. No excuses. read more

The Fish Room - Not loving the dead fish just hanging out either - Pet Stores Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

See all

Employees are very helpful, there's a big selection of fish/supplies/live plants. Overall good experience and would go back.

I've been going to the store for years admiring everything. I just had a 60 gallon tank set up in my home yesterday and I have to say everyone at the store and doing installs is so nice and so knowledgeable. I'm sure this is the best place in Raleigh to get anything related to saltwater and reef tanks. I look forward to being there regularly now! When you're new to this, you need a support system. read more

Great choices, we love to go into this store and look at fish and corals. Everyone there is very knowledgeable

Great place to buy Plants and Aquarium stuff. They had my Taiwan Moss and picked up a Star Wars AT AT walker for the Betta Tank. My Betta is SO much more happy now! read more

The Fish Room - Mr Moe and the At At Walker - Pet Stores Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

this store is beautiful. the fish are in a good home and the staff are wonderful. and don't even get me started on how nice the plants are. if i could give this play 10 stars i would read more

Overall they do not value return customers. Have been here for several fish, but have decided I will not be returning soon. Fish tanks have been dealing with sickness and some of the staff seem uninterested/to take return customers for granted. Have been going to the store for a while now and in closing I want to make sure to add, the most important thing I want to say is that Ben (one of the employees) is absolutely great. Amazing guy! He saves the rating. If you go in and see a fish you like, ask for Ben. If your fish dies, ask for Ben. Even if you have to get some bad news about a pet or purchase, just know you can trust Ben. Ben gets 5 Stars, rest of the store gets 2, so I'm at 3 read more

I have been coming to this place for many years; however, the freshwater fish quality has decreased significantly. The move to the new store is somehow worse. Several tanks with sick, dead or dying fish. I have seen better maintained and better quality stock at Petco, if that puts things in perspective. This should not be acceptable for a reputable LFS. The plant offerings are probably the only "livestock" I will be purchasing from here in future. If they want to go marine only, they should just do so instead of poorly running the freshwater offerings. read more

New aquariumologist here, came in yesterday not knowing much at all and left knowing much more than I needed to. They were super friendly and helpful. Also the interior of this place is so cool. read more

I really like this fish store. The staff is always very friendly and extremely knowledgable about any questions we have. Special shout out to Gavin. He is very intelligent about marine biology and was very helpful. Give this place a visit! read more

I was surprised at the number of tanks they had. The have both Salt and fresh water fish here. Great selection of live rock ! Nice tanks and accessories to make your aquarium a success. Right next to Panera Bread. The selection of fish is good and they have juvenile fish you can watch grow to adult hood. The tanks are clean and expert advice from the staff. read more

See all

I am a newbie. I went in today for assistance and was immediately provided friendly, fast service. I've got my tank ready and set up now and in two weeks I'll be going back to get my fish at the store - after my tank has been through the proper cycle. The friendly employee gave great advice and was very helpful! He even offered to test my water when I come back! This will be my go-to store. read more

We were looking to purchase a large salt water aquarium (200 gallons) and don't have experience with this. So, we wanted to buy a system and have it set up for us. I guess they must be crushing it since they didn't care about selling the system or the maintenance (which is what they say they do). In the first year we would have spent about $10k between the tank, setup and maintenance with them. In short, they don't seem to care about aquariums for homeowners. We wanted to buy the aquarium from them but it took forever to hear back so we bought it elsewhere online. Then we visited the store and made several calls to get it plumbed & set-up and never received a call back. After not getting a response we went online and found Clearwater and asked them. It turns out they are the sister company and were then contacted by the manager (from FishRoom). He said it would take about 1 1/2 weeks to get it set up and then we could sign a maintenance agreement and select the fish. They did set the tank up for us and the two guys did a good job however when reaching back to the manager about starting the maintenance agreement he responded that he would have someone start the process. After a 2 or 3 weeks of nothing, we went with another company, who by the way contacted us right away and has been so much easier to work with. If you have a small fresh water aquarium and just need to pick up some supplies or fish from the store then they seem OK but I wouldn't suggest trying to buy anything you can't take home from the store with you. read more

Bought a fish on 6/26/22... the fist died 6/30/22... willing to take them a water sample but the only answer they gave was "no refunds or exchanges"... sorry we only do them for freshwater fish. No other fish has dies in my tank, the original fish that has been in there since day 1 is still thriving yet this one dies within a couple days. The least they can do is offer the same exchange policy they have for all fish they sell. Sad you don't stand by your own products. Lesson learned, I will not use this store again and continue using the fish store I was previously using as they stand behind their fish... both fresh and saltwater! read more

New tank new filter at home , bought fish from here and their jug of water. Fish died overnight they asked for water to test. We brought water in they said ammonia was in the water so we couldn't get fish replaced. But it was their water. And they had a lot of dead fish in their tanks. No more fish from the fish room. $8.99 is too much for fish to die that quick. read more

Went in with our kiddos to start the exciting process of owning their first fish tank. It was clear the employee didn't want anything to do with being at work or didn't want to deal with us, either way it was definitely a damper to what was supposed to be an exciting experience for our kids. Attitude aside, when we got home we realized the employee didn't even close the bags with the fish in them!!! Luckily we held the bag straight up or else we would have had a car full of dead fish. He also gave us the wrong food, and about half have already died. (Yes we've tested the water and our other fish from Petsmart are going strong). Needless to say we won't be going back and are very disappointed. read more

I came in for fresh water tank mates. The associate was very knowledgeable and helped me pick out several crustaceans and plants. Everything look updated and amazing. I was very impressed with the conditions for the fish and all the selection they had. Best, Ian read more

Luke and company moved my 72 gal saltwater aquarium and set up my natural rocks in a beautiful display. My fish are happy and healthy and they transported them safely. The owner Daniel is also very nice and informative. I plan on making many visits to them in the future as my fishtank grows! read more

The Fish Room - Pet Stores Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I wasn't in to buy anything in particular as my fish tank is settled (for now), but I decided to stop by since I was in the area. The Fish Room is a small local fish store that carries both freshwater and saltwater fish. To the left is all your freshwaters and the middle and right is saltwaters. All their tanks look very well maintained and have beautiful fish and corals. I have a freshwater tank, so I'm not too knowledgeable about saltwater pricing, but the freshwater species seemed to be a decent price. The employees are very helpful with any questions you might have and this will definitely be a place I'll stop by when I'm in the mood to re-vamp my tank again. read more

I cannot say enough good things about The Fish Room, and especially the Raleigh location manager Daniel. I recently relocated to the Triangle area from California and needed to ship my saltwater fish ahead of our arrival. To pull it off, I needed somewhere to send them where they could be held until the tank arrived and I was able to sterilize and rebuild it. Daniel and The Fish Room accepted the shipment and kept my fish (in their amazing "Think Tank" educational facility behind the store) *for free* for several weeks until I was ready to take them home. Simply remarkable! As for the store itself, The Fish Room is in a class by itself. Most LFSs during my years in the hobby have been somewhat depressing places, with less than friendly staff. The Fish Room is clean, organized, and staffed with helpful, knowledgeable people. In an area with few LFS choices, this gem is all you need. read more

The Fish Room is everything you want your neighborhood small business to be; quick, helpful, and very informative. It helps that their tanks display an awesome assortment of fish and invertebrates. I was looking for fancy goldfish and freshwater plants. While they don't carry goldfish I picked up some java fern and I wanted anubias nana. They only had a huge anubias on a piece of wood and the guy kindly broke off a small piece for me. The Fish Room has freshwater cichlids, some plants, marine fish, invertebrates, and beautiful coral and frags. It's too bad I don't have a saltwater tank. read more

This local fish store has a very friendly staff and the tanks always look immaculate when I go here. I frequently come in for RO water and look around while I wait. The staff is very quick to offer assistance and will also look up special orders. The fish all seem really healthy. This is the one place I've never seen a dead fish in the tank. Not saying it doesn't happen, just I've never seen one. That to me means they keep a close eye on things and clean up quickly. Both are signs of a well run place. One great think is their water refill rewards, if you need salt or RO water, this is a great place for it. The price is reasonable and they even sell 5 gallon jugs. When you fill up, ask for a card and you'll get a stamp with each refill. After so many, you get a free 5 gallon refill. Their selection seems to run more towards saltwater and cichlids. I wish they had more of a variety of freshwater fish and had more inverts. Also their prices seem a bit high. Parking can also be a problem, especially when you have to carry out two 5 gallon jugs of water and walk a long way to your car. Those are my only negatives and one is just a personal preference. Overall, this is a very clean and friendly fish store that I would recommend. read more

If not for one employee in particular here who always goes above and beyond for me and is extremely friendly (bald with glasses but don't know his name) I would give this place three stars, I have requested to be put on their waiting lists several times for certain breeds of fish that I have never been notified of, and have even walked into the store on random visits to find that they had in stock with no notification like I requested. They do offer lots of advice though and for tropical fish(not saltwater), this is probably the biggest selection you will find in the triangle area. read more

MY FAVORITE FISH STORE IN TOWN!!! One of the sleekest fish stores I've ever seen! I frequently visit just to look at their beautiful set ups. IT'S THE STORE YOU ALWAYS WISHED YOUR OLD PET STORE WAS! Anything you need for your tank, I promise they have. They always have the best high quality products to maintain your fishies (cause they care!) and a great selection of frozen foods too! They always have a HUGE fish/plant selection, fresh and salt water, and I mean that in quantity, variety and fish size!!! I'm always looking for uncommon and extraordinary fish, and they always have something of the sort. I've gotten all of my #exoticfish, #microfish, #shrimp, #plants and #tanks from here and the staff has always been nothing but insightful and patient with me. They've helped me learn everything I need to know about starting up my #saltwater tank and everything I already know is also thanks to them. If you ever need anything for your #aquarium or are a first timer, this is absolutely the place you want to go!!! Oh, and they update their website weekly with their fish inventory so you can see what kind of interesting fish they have that week! P.s. They have Star Wars and Star Trek aquarium decor!!! Death Stars, AT-ATs, Millennium falcons, and the S.S. Enterprise. The only place I've ever seen any! May the Fish be with you(: #thefishroomraleigh read more

Checked this place out for the first time as a closer LFS than Fish Fish Fish (which is amazing but a bit of a drive from Raleigh). The staff were very friendly and seemed knowledgable. The display tank looked good, but I immediately noticed the frag tanks were ridden with aiptasia and many of the marine fish looked bad. Super skinny tangs and a copper banded that was just floating helplessly (maybe swim bladder?), I'd guess it has maybe a week or two left. Even if there were good coral specimens, I can't imagine anyone bringing a frag into their system that has 3 or 4 visible aiptasia on it. Anyways, I would go back for equipment or food/test kits, but I'll stick to getting my livestock from LiveAquaria. read more

The employees are knowledgable, helpful, and friendly. They helped my daughter and I find exactly what we needed for her 1st aquarium.

Located across the street from Triangle Town Center off Capital Blvd, this aquarium store specializes in saltwater fish, corals, inverts, and supplies. They are perhaps the only aquarium store that stocks a supply of good dry rock, and they also have a large supply of live rock. From time to time, you may find rare specimens such as Japanese pygmy angels here. Once my favorite aquarium store in the Triangle, amidst tight competition their ranking has dropped in my book as of late due to multiple sightings of dead or dying fish in their tanks: I've pointed out dead fish at least twice, including a large Desjardini Sailfin Tang in a show tank, and after pointing out that an adult French angelfish kept in a large tank with (among other large fish) a second French angel and a Queen angel was cowering in a corner looking rather tattered and beat, was told that "that's normal for that particular fish and she does come out to eat." Well, the staff member did try feeding that fish there to prove it and no, she didn't eat. I appreciated his willingness to look into things, but a second staff member acted rather annoyed at my friend and I for pointing out that this fish was clearly not doing well. Anyone worth his or her salt when it comes to saltwater fishkeeping knows that keeping multiple large angelfish together even in a large tank is a potentially risky operation, and I was disappointed that I had to point out that their experiment in keeping these particular three angelfish together had clearly failed. That being said, I have had no trouble with the quality of the supplies, rocks, and fish that I did buy from The Fish Room, and may do business with them again in the future. They do have a great little store and some lovely display tanks! I don't want to bash a store based on a couple questionable experiences, but in all honesty I will have to rate this otherwise-excellent store 3 stars. They do post an updated new arrivals list on their website, so check that out. read more

Their selection is extremely small. And parking is a pain since they are near panera bread. We also did not find the staff too knowledgeable about the actual fish they sell. And were more just faking their way through trying to make a sale. And we finally stopped going there all together when we realized they hiked their prices shortly after Fish World closed. Because of their lack of knowledge and small selection I only give them one star. As I found Aquarium Outfitters to have a much more knowledgeable staff and the selection of fish is the largest my husband and I have seen around at very reasonable prices. And that is what we are looking for in an aquarium shop. read more

I have always wanted a salt water tank and finally took the plunge. Eric and the team at the Fish room helped me with everything I needed. They took extra steps to make sure the tank was what I wanted and not what they wanted to sell me. The whole experience has been great and exceeded my expectations. I would recommend the Fish Room to anyone. Thanks Eric!! read more

The Fish Room on capital is great, Ashley is professional and has a vast knowledge that allows her to answer any fish question you might have. This location has the capability to order you anything you might need for your TANK. I've always had a tank but ASHLEY turned me onto fresh water clams that keep your water crystal clear. Thanks to Ashley my tank is gorgeous and the fish and lobster are living well. Thank you Ashley and the team at the Fish Room located on capital blvd. You ARE A 5 STAR TEAM. read more

Beware......if they truly have what you want even you pay twice as much elsewhere you will be better off elsewhere or doing without. Also they will and do rip you off! Over priced product. Then there is The health issue.....not just coral cut poorly or sick. There fish have a 80/85% mortality rate. .....but you'll run the real risk of infecting your tank! just beware. Go elsewhere. Saving a buck then the frustration, the lies, and worst of all is the risk of harming your tank. The staff rated: 8 The manager rated: 3 owner rated : 0 read more

This is the place to go for people setting up their first tank. The staff obviously has a well developed knowledge of fish care, will give you straight information and they answer all your questions with detail. I trust what they have to say and feel reassured they are selling me good quality materials. The tanks are spotless and the fish are clearly healthy. There is no fishy smells or odors when you go in. They have a nice selection of fish. I've been to several pet stores and fish supply stores in the area and this one is by far my top choice!! read more

The store was fairly nice, with clean looking tanks. However I will not be going back. I went in for substrate, decided to leave with a Betta! While I love my new fish there were several issues. First being that I was specifically interested in their males. They sold me a female Betta listed as a male. When we got home I noticed there was an egg spot (indicating it was a female, male Bettas do not have egg spots). A store employee then told us when we called that "there was no real way to tell if it was a male or female." The fish in particular was labeled as a Koi but has no marble and presents as a Samurai in pattern and coloration (backed up by other Betta keepers). I fell for the fish's personality however the false information given to us leads me to believe they are either highly uneducated on Bettas, or just feel that they don't need to serve "less experienced" fish keepers with the same level of service they might someone "more experienced." Because of the condition of the fish they get 3 stars, because of the misinformation, the lack of help or responsibility taken for their mistakes drops their rating from a 5 star to a 3 star and we will not be returning. There are other places to get aquarium items and I'll be taking advantage of that for my future tanks & fish. They should educate their employees, or stop selling fish they don't know about. read more

This was not my first visit to the Fish Room, but it will probably be my last. The aquariums in the Raleigh store are not very clean, and you can tell that there is something wrong with their livestock more often than not. There was no sign of any type of quarantine for new fish that was brought in, and clear signs of fish that were sick. Anything from sunken belly to ick was widespread throughout the store. I have seen this become more and more of an issue over the past 2 years, and I am no longer going to give this store my business. I have both a saltwater tank as well as a larger African cichlid thank, and I have to say that although they were helpful in letting me know that they could order some fish that I was interested in, I didn't feel inclined to purchase anything from there after seeing how they added livestock to their systems. No quarantine or quality control. I saw a person (who I think is the manager), just pull out a sick saltwater fish from the tank and went to the back of the store to "dispose" of the fish, and not even try to figure out what was wrong with it and if it is something that could have been spread to other fish in there. At another instance, I have seen them add fish in to their systems that came directly from customers. I will stick to a store that at least care about their livestock instead of just selling them. Especially when the store is not willing to guarantee saltwater livestock. It looks like they have 1 big central system for all of their livestock, so if there is 1 fish that is sick, they all have a chance of being sick. As far as the freshwater side, they have a decent supply of African Cichlids, but they are no longer carrying the higher quality that were supplied to them locally by someone that used to work there (The name was Raleigh Cichlids, and I think his name was Ken). I used to come in there from time to time on Sundays when the breeder was in the store. He was always willing to share his wealth of knowledge regarding species, setup and stocking. I don't know why they don't stock his fish anymore, and when I asked about it, I was just told that "He doesn't work here any more" with no other explanation given. When you go in to the store now, you see fish that have sunken bellies and have an overall look of being in poor health. No regards is given to the compatibility of the species and you can tell that they are killing each other. If anyone knows what store you can find Raleigh Cichlids in now, or how to contact him, please post as a response here. I would gladly change the store where I shop to a place where I can find quality instead of overpriced fish that are no different from what I buy at Petco/Petsmart. As far as dry goods, the store is overpriced, but they carry a good selection for saltwater. I will however much rather go to one of their competitors or purchase it online than to give them my money. The store has some flashy colors, but their approach to fishkeeping is not much better than what you get at your pet supermarket. Its all about squeezing out the last penny that they can out of every person walking in to the store. You would think that a store promotes itself to be a great saltwater store would care more about it's livestock. The saltwater that you buy from them is mixed by the cheapest possible minerals manufactured by Tetra, so you are paying a premium for mediocre saltwater. Come to think about it. That's really what the whole store is about. Selling overpriced mediocre livestock and dry goods in a fancy packaging. There is nothing special about this store except for its coloring scheme. Its like putting lipstick on a pig. Its still a pig, but more expensive than what you can get elsewhere. read more

They told me which kind of fish is not good to put together with other, which is good, but they sold me a sick fish.... when I get back home.... it already die.... and the fin is already harmed read more

This place is amazing. Emmit was amazing when helping me pick out fish and making sure my tank was ready for the fish i was putting in. The lady that works there is also amazing and he knowledge is endless. I dont know her name but shes awesome. I will continue shopping here for sure. And recommend them to anyone. read more

It's impressive when you walk in. My visits have varied. The first time we went in, it was great. We had someone who was very knowledgeable and talked us through our options and we left happy. The second time I went in, was a little different but was still fine. I asked the gentleman a question and I was ignored, but I can shrug it off. Maybe I wasn't loud enough. The reason behind my review is the fact that on our last visit, we bought a vanilla lobster and a big ole catfish. It has barely been a month and the catfish has passed. Upon calling, I was informed that they have a 7 day fish return policy. That's even less than petsmart and Petco. My husband loved this fish (though I'm not sure how you can but to each their own) and even though I told him this and made a point to say that it passed while my husband was out of town for 3 days, and would like to replace it before he got back and got upset, his nonchalant attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I do believe that I will be going somewhere else. read more

I have always had wonderful experiences visiting the Fish Room, though rarely leave any remarks on sites such as these. I felt compelled to do so in this case as I read another review from Jessica J that I found to be unfair. Now I am fully aware that most people only leave feedback when they have had a terrible experience, as that is the only time one feels passionate enough to spend the time on a review. I'm not sure how advanced Jessica is as an aquarist since she doesn't seem to know the difference between MACNA and MAC. Marine Aquarium Conference of North America has nothing to do with sustainability, however the Marine Aquarist Council (MAC) certainly would. I often look at reviews such as Yelp just to make sure not all the reviews are awful, so I find it a bit annoying seeing the review that was left. I have seen Jessica J in the past in reviews, and am fairly certain she is a former employee of the store here to fulfill the grudge held against the store that no longer felt she was worthy of employ. Also listing your location as Nevada sounds sketchy since we are in Raleigh, NC. Lets keep reviews on the up and up and leave valid concerns regarding an establishment and its employees. I have had many tanks over the years and have always had positive experiences with the staff at the Fish Room as well as the products. As another poster mentioned the pricing is always fair and I have had better luck with livestock from the fish room than I have other aquarium shops. Thinking every fish is going to live forever is naive, but comparatively I have been much happier with livestock from the Fish Room than other locations. read more

I haven't been to this store in a few years. Visited the store at lunch today to see if I can find a fish I like to stock my new tank. I find looking for fish at a fish store is like looking for used CDs at a Used CD store. You can't really go in looking for a specific fish because they can't carry all 500 species of fish. It is better just to go in and see what they have and maybe you can find something you like. Others have complained that they have come in and the fish didn't look very healthy. My guess is that they get their fish from a good dealer but sometimes they just receive sick fish. On this visit I found that all of the tanks seemed very clean and the stock of saltwater fish looked pretty healthy. Buying a healthy fish is as big a responsibility to the customer as it is to the store. Buying any fish from any source is a risk. Before buying that fish watch him for a while, make sure he is eating, look for unhealthy signs such as: white spots on the fins, faded coloring, mealy looking scales, weird twitching, odd swimming, etc. If a fish doesn't look right to you for any reason don't buy him, odds are that he is not going to magically recover when you take him home. The person that helped me was very friendly and helpful. Found a fish I liked, did some quick research with my phone and talked to the employee about the fish. After spending about 15 minutes watching the fish, I decided to purchase it. He is currently in my quarantine tank for the next month and I will hope for the best. Couple of side notes about this store: 1) I like how they put the date on the sticker when they received the fish. It would be nice to find a fish they have had for at least a month, but I think they turn over stock really quickly there, because almost every fish I looked at had arrived within the week. 2) Their prices are actually pretty good. I compared 4 different saltwater fish they were carrying to the internet prices of Live Aquaria and Blue Zoo, and they were either the same or very close. The advantage of buying at the store is you can see the fish you are buying and you don't have to pay shipping. read more