Fish Stores by State / Georgia
Best Fish Stores in Georgia
Georgia's aquarium hobby runs on a handful of genuinely independent shops scattered from the Atlanta suburbs down to the coast rather than one dominant hub. Metro Atlanta carries the deepest bench, with saltwater specialists in Alpharetta and Chamblee competing on coral selection and reef expertise, while Kennesaw and Roswell cover the freshwater and mixed-tank crowd. Augusta's Bob's Tropical Fish, running since 1982, is arguably the state's most established name outside the metro area, and newer arrivals like Aquarium Eden near Savannah show the hobby is still growing along the coast. Athens and Columbus round things out with full-service shops built as much around tank maintenance and consultation as straight retail. What ties these stores together is longevity earned the hard way: keeping livestock healthy, building repeat customers, and surviving in a niche retail category that has watched countless competitors close as big-box pet chains expanded into the aquatics aisle.
Top 10 Fish Stores in the USA
Our national ranking methodology →Curated by our editors from the state-by-state directory below — the shops that stand out even against the full national field.
Amazonia Tropical Fish
Shares an operator with USA Fish Stores.Full disclosure →
1That Fish Place - That Pet Place
Lancaster, PA
At 88,000 square feet and running since 1973, this Lancaster institution is widely cited as the largest independent pet and fish store in the world, a scale and breadth no other shop in this pool comes close to matching. It functions as a destination stop for hobbyists nationwide, not just a local supplier.
Tropical and marine fish · Coral and invertebrates · Reptiles and pond supplies
2Aqua Forest Aquarium
San Francisco, CA
As the first US store built around Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium philosophy and the American distributor for ADA products, it holds a unique historical position in the country's aquascaping movement. Its influence radiates well past San Francisco through the aquascapers it trained and the supply chain it anchors nationally.
Nature Aquarium style planted tanks · ADA products (US distributor) · Aquascaping
- 3
Aquatica Aquarium Gallery
Valley City, OH
A 20,000-gallon display gallery paired with the state's biggest African cichlid selection gives this store a rare combination of showroom ambition and genuine specialty depth. Few aquatics retailers anywhere pull off that scale and that level of focus in the same building.
African cichlids · reef corals · custom acrylic aquariums
- 4
Nahacky's Aquarium
Melbourne, FL
Open continuously since 1961, it's among the longest-running aquarium retailers in the country, predating the modern fishkeeping boom by decades. That six-decade record of surviving industry shifts is a distinction almost nothing else in this pool can claim.
Freshwater and saltwater fish · Pond supplies · Reef equipment
- 5
Monster Aquarium
Flushing (Queens), NY
One of the largest freshwater-only operations in the country, it stocks exotics from discus to platinum alligator gar at a depth rarely seen outside specialist importers. Standing out for sheer scale inside the dense, competitive NYC aquatics market is itself a national-caliber feat.
exotic freshwater fish · discus · arowana & gars
6King's Discus
Seattle, WA
A dedicated importer-breeder sourcing discus, flowerhorn, and rare cichlids simultaneously from South America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia, backed by its own in-house breeding program. That breadth of direct sourcing plus captive propagation puts it closer to a wholesale operation than a typical retail counter.
discus · flowerhorn and rare cichlids · bettas
- 7
Elmer's Aquarium
Monroeville, PA
Running since 1969 with a 300-tank showroom spanning freshwater, marine, and pond, it's the kind of multi-generational, full-line operation that's grown rare as the hobby has consolidated around narrower specialists. Its longevity and category breadth make it a benchmark rather than just a regional favorite.
Freshwater tropical fish · Marine fish and coral · Pond supplies
- 8
Austin Aqua-Dome
Austin, TX
Housed in a genuine landmark two-story dome, it's one of the few fish stores in the country recognizable by its architecture alone, paired with a freshwater-and-saltwater range broad enough to anchor a major metro. That combination of physical distinctiveness and inventory depth is unusual on a national scale.
freshwater tropicals · saltwater/reef · landmark dome building
- 9
C-Macs Aquarium
Charlotte, NC
Beyond retail livestock, three-plus decades of custom aquarium design, installation, and commercial maintenance give it a professional-services depth most fish stores never develop. That dual identity as both a shop and an established design-build firm sets it apart from typical retail-only competitors nationally.
freshwater and saltwater fish · custom aquarium design and installation · live plants
- 10
Zooxae
Elgin, IL
Its reputation rests on disease-free, quarantined livestock and magazine-ready display tanks across freshwater, saltwater, and aquascaping supplies at once, an operational-quality bar that stands out in a pool where most stores are judged on selection size alone. Consistency across multiple specialties, rather than dominance in one niche, is the harder trick to pull off.
quarantined freshwater and saltwater fish · corals and marine invertebrates · aquascaping supplies
Top 6 in Georgia
- 1
Pure Reef
Alpharetta, GA
Saltwater-only reef specialist in Alpharetta, running since 1986 with expert-led coral and marine fish selection.
Saltwater/reef only · Live coral · Marine fish
- 2
Optimum Aquarium
Kennesaw, GA
Kennesaw shop with a two-decade reputation for healthy livestock and knowledgeable staff across reef and freshwater tanks.
Reef/saltwater · Freshwater fish · Live plants
- 3
The Fish Store
Chamblee, GA
Chamblee saltwater specialist claiming the Southeast's largest fish and coral selection, with an in-house maintenance division.
Saltwater fish · Rare/exotic marine species · Live coral
- 4
Classic City Aquariums
Athens, GA
Athens full-service aquarium shop inside Georgia Square Mall, covering both saltwater and freshwater systems.
Saltwater systems · Freshwater fish · Aquarium design/installation
- 5
Exotic Aquatics Inc
Savannah, GA
Savannah shop blending retail fish and plants with full koi pond design, installation, and repair services.
Koi & pond fish · Aquatic plants · Pond design & installation
- 6
Southern Aquatics
Roswell, GA
Roswell neighborhood fish store pairing fresh and saltwater retail with scheduled tank maintenance service.
Freshwater fish · Saltwater fish · Tank maintenance