Fish Stores by State / Illinois
Best Fish Stores in Illinois
Illinois' aquarium scene centers heavily on Chicago and its suburbs, where a dense cluster of independent shops has grown up around a long-running reef and saltwater community, alongside specialists who've built reputations well beyond the state in narrower niches like discus. Outside the metro area the hobby thins out but doesn't disappear: central Illinois has a respected coral farm operating near Peoria and a deep-stocked independent pet store in Springfield, while the Metro East corridor near St. Louis has its own small, fiercely loyal shop. What ties these stores together in customer reviews isn't size or inventory alone but owners and staff who are hobbyists first, willing to spend real time on water chemistry and stocking advice instead of just moving product. This directory covers those independently owned shops, not the chain pet retailers that dominate Illinois strip malls.
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 Illinois
- 1
Zooxae
Elgin, IL
Elgin freshwater and saltwater shop praised for spotless, disease-free livestock and magazine-ready display tanks.
quarantined freshwater and saltwater fish · corals and marine invertebrates · aquascaping supplies
- 2
Sho Tank Aquariums
Mundelein, IL
Mundelein reef destination since 1979, anchored by a 2,000-gallon saltwater display and loyal customers.
saltwater reef livestock · custom aquarium design and installation · tank maintenance
- 3
The Local Fish Store
Morton Grove, IL
Morton Grove reef specialist known for one of the largest coral selections in the Chicago suburbs.
saltwater and reef livestock · acropora coral frags cut to order · freshwater fish
- 4
Marine Concepts
Wheeling, IL
Wheeling reef maintenance company and retail shop known for reliable service and fair coral pricing.
custom aquarium design, installation and maintenance · reef fish and coral retail · 24-hour emergency service
- 5
Natures Select of Springfield
Springfield, IL
Central Illinois' largest independent pet store, with an owner-run fish department serving Springfield-area hobbyists.
freshwater and saltwater fish · reef livestock and supplies · aquarium setup and maintenance
- 6
Big Fish Aquarium
Elmwood Park, IL
Elmwood Park-area freshwater and saltwater shop with a veteran owner and mixed but mostly positive livestock reviews.
freshwater and saltwater aquariums · shrimp · custom tank design