Fish Stores by State / Pennsylvania
Best Fish Stores in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's aquarium scene runs from Erie's Lake Erie shoreline down to the Philadelphia suburbs, anchored by a handful of shops that have outlasted big-box competition through decades of specialist knowledge. The state is home to one of the country's most famous independent aquatics retailers, an 88,000-square-foot Lancaster institution that hobbyists drive hours to visit, alongside tightly focused reef boutiques run by one or two people who know every tank by name. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia each support several strong local shops, while smaller cities like Erie, Phoenixville, and towns in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley keep dedicated storefronts alive on loyal, word-of-mouth customer bases. What unites them is a preference for slow, honest advice over volume sales: quarantine tanks, house-propagated coral, and owners who will talk a first-time saltwater keeper through a setup long after closing time.
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 10 in Pennsylvania
Amazonia Tropical Fish
Shares an operator with this site.Full disclosure →
- 1
Elmer's Aquarium
Monroeville, PA
A Pittsburgh-area fixture since 1969 with a 300-tank showroom covering freshwater, marine, and pond.
Freshwater tropical fish · Marine fish and coral · Pond supplies
- 2
That Fish Place - That Pet Place
Lancaster, PA
An 88,000-square-foot Lancaster institution since 1973, often called the largest independent pet and fish store in the world.
Tropical and marine fish · Coral and invertebrates · Reptiles and pond supplies
- 3
The Hidden Reef, Inc
Levittown, PA
Bucks County's largest aquarium specialty store, known for elaborate display tanks reviewers say rival public aquariums.
Saltwater reef fish · Live coral · Reptiles
- 4
World Wide Aquarium & Pets
Philadelphia, PA
A family-owned Roxborough shop known for hard-to-find species like chili rasboras alongside axolotls and live plants.
Freshwater tropical fish · Rare micro fish species · Live plants
- 5
Sea Cave Inc.
Erie, PA
Erie's dedicated saltwater specialists since 1975, propagating their own coral in-house for weekly rotating stock.
Saltwater fish · Captive-bred coral · Freshwater fish and plants
- 6
Aqua-World Pet Super Center
Pittsburgh, PA
A 550-tank, family-owned super center billed as one of western Pennsylvania's leading independent pet stores.
Freshwater and saltwater fish · Reptiles · Birds and small animals
- 7
Coralust Reef Solutions
Phoenixville, PA
A Phoenixville reef boutique that grew from a home hobbyist operation into a dedicated coral specialty store.
Saltwater coral · Anemones and invertebrates · Custom reef installation
- 8
Something Fishy
Northampton, PA
A Lehigh Valley saltwater specialty shop with over four decades in business under the same toofishy.com banner.
Saltwater fish and coral · Reef equipment · Livestock for beginners and experienced reefers
9One Fish Two Fish
Brodheadsville, PA
A Poconos-area tropical fish shop where the owner's hands-on knowledge draws a 4.6-star rating across over 100 reviews.
Tropical freshwater fish · Aquarium supplies and accessories
- 10
Mini Reef
Prospect Park, PA
A small Delco saltwater boutique where the owner, Sal, is known for patient, unhurried help with nano reef setups.
Saltwater nano reef · Live coral · Tropical fish and koi supplies