Fish Stores in Atlanta Area

[sotsreef]

Here are all the fish stores that I know are near and around the Atlanta area:

Pure Reef (Alpharetta/Milton)
Southern Aquatics (Roswell)
Marine Fish EZ (Roswell)
Atlanta Aquarium (Duluth)
Nemo Aquarium (Duluth)
The Fish Store (Chamblee)
Creation Pet (Woodstock)
Reef Shac (Marietta)

Pure Reef is exclusively saltwater but they have so many corals and beautiful fish. Southern Aquatics specializes in Salt and Freshwater and they have super friendly staff always willing to help. Atlanta Aquarium has great prices and lots and lots of dry goods as well as corals to purchase. The Fish Store in Chamblee is the biggest store of them all with a huge ware house you can walk through. They have lots of great prices and selections for people living closer to the city. I have not visited the other stores but hope to in the future. Here are some pictures of the stores.


Pure Reef:

Southern Aquatics:

Atlanta Aquarium:

The Fish Store

 

[Mikedawg]

I've been to all these stores and, IMHO, Nemo in Duluth has best selection/prices for fish and coral. Everything I've bought there has done well and Simon gets in some of the more unusual species. https://www.facebook.com/Nemo-Aquarium-540959592632889/

 

[sotsreef]

I've been to all these stores and, IMHO, Nemo in Duluth has best selection/prices for fish and coral. Everything I've bought there has done well and Simon gets in some of the more unusual species. https://www.facebook.com/Nemo-Aquarium-540959592632889/

Awesome I’ll have to visit that place soon!

 

[GarrDen79]

There is also Premier Aquatics in Marietta. They are a little pricier but have great selection and quality specimens.

Nemo is my go-to LFS. Best prices and good selection on fish and corals.

If looking for corals, Reef Shac is where I go for the unique finds. I haven't seen much of a fish selection but they'll order anything for you.

I'm waiting for a LFS to open inside the perimeter...

 

[Mikedawg]

+1 on Premier; great selection of tanks and high end equipment and a knowledgeable staff.

 

[Dodgersfan]

Great list! I’ve been to all except for Reef Shac, and I didn’t know marine fish EZ existed. i’ll have to check that one out. I’ll add my 2 cents:

Pure reef is my closest LFS. And they are fantastic (pricey, but fantastic). Jorge drilled my tank and installed my overflow for me and did a great job. I always get great advice there, they talked me through tuning my overflow, and hooked me up with a service guy that lives around the corner from me when I messed up one of my bulkheads to help me drain the tank and fix the bulkheads. I can’t say enough good things about their service, and their dry goods are very reasonable, But man their coral is expensive. Their fish tanks are always pristine, the fish prices are a little high also, but not as bad as coral, and did I mention the tanks and fish are pristine? I’ve almost never seen any signs of ich/flukes/etc on any of their fish (maybe once or two fish in the dozens of times I’ve been there) I’m going to be stocking my 90 in a few months and I may very well go through them to order the fish I want rather than LA/SWF, even if they are a bit more.

Southern aquatics is the next closest to me and I go there a lot too, when I need more RODI than my little 75 gpd brs filter will produce in a reasonable amount of time I get it from SA, their water prices are very reasonable (about half what pure reef charges) They’re definitely the best freshwater store in town, and we have a little 10 gallon freshwater tank in my daughters room so that’s where i go for all needs for that tank. Ashley and (blanking on her sister’s name). Are super helpful and always willing to chat about tank issues or compatibility, or any questions I might have about anything. Their salt water fish can be a little rough from time to time, I’ve seen ich and flukes several times, I didn’t question them about it because I wasn’t buying fish either way so it didnt seem appropriate to badger them over fish health if I wasn’t even buying. They do seem like they know what they’re doing so I’m sure they were treating the fish, these were several hundred dollar large show fish so I’m sure they were in the process of treating them. The freshwater tanks are super clean and you can tell that someone there really loves freshwater. I did freshwater exclusively for many many years so I Always love to see a store that’s really devoted to freshwater.

Nemo aquarium definitely has the best coral selection in town, especially LPS, and the best prices too, now that you mention them it reminds me that I meant to get over there this week and pick up some hammers and torches, I’m going to have to do that next week. Their livestock tanks have been super clean the handful
If times I’ve been there, And Simon has been doing maintinence on one tank or another every single time I’ve been there, seriously, every single time I’ve walked through the door he’s elbow deep in a tank scrubbing or changing water or doing something I’ve never seen him just hanging out sitting behind the counter, you can definitely see the work he puts into keeping on top of everything, & that gives me a lot of confidence buying from him.

The Fish Store’s best quality is their selection/variety. They’re definitely the biggest, but I tend to think of them as the Wal-Mart LFS, good selection and good prices but the quality is definitely ‘meh’ dead fish are pretty common in livestock tanks, and you can tell they’re not spending as much time on tank maintenance as the three above. I don’t think I’d buy a delicate species from them no matter how good the price was, and anything I buy from here is definitely going through full quarantine.

I’ve only been to creation reef a few times but their prices were really good on frags and fish, and the store and tanks were very clean. And their zero edge frag tank is really cool. I think if I lived closer i’d Be there a lot more often.

If I had to rank them I’d go with this order:
Pure Reef(but a little too pricey for me most of the time)
Nemo aquarium (I’ll probably spend more here than pure reef in the next year though because the bang for the buck is much better)
Creation Pet
Southern Aquatics
Atlanta Aquarium
The Fish Store

Haven’t been so can’t rank:
Reef Shac
Marine Fish EZ

 

[Wuzzo]

The Fish Store to me just seems off... I saw only 2 workers and my brother picked up a couple coral frags and 2 were INFESTED with flatworms, stars, snails, ect.

 

[jabberwock]

Optimum Aqaurium is in Kennesaw. It has been there for 10 years. Equipment is pricey, but great livestock and coral selection, pretty standard pricing, but they are very helpful and knowledgable.

Creation is real good to. Reef Shack is a good coral place, not a lot of fish. Premiere Auquatics is pretty good too.

 

[ReefyB]

Anyone know what happened to Preservation Reef? (the one LFS that used to actually be in the city). I heard a rumor when I was in Atlanta Aquarium that the owner might have just moved to another location, but can’t seem to confirm that.

 

[jabberwock]

Uh, finally went to Nemo. That place is incredible. Meticulously kept up and corals like I have never seen...

 

[Mikedawg]

Yep, just got a tiger conch from Nemo and have already put him to work. Simon has been getting in some unusual inverts and his coral is always special.

 

[Fotocha]

Could anyone recommend me a good fresh water store in the Atlanta area (helping my father)?

Btw it’s funny that you all like Nemo’s, back when I lived there I remember this store opening and thinking to myself “he’ll never make it”. Glad to hear he’s progressing I’ll have to stop by when I’m in town.

 

[SeaJay]

Could anyone recommend me a good fresh water store in the Atlanta area (helping my father)?

Btw it’s funny that you all like Nemo’s, back when I lived there I remember this store opening and thinking to myself “he’ll never make it”. Glad to hear he’s progressing I’ll have to stop by when I’m in town.

He has a second location in Lilburn now, Nemo Aquarium 2. That's pretty much my go to as it's one of only two that are less than an about an hour from me. The young guy at the Duluth location is definitely the most helpful/knowledgeable that I've been to.

I'm about halfway between Athens and Atlanta, so the other that I sometimes visit is Aquarium Outfitters in Athens. He knows his stuff. He has a degree from UGA for it. I got all of my equipment from him when I knew nothing and I feel like he didn't steer me wrong when he could have just sold me more stuff and more expensive stuff. They are just about to open in a bigger, nicer location. Currently it's a bit warehouse-ish.

 

[jabberwock]

Optimum in Kennesaw has a really good freshwater section.
Creation in Woodstock is pretty good too.

 

[Mikedawg]

Could anyone recommend me a good fresh water store in the Atlanta area (helping my father)?

Btw it’s funny that you all like Nemo’s, back when I lived there I remember this store opening and thinking to myself “he’ll never make it”. Glad to hear he’s progressing I’ll have to stop by when I’m in town.

You won't be disappointed; he gets fish/corals/inverts in every week and so always has some new and interesting choices. I've never gotten anything "bad" there.

 

[mandarin417]

20 years since I lived in the Atlanta area. I remember there was a terrific store in the Buckhead area. Long gone but a fun place was Shark Bay downtown owned by John.

 

[bobby.w.hodges]

Just thought I would share this event. I know it's not a store, but it's a great oppotunity to pivotal up some nice coral that isn't usually available locally.

 

[Wuzzo]

Just thought I would share this event. I know it's not a store, but it's a great oppotunity to pivotal up some nice coral that isn't usually available locally.

I'm going there!