Aquarium Paradise — Attraction in Belleville

Aquarium Paradise isn’t really as it’s described in the name. There are lots of aquariums, but I’m not sure if it’s a paradise.

Located directly on busy Washington Ave, it’s in a brick building that looks pretty run down. It’s not terribly difficult to find with a large sign on the front, but the traffic may make it more or less difficult. Parking is by meter on the street. We went on a Sunday, so we did not pay anything.

The inside is very dark, with few windows and lights. The walls are painted black which doesn’t really help. They might be going for a cavernous look, but I don’t think it works if that’s the case. The rest looks a bit too run down. It is about as dirty and odorous as you might expect from a fish store. The tanks are clean, though there are quite a few with labels that say cracked or damaged. It is a bit more open than many aquarium stores, which lends fewer tanks.

We didn’t have too much interaction with the staff, partly because were wandered around for 5 minutes before anyone noticed we were there. Given it was a slow weekend, they may have been working on other tasks.

Not being a fish expert, I cannot tell if the prices are reasonable or not. They focus a lot on aggressive and rare species like Pacu and Arowana and come with a hefty price tag.

It probably won’t be my first choice, as there are closer stores. I am also more interested in planted tanks, which is not a focus at all. If you are interested in a specific rare species, they might be...

Decent place to buy fish, a good selection but the staff is not very helpful and misinformed. I went in there to look for some Otto catfish for my 10gal betta tank and the guy working there didn't know what I was talking about. After he consulted another staff he found out they dontnhave any. At this point he started recommending other fish that were all highly inappropriate at one point even suggesting a red tail catfish as a tankmate saying they don't get very big and suggested I put aggressive fish in with my betta since he is aggressive as well. I actually started laughing. Red tail catfish grow to over 4ft and min req 1000 gallons at full size. When i told him that he refuted my statement. I know he was just trying to help, but I found this quite disturbing as some people who might be looking for fish and not too educated on the subject might take his advice and purchase something highly inappropriate for their tank. Do your research before buying any fish. just because people work at a petshop, doesn't make them experts. Another experience was when I was looking for a fluval spec vv, I kept calling them and asking if they had them in stock and they would tell me days when the shipment would be coming in, I continued to call on those days and they said they would take my info and call me when they got it, weeks later and no call and I just bought it from...

It is hard to find legitimate aquarium stores that cater to fresh water hobbyists but fortunately we found Aquarium Paradise shortly after moving up to the NYC area. Like most aquarium stores, it’s not the cleanest place in the world but all of the tanks and fish are in excellent condition. They have an incredible selection of rare piranhas and fresh water stingrays and the staff and owner are very knowledgeable and helpful.

We have bought many fish from this store and they have all remained beautiful and healthy - we even have an Oscar that we purchased as a baby that is now the king of the tank at about 7”. We even had an issue with a beautiful Severus that unfortunately did not work out socially with the other cichlids in our tank and the owner of the store stayed late to ensure that we could get the fish out of our tank and safely back to the store and avoid being stuck in a bucket overnight or stressed to death by the other fish in the tank. He even gave us a full refund.

I would highly recommend this store to all fresh water aquarists who are interested in finding rarer, healthier, and more interesting fish than you would typically see in a big box chain store. It is even worth driving from an...