Houston Aquarium Warehouse — Attraction in Stafford

It really is a warehouse! It’s clean, the accessories area is a small room but they do have everything you might need. The fish are located in two separate areas for salt and freshwater. They have a LOT of fish. And while they do have some the basic community fish, they have a lot more of the more exotic species than what you’d find in a “regular” aquarium shop. They take care of their tanks. They aren’t afraid to quarantine a tank either because fish are brand new, or there is a disease in the tank. I really like that. So many shops just sell ick or fungus infested fish anyway. This place doesn’t. They also have a LOT of different species of plants. This place isn’t beautiful or pretty, it’s got concrete floors and warehouse walls, hoses coiled by the walls, etc., but the fish are done right. I took home three plecos of a small species for my 120 gallon. They knew I had a two and a half hour drive and offered to add O2 to the bags. Super nice people that know their fish! I was pleased to see the cichlids were labels by species correctly and that they didn’t just dump them all together in one large tank. More varieties of discus than I’ve seen in one place (other than I’ve seen at a discus club show). Even killifish.

Oh I have to also complement their wood selection. Everything from the inexpensive pine roots to exotic imported wood from South America and other countries. So if you want to do a biotope tank, you can probably find the real things and not need to compromise.

You can tell I’m a geek about aquariums. And I can say that anyone into specific aquarium types will like this place. If you want the Petsmart same as every other chain store experience , go there. But if you feel your tanks are an investment and major hobby or profession for you. Then you will like this place. I will drive the two hours to get here again. And will even make the effort ti change my trip schedule the next time I’m in Houston...

I have mixed feelings about this store. The pros are that they have the best prices in town for non-discus and they have an excellent selection of discus that are reasonably priced. They also do phone orders with free delivery and a straight 20% off all livestock in-store during the pandemic, which is pretty darn amazing considering how cheap the fish are already. They are doing a few other things like free RO water and such, which is also cool. There is a review which say their selection is poor, but this is actually not true. If you go on a Friday, their selection is pretty darn impressive and they post their stock list on Facebook, which is super helpful. The issue with selection is because their turn over is so high, come Sunday or Monday the cool specialty fish may be gone.

All that sounds amazing right? What’s not to love about this place? Well, the biggest con is the customer service is really hit or miss. The last time I went there was a skinny guy with longer hair and a girl with short hair, and neither could be bothered to help or be nice to me. I was literally the only person in the store and I felt awkward and neglected. When said I wanted to pick out my fish, the guy just discouraged me from getting the fish in the first place. And when I explained that I live over an hour away, he said that he drives 45 minutes for work, which seemed rather irrelevant to the conversation. I ended up buying a few different corydoras catfish and all of them were single bagged, so by the time I got home I had a leaky mess on my hands. Honestly, a few of my fishy friends have stopped shopping here due to similar off putting interactions with certain staff members. It’s a shame because the store, otherwise, has the potential...

This is the best fish store in Houston. They always have a great and healthy selection of fish that most other stores don’t have! Even if they don’t have a fish you want, they will get them if you place a size-able enough order. Their stock is always taken care of and they will be very honest if you should wait a couple more days of quarantine/etc. The employees are so helpful and there’s enough space for you to walk around and browse, even if waiting!!! Everything they have is high quality, literally the CHEAPEST prices in Houston and surrounding, and their staff is so friendly and highly considerate of EVERY customer that comes in. I can not highly recommend this store enough. They have taught me almost everything I know about fish keeping and even more so than YouTube in terms of my local conditions. Shelby, Trae, Tim, and Kyle are always just the absolute best in terms of customer service and knowledge of fish. They have plenty of other knowledgeable associates and constantly growing with great talent, but threw the 2.5 years of me being here these people have always been there and shown me they have the knowledge and care to keep this hobby everlasting. In terms of knowledge, quality, and diversity I can not recommend this store enough!!! I have to end with again, they have the literal CHEAPEST by far prices...