Before I address the haters, I want to say this place is my top choice for a local fish store. John and all of the crew greet me with warmth and casual professionalism everytime I walk through their doors. Now if you are still on the fence about coming here due to some people questioning the durability of MA's fish with them getting sick" within a day or two after bringing home" or that "Selling sick fish is unacceptable". Let me ease your mind. Yes, fish do get sick sometimes. That is always unfortunate. It is also sometimes out of a LFS's control at times. Pathogens, parasites and protozoa are always present in aquaculture. Symptoms may remain dormant or negligible and cannot be detected from a glance. Hence it is why we in the hobby quarantine new fish, not just for diseases we can see but also those we cannot. However sickness can sometimes not be preventable. Something you CAN prevent is a massacre of your whole tank by simply QUARANTINING YOUR FISH. If you allow time to do its thing you will most definitely know whether or not any action needs to be taken. Simply dumping new fish into established tanks just means " I dont care about my fish", " If they die its not my fault since I didnt know they were sick". Now alot of people in this hobby are beginners and thats great! Just learn to ask for help. If help is coming from a person who "pretended he didn't understand what I was saying", GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. There's this pretty neat place call the internet. Oh? you're on it now? WOW! SEE look at that! Not so Hard right? BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!! :) All in all, sorry for the rant. It is just frustrating to see such a good and hard working establishment come under fire from people who dont do their research and go "oh no, the consequences of my actions" when they screw up. K Bye ;) read more

Monster Aquarium - My Beautiful King Radish the day of purchase - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

Very disappointed. I've been buying fish from this store for years, but the prices have become ridiculously high, and the livestock quality has clearly gone downhill. Last week I bought several fish here, and they turned out to have ich. Within just a few days, every one of them died, and worse, the disease spread to other fish in my tank. This ended up costing me far more than just the fish I bought from the store. Selling sick fish is unacceptable, especially from a store that specializes in aquarium livestock. Longtime customers should not have to worry about bringing disease home from a fish store. After this experience, I seriously question their fish health standards and whether they are properly monitoring the condition of the fish they sell. read more

If only there were an option for 0 stars I would give them 0 stars. When I first went I thought wow what a great store - so many options multiple rooms. Until I spoke to the staff. They are rude and seems uninterested in talking at all. I figured whatever - they have a great selection - I will still get it from them. Then the fish I got came with Ick (A parasite that kills your fish!) within a day or two after bringing home Albino Cherry Barbs. They developed white spots all over. I am new to the hobby so I thought it had some glistening to the the tail fin of the fish. I did not know yet to quarantine new fish in a separate tank for two weeks before introducing them to your tank, so now my entire tank could be infected. I did everything I possibly could to keep them alive - Ick treatments, increase oxygen, etc. But sadly two of them died. It cost me money to buy the fish and even more to desperately try to treat /save them. Now, all my fish are at risk and the only treatment I could get in time also may kill the aquatic plants we have - ultimately ruining my entire tank! Which I also bought from their store. Insanely, they sold aquatic plants that are known to not survive in the tank. My plants started to develop what looked white hairs or roots growing from the side. And i found out Aquariums stores sometimes sell this plant knowing its not an aquatic plant but can last months before dying. I took them out and replanted them in a pot. Hopefully they don't die too. So beware not just of the fish but the plants too! After calling the store - the guy blamed me at first for the fish getting sick. He said he "doesnt sell sick fish" yet all my original fish were fine - just these new fish within a day after bringing them home developed Ick. I told him are you crazy - how could I have done it? He then proceeded to call me crazy!!! And told me said they do not guarantee live fish! He kept insisting I was wrong until I said Albino Cherry Barb - he went quiet. Then offered me the only two fish he had left. Clearly it was a known issue. Keep in mind a week before he had at least 30-40 of them in the tank. When we were there 3 albino barbs were left less than a few days later and they did not replace them. Hmm - I wonder why? I am not going to take those fish either because they are probably sick too and he told me no refunds. Will never shop here again. Be careful guys! read more

Monster Aquarium - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

Update. All the fishes purchased from here died within a few days. The fish i owned (purchased elsewhere) prior to these fish are fine. But i am monitoring them for possible infections. Added some new plants I purchased from this store to another established tank (which none of the fish ever gotten sick before) are now very sick. Whole school of fish have lost their color and my betta is on hanging on for dear life. Do not buy from here unless you want to risk everything dying. read more

Been going there for years I can't say enough about them. My tanks are stocked with his fish!!! read more

I went into the store a few months ago to buy a tank and a sump. The front desk person was very nasty and rude. When I asked him a question, he pretended he didn't understand what I was saying. On the other hand, the girl I spoke to on the phone was very helpful. She understood what I was saying and told me to come in. I wanted to deal with her, but she didn't work when I was there. read more

This place has everything. Prices reasonable. Huge selection. Tight spaces but you could spend hours here if you're an enthusiast.

They always help me with my complicated issues with my 2 tanks - they have lots of patience. Great place if you are a newbie like me!

This is my number 2 spot after kissena Aquarium like them both, they are my favorite places to go to for fish, the only thing is, this one is only sells Fresh water fish. read more

They have nice discus in the basement. BUT, only buy them within two weeks of arrival. After that, all their discus tanks are full of sick fish. Apparently they don't really know how to take care of them. They really need to change more water in their discus tanks due to overcrowding. Best way is 90% water changes daily at their stocking levels. read more

I bought a Pac-Man frog here around 2 weeks ago, gave it the optimal tank and conditions, and it suddenly died. The frogs here are not treated well nor are any of the other animals, they're all fitted into crammed spaces of tanks that leave them in worse for wear conditions. Will not be buying from here again. read more

Nice spot for feeder fish and other types like koi. Their worker Adam was very responsive and hard working. I bought a couple of water plants with gold fish for a starter pond in my yard. Best time to come here is mid day to avoid traffic. They also have a basement filled with exotic fish, and plenty of fishing supplies. Prices are decent for the trip. I'm new to the fish care thing, but they provided a satisfactory experience, especially when are just starting out. read more

Pets goldfish morning good case turtle red health nice good a little more than good Pets nice good day read more

They have wide variety of all different kinds of fish but be careful as I had 3 fish die within purchasing it.

Got fooled buying a fish there for $600. Don't waste your money or time. Fish are sick or near death

Monster Aquarium is a very bad business. Try it and find out. They are particularly bad for sensitive fish: Tetras, Rams, and other cichlids. I would never recommend his place. The fish are always sick; here are the most recent deaths from the place. I have 9 healthy tanks- I buy from Monster, and suddenly their fish break out with Ick. I returned to Monster Aquarium to give them another chance: ALWAYS A DISAPPOINTMENT. read more

Amazing got my order and everything was alive and healthy looking. VERY PLEASED and ordering again this week! Suggesting to all my friends and even strangers and definitely ordering again this week!.. read more

Monster Aquarium - Gar is happy! - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

I usually don't take the time to write reviews but this place really truly deserved one. I went in 2 days ago to purchase some celestial pearl danios as I called in ahead of time to make sure that they specifically had those in stock - they told me they did. I purchased 6 of them, and while I believed they looked a bit different than they did online (different coloring, large dot on their tail) I thought they were perhaps infants and not fully grown, and they would change. I was silly to go back again to get a few more the next day, as I wanted for them to be comfortable in a large enough school in my tank. Then I found out that these fish are not even celestial pearl danios (Danio margaritatus)!!! They are actually a hybrid between emerald rasboras and celestial pearls called Danio margaritatus erythromicron (according to monster aquariums very own website). I called in to let them know nicely that they were selling mislabeled fish and maybe didn't know, but that I would like some store credit for my next purchase or at least a full refund if I brought them all in. I was told I was wrong a ridiculous amount of times - that they were in fact the right fish and if I bought the wrong fish I shouldn't have come back to buy more, or that it was against their policy to accept returns on ANY fish period, even in my case. My fish are completely healthy - no diseases or anything wrong with them, they are super excited and happy in their tank. I don't want to return them for any reason other than the fact that I spent $60 on mislabeled fish. Eventually after getting fed up and arguing with the manager I was told I could bring them in only today and get store credit which I can ONLY use the same day. What is the purpose of that when you don't even have the right fish? Any other fish store that I could think of would take accountability for their mistake and offer something to make the customer feel better about being swindled, but not Monster Aquarium. They literally had 2 separate listings on their website for the different fish so they definitely did know they were selling the wrong fish, but they will still deny it completely to make you feel like an idiot and waste your time (they promptly deleted the listing and the images of the fish after I mentioned it to them, way to cover up your trail). I'm overall so disappointed in the way that the people at this store treat you - like you're some imbecile that doesn't know what they're talking about. The fish are awesome and they have a good selection and equipment, don't get me wrong. Just do thorough research on what they're selling you and don't count on them being transparent/honoring their mistakes. EDIT: In response to Monster Aquarium - I visited twice, not three times. Regardless, you are absolutely correct that trusting the store that specializes in fish to know what kind of fish they're selling is far too much to expect and I should have done my own research to figure out what you seemingly could not. And let's not get it twisted! You did not offer a $50 credit until after you wasted 40 minutes arguing with me to tell me that I didn't know what I was talking about when all you had to do was go on your very own website to see that you literally had a separate listing for the fish you sold me because they are, in fact, different fish! The so called $50 credit was also only if I brought in all the fish today, and only used that credit towards buying something the very same day. What kind of credit works like that? It's ridiculous to me that you speak of respect when from the get go you were dismissive, ignorant, and rude in your communications. If you believe that you can twist reality to avoid looking bad, it won't work. It was only after I realized that you were simply wasting my time and did not care even if the customer was right that I began cursing - until then I was incredibly understanding and respectful in my communications despite your rude behavior. Your business is extremely shady and I wouldn't step foot in your establishment if my life depended on it. read more

Been Shopping here for a few years and I must say they have had some descent selections BUT my last encounter on Wed 2/12 was Fkcn horrible. I bought 8 fish the nite b4 some minis, 2 large parrots & 1 small parrot. All seem to be doing well but the small parrot immediately started acting funny when in my home tank. Next day, he was swimming all weird & seemed sick. I scooped him up and drove back to the store from L.I. to try and get an exchange or credit or anything for this overpriced $35 fish. THE @hole asian dude behind the counter was extremely rude and unwilling to keep a customer even tho it was less than 24 hours. I'll tell you that I wanted to throw the dying fish in his face, but kept my composure. This stores TANKS are like FARM RAISED FISH AND EXTREMELY DIRTY. This is why they don't guaranty "any live stock" I WILL NOT BE RETURNING BACK TO THIS S-HOLE anymore because of this encounter. read more

I had a truly disheartening experience at this aquarium supply store. While they did have exotic fish, their living conditions were appalling. The tanks had barely enough water, and the turtles were crammed into a small space. I witnessed one turtle cannibalizing another, which was both sad and horrifying. Many of the turtles seemed too small to be sold. I'm going to contact the proper authorities about this, and there were even free-roaming cats in the store to control the obvious mice issue in the bottom aquarium room. I'm giving this review 3 stars only because lower ratings seem to be hidden, and I want everyone to see this and the pictures. read more

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overpriced and overcrowded and cruel marine life space conditions. Made a purchase of over $100, my animal died in less than a week (I am an experienced marine life pet parent and have never had any issues maintaining any of my animals home ecosystems) I called and asked for a refund/partial refund/or a replacement and was told they don't do that or guarantee their animals. Any other place gives you 30 days with the receipt (which I kept). Never again. read more

I bought few fish from this place, the fish all died. And they brought diseases to our tank. Our fish is slowly dying now. Avoid this place!!! They don't take a good care of the fish that they are selling, and there are many of the sick fish and died fish in the tank. They don't separate the sick and died fish from the health ones, they just leave them in the tank. Don't buy from this place on less you want your fish get sick! read more

Monster Aquarium - Our fish is dying - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

I couldn't be happier with my betta fish from Monster Aquarium. The quality of their fish, makes them my go-to destination for all my aquatic needs. I highly recommend Monster Aquarium to anyone in search of healthy and beautiful fish. read more

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ive been shopping here for a long time getting my fish i bought a 200 dollar flowerhorn and he was acting funny and sick in my fish tank nitrates ph all was good and they never pick up the asian guy that works there was a jerk ive been a customer for more then a year and he said i rather lose a customer horrible then return it read more

I got some plants and 5 shrimp from this aquarium 2-3 weeks ago. Price was decent. Half way home I went to look at the shrimp. 1 was already dead I take half the blame for for not looking before leaving shop. 2 weeks into planting these plant into my fish tank I notice there is pest snails and detritus worm. The only thing new in my tank are those plant and shrimp. I would not recommend getting plants in this aquarium. read more

The guy working there provided inaccurate information on fish compatibility which led to a lot of fish dying in the aquarium. No one asks you if you need help until you approach and flag them down. The employees are just glued to their phones with their head down. Won't be coming back. read more

I would like to start by saying that the staff at Monster Aquarium are AMAZING, they are knowledgeable and most of all KIND. I was having an emergency with my BIG FISH and after calling 10 different veterinarian's office's and also an aquarium for information on what todo or where to go, Monster Aquarium was the only place that took the time to speak with me and also told me to send a 30 sec video so they can see the problem with my fish. I can not stress enough the gratitude I have for this place, they truly care about fish in general. I did not buy my fish from them and they went out of their way to help me healed him.My husband was also impressed their kindness and thoughtfulness. We will be purchasing ALL of our fish from now on with Monster Aquarium. Thank you Monster Aquarium for helping me. read more

Monster Aquarium - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

First off, every fish and plant I've bought here have been healthy so I can only assume anyone who's fish have died are inexperienced. Great aquascaping store! They have tons of great rare fish to choose from and they all looked healthy. The owner, John, was very helpful and knowledgeable. They also have lots of great low tech plants. read more

Monster Aquarium - Healthy fish and shrimp - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

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Big things come in small packages. From first appearance this seems like a relatively small place but first impressions can be deceiving and it wasn't until I'd been there a few times that I was told, "Discus? There's more downstairs". Hmmm.... Downstairs, dimly lit, is a whole cornucopia of other fish and also when I was there last, turtles and also some of other fish, arrowannas, parrots, and many others, but the main attraction is also a tremendous and ever growing variety of both domestic asian discus and wild discus at competitive prices. As a huge discus fan and hobbyist I can tell you the fish are well maintained and healthy and I'd recommend a trip to Monster Aquarium for anyone interested in tropicals, especially discus. If you're buying "X" number of fish and enjoy a little haggling, you may also be able to do a certain amount of this, or at least I could with some of the larger Cardinal Tetras that I purchased at one time. The store and general premises are well kept and maintained and the staff is available and attentive, so getting fish and interaction with the employees isn't a problem though it's a pretty popular place and does get crowded at times, which only speaks to a winning formula for customer service and availability of fish and goods. Parking in this part of Queens, NY can be a little difficult at times but not any worse than many other parts of the city but you can also find paid parking directly across the street at the mall, which is generally available and affordable. All in all, Monster Aquarium is a great aquarium store with a nice local feel that seems to be doing well in an age when there are fewer and fewer LFS'S (local fish stores), at one time there were many, and I'm always glad to go out of my way to see what they have. Cheers! read more

This place has top tier quality fish. The staff is super helpful. Have been coming here for almost a year now and brought home a bunch of different species of fish which have been breeding nonstop. I overall love this place. I wish we could expand it. GREAT WORK MONSTER AQUARIUM TEAM. read more

Going to detail my experience buying from MA online. Won't ever do it again, as I lost $300. First the positives: +reasonably responsive to messages PRE-PURCHASE +shipped on a Monday to ensure minimum travel time Now the negatives: -packed the fish individually in bags (this is great) but with newspaper inside the bags. All of the water had ink that bled off the paper into the water. -did not specify that both species I was buying were wild caught (and would require special adaptations) until I asked. For contrast, the first 5 other online sellers I looked at do so. -didn't respond quickly when problems started -I lost half of my fish in 48 hours and their response was "not our problem". -In the end, all the fish died within days because of parasites they had upon delivery. -Reached out to them for help, no effort on their part, no customer recovery or offers to make the situation right. I'm out $300 and hours of work and heartache. Absolutely would not recommend ordering online. If you're local, then have at it. read more

Monster Aquarium - Gold Nugget Pleco, infected and emaciated. - Aquarium Services Near Me - Flushing, New York

Great choices of fish and clean.. I bought a few red parrots and they are as healthy can be! Highly recommended for good fish!

Update*- My original review gave them 5 stars mostly for the selection variety they offer. However ... BUYERS BEWARE* I'm giving them two stars because of the customer experience I've had here. Bought ten jumbo cardinal tetras and one week later down to 3 and the rest will probably not make it regardless of medicating at this point. When I went back to the store, they told me its a known problem that cardinals are suspect to fin rot and unless treated, the entire tank will slowly die off. My problem with this is that if you they knew that why didn't you at least notify your customers this could happen. Luckily, I've had fish for awhile so I set up a quarantine tank for these guys ... but if I didn't I could have lost all my fish including the cardinals.... this makes me pretty pissed. They didn't seem empathetic to my situation stuck to their no refund policy. I was a regular customer mostly because they DO have some of the best selections in Queens but bottom line is they are just trying to sell as much fish as they can. Just as this purchase, my original purchase (which I reviewed and gave them 5 stars) also resulted in loss of fish. I believe they do not quarantine their fish and sell them as soon as they arrive. This results in a higher number of losses. So buyers beware and be warned if your fish die or result in death, most likely you are just out of luck. From my experience, they don't care about your experience or the well being of the animals. For this reason, I won't be back. read more

The fish from Monster aquarium are unhealthy, don't waste your money. Bought fish from them, I had a perfectly healthy tank for over a year. Bought some cory's and a pleco. Pleco died two days after.I acclimated the pleco and everything, water quality was good. Change water, several small water changes the next few days. This is what I do if a fish dies. All the cory's I bought started dying and started having visible symptoms of fungal disease. My other fish are fine, strong, healthy immune system, now probably will be vulnerable to this outbreak. Already quarantined the fish infected and added medication. Changed filter, water change. How come only the fish I bought were the only ones contracting this disease and dying? Hope my healthy fish are okay, hope the medication works. Never coming back. read more

I love this place. I started out with my 120 gallons monster tank like 4 months ago. Got 11 fish from this place and they are healthy and growing big. They have a lot of fish and great price and just to let you know.. keep it simple. Why these negative reviews on people requesting so much attention in buying fish stuff. I go in.. take a good look at all the inventory and tell them what I want and ask a question or two and I'm out. I recently bought 9 kois from them for my other tank/pond. Again.. I go in.. look at their inventory.. ask them to bag the fish I want.. I pay and leave. If you looking for people at a fish store to sit down and serve you tea and massage you while you visiting the store...i don't know what to say. Haha I am upgrading my tank to 450 gallons next year and I can't wait to get more fish. read more

I bought 2 Angel fish for $20 each and they both died the 2nd day. It had nothing to do with the water as my other fish are fine.

The staff is reluctant to help. The teenage girl behind the counter is extremely rude. She snapped at me for attempting to ask her a question about one of their fishes. I had to tell her calm down multiple times and all this in front of other customers. She clearly has anger issues. I would not return here, this place is very unprofessional. read more

We're lucky to have a place around. Incredible selection, great prices, always well maintained.

This business is outstanding. Highly recommend going here and only here if you're in the area. Had a terrible experience at its local competitor. read more

Amazing treasures in a tiny space. My first impression upon locating the storefront wasn't good. The shop was located in a multi-store building with a narrow entrance. The cash register upfront felt more like a fortress with the store clerk looking down on incoming guests like a vulture. But after walking around the place, I realized the shop's layout was more of a L shape, and my impression improved from initial skepticism to amazement and awe. I've been to many pet shops/aquariums in Flushing over the years, and Monster Aquarium has the best selection of exotic, freshwater fishes by far. And it's amazing how the store squeezes so many tanks into such a tiny space (higher ceilings help immensely). That said, the prices range from average to high. For example, I saw a group of baby red-eared slider turtles with an asking price of $25 each, which could cost from $10 to 40 online. In contrast, the store offers a tarantula for $130, which is on the higher end of the $20-150 range. The downtown Flushing area's rental isn't cheap, and so the costs get passed onto consumers. The store employees are very attentive but not pushy. Nobody tried to upsell me anything, which can be an issue with a pet store chain. But do note that the store aisles are narrow, so you should leave your big handbags at home/in the car. read more