Through no fault of their own my corals were delayed by UPS and left on a truck during one of the coldest days of the year. Most of my coral were a little haggered because of their good packaging but it was below freezing temps at night so the most expensive coral a very nice mushroom was destroyed. only the foot and a small piece of the head was left and the container looked like it had small pieces of cotton floating around in it. To their credit they not only replaced the coral but sent me pictures of corals in their shop that were not online and gave me the pick of the litter as the replacement. I was home when the package arrived and took pictures and put a thermometer in the box and send the pictures to them to show them what happened. Would do business with them again in a heart beat. read more

This is a small shop but the owner and employees are friendly and super helpful. Everything is really clean and organized. I really enjoy going to this place. read more

I'm new to the saltwater tank hobby and it was really important to find a great shop to get supplies and livestock from. River City Aquatics is my favorite shop in Austin. The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and enthusiastic when discussing all things saltwater. I recently got a bubble tip and a Royal Gramma from them and everybody is healthy and thriving. Highly recommend. read more

River City Aquatics - Rainbow bubble tip coral - Local Fish Stores Near Me - Austin, Texas

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River City Aquatics is more geared toward salt water. We prefer freshwater, so this wasnt exactly our jam. The employees did not acknowledge us and the tanks look a little icky. There are some cool coral options. Ultimately not for us. We will not be back. read more

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Great little shop that always has a good selection of corals and fish. Jake, the owner is often there and always willing to answer any and all questions read more

River City Aquatics - Local Fish Stores Near Me - Austin, Texas

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The best aquatics shop in ATX. Their prices are reasonable, their help is excellent, and they actually keep their fish in copper unlike other folks in ATX. I want healthy fish that are quicker to quarantine and I get that here. read more

If you're looking for a local fish store for fresh or saltwater this is one of the best stores in Austin! If you're a seasoned hobbyist with a 120 gallon or a newbie looking to get into the hobby this store is for everyone. The store has a great selection and fair pricing as well as helpful staff. What sets this store apart is their commitment to the Austin Reefing community, they hold community events with free refreshments and raffles to bring together other likeminded hobbyists. I have never had issues with livestock I've purchased from them. With much of the hobby going online it's important to support local fish stores that keep the hobby local! read more

Love this store. Knowledgeable staff and a wonderful variety of fish - both freshwater and salt water. They also carry plants and an array of supplies. The atmosphere is serene and there is an area where you can sit and watch salt water fish. Will be back. read more

River City Aquatics - Local Fish Stores Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I just wanted to thank RCA for doing a bang-up job with helping me get my clean up crew for my new tank! Great service and very knowledgeable staff! We will be back once the tank gets established! read more

Very friendly and Francis is very knowledgeable along with the rest of the staff. Very nice selection of saltwater fish and coral. I will be back read more

My new spot for Discus fish! Thanks Jake at River City Aquatics. I will be here in 2 weeks for my 1st juvenile Discus fish purchase. $55.00 not bad! They sell potted plants as well as individual plants freshwater and saltwater fish pretty good deals I have to say. read more

River City Aquatics - Discus!!! - Local Fish Stores Near Me - Austin, Texas

I absolutely love this fish store. It's a family owned business and the fish/coral they have are top of the line. They also have some beautiful show tanks. They're also super nice. read more

If you need corals for your tank, this is the place to go. The staff is very helpful and knowledgeable. The store is very organized and clean. The fish all look healthy. Lots of coral choices for beginners and the price is very good. Look forward to getting more corals from here in the future. read more

This is my favorite salt water place around. They have made a lot of improvements lately and added a bunch of saltwater tanks to hold more livestock. They are always there to help when things go wrong with your tank. read more

Great service very knowledgeable and friendly. Not a huge selection but some great fish tanks and extremely knowledgeable read more

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I worked in the aquarium industry for 10 years and I can say that this is a great shop, tanks are clean prices are reasonable Salt: good selection of fish Reef: had lots of frags that looked to be healthy Fresh: they used to have a better selection but healthily and lots of cichlids Could offer some more plants Display tanks are also really cool read more

Good folks in this store, my first time to visit was yesterday. They maintain healthy looking coral, a treat for your eyes... I look forward to returning... read more

Pretty cool place. It's tucked away in an unassuming location, so there's a bit of difficulty getting to it. But, they have a wide range of specimens (including some awesome Zebra Moray Eels), good equipment, and knowledgeable staff. I was definitely impressed. read more

Great spot. I haven't bought anywhere else in about 5 years. Check it out. Knowledgeable staff, lots of coral, fresh and salt water livestock, and a convenient location. read more

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Hi, I noticed the review from 2008 and wanted to post some positive comments. I've been going to Jake's store for a few years now (he bought out Carlos, the previous owner) and I've never had anything but a positive experience. Well laid out store, helpful employees, lots of advice when required, great stock of both saltwater/freshwater and great specials/sales. I have been to the other stores in town listed in the reviews and I would say none of the others can compete when it comes to price and availability of stock, etc. If you are a freshwater or saltwater fish enthusiast, do yourself a favor and take a trip to the store over on Roxy Lane, right off of 183 (Anderson Mill Access road)...Look for the Enterprise Car Rental. They are right behind them. read more

My boyfriend and I come to River City at least once a week, sometimes twice depending on what tanks need cleaning that week. We always purchase our fresh and saltwater here as well since we've never put aside the money for a good home system. We have never had an issues, the water is always perfect. I have been coming to river city on and off for several years but come more frequently now that I live in the area and I am very happy with the staff. They're always very helpful and have a lot of great information as well as great fish. Their loyalty program is pretty sweet also and every first Friday they have a little shindig with pizza/beer/sodas and 20% off their livestock. read more

These guys are fantastic - they are helpful, knowledgeable and really friendly. We've visited most of the other salt water places around Austin and we've by far had the best experience here. They have salt water blends and RO/DI water for your tank and will cart it out to your car without being asked. They will also test your water for free as often as you want/need. They give a 10% discount to members of the Austin Reef Club. Another great thing about these guys is they aren't just out to make a sale. They want to make sure you get what's right for you and your tank. They educate you on what you need to be successful with a certain fish as well. I really enjoy our salt water tank and am glad there is a place as friendly and knowledgeable close by to help. read more

New to the area we looked online and saw this place. We checked it out based on the positive reviews. Worst mistake ever and it cost is 3 pets. We were looking for R/O for our beta fish. So on New Year's Day we checked out the store. The young man who helped seemed nice and knowledgeable. We inquired about the tap water in Austin and whether it was safe for the fish. He assured us that it was, as long as we used water conditioner. It would take care of cleaning the water. So we followed his instructions and prepped our tanks. Our fish lasted 48 hours before all 3 died. We frantically looked for our testing kit and once we found it, tested the treated water. It had the max level ammonia possible. The water conditioner did nothing to the water. Bottom line: the associate LIED. And yes I mean lied. Working at a fish store you would learn very quickly that tap water is either good or bad. And you pass that onto the customers. Even if you're unsure you should say the you're unsure and recommend testing the water. What a great welcome to Austin. read more

Best fish place in Austin. Good prices, good selection if you get there around delivery days, great advice. Well stocked and they are more than happy to get you whatever you might need that they dont have. First Friday sales are a blast. (FWIW, the previous review was based off the previous owner.) read more

Some unique fish are here but there is no friendly or eager to help staff. The store is very small and there is not a selection of freshwater fish. read more

Staff is very knowledgeable and friendly! Awesome selection of saltwater livestock. I come here all the time and they never disappoint.

This has been my go to fish store for the last 4 years. Jake and all the staff is very knowledgeable and passionate about reef keeping. I have spent countless hours in there and have brought many friends and family members over the years. Selection of corals and fish both salt and fresh water is incredible. If Jake doesn't have the fish you are looking for, just ask him and he will order it for you when it's available. Great place! read more

I love this store! I buy my African cichlids here and they always live long and healthy lives. Just started my first reef tank and the employees there are extremely helpful by educating me on the proper setup. read more

Love them!!! Went to the aquadome and was dismissed rudely because I'm a first time aquarium owner. The guys at River City Aquatics we're beyond helpful and amazing with assisting me in choosing my new fish. We went over care, how each species of fish interact, and how to introduce them all and keep a healthy, peaceful tank. I got twelve fish from them, and they're all flourishing! Thanks again River City! read more

This is my favorite fish store in austin! I've been to aquatek, fish gallery, petco and petsmart but river city always has the most amazing prices and quality. I spent over 56 dollars on 8 pounds of real reef live rock from aquatek and they lacked any real live stuff. The live rock my boyfriend got a 7 pound rock from river city for less than 40 dollars with live coral growing from it. They also went out of their way to order me some lion head goldfish. If you're looking for really nice staff and awesome prices then i would hit up this store. read more

It is a small fish store but they have good prices and friendly, knowledgeable staff. I will continue to shop here very clean tanks healthy looking fish. read more

I have bought several fish and corals from this store, and used to visit regularly since it was the closest to my house. Unfortunately I made the mistake of hiring them to do some maintenance on my tank. After they put about 50 pounds of UNCURED live rock in my tank, the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels all spiked, killing nearly everything in my tank. Rather than apologize, the owner then had the nerve to bar me from the store for not wanting to pay for this "service." He has also gone online lying about the entire episode, claiming that the incident was my fault. I will avoid them like the plague they unleashed in my tank from now on. read more

I have bought all my cichlids here and it was the only place I bought any of my fish. I had some babies and set up another tank and kept them for about 6 months but they were still too small to put in my main thank with out becoming food. I took them in to get store credit (I didnt want much at all) and I was going to buy some more that were larger. They said they were not buying any right now. At this point I had 2 options I had the fry tank already taken down so I could just give them away or put them in the show tank and hope they didnt become food. I just let them have them and I decided not to buy anything and Im not going to be loyal anymore read more

The store is kind of a sad state of affairs. All the fish look unhappy and many are packed into tanks that are adequate for only ONE not a dozen. I always feel weird when I go in there. The staff is pretty nice, but again, I'd rather not see the fish in those conditions. True, fish die and it happens in ALL store, but too many of them are awkwardly floating around on the brink of death. They do have decent coral prices. read more

Great selection of saltwater fish. I really like how they are always getting in a different variety of fish instead of the same fish all the time like other places. The prices here are fair and the guys that work here are always friendly and very helpful. They also offer feeder fish for a good price! 5 shrimp for a dollar, yes please. I am here a couple times a week. If you are looking for great saltwater fish, this is the place. They also offer a lot of fresh water fish but I can't tell you much about them. read more

The employees here are really nice, and their consignment section usually has a few tanks I'm tempted by. HOWEVER ... this past weekend I went in really just to look. As others have noted, there are often dead / dying fish in the tanks, and it just seems sad and stressful for the living ones, both from the dead tank mate perspective, as well as from the no sand or hiding places perspective. My boyfriend noticed two starving scooter dragonettes (aka scooter blennies), one of which (he female) was really no more than a swimming skeleton. When I asked about them, I was told the store does not have any copepods for these guys - they just tend to sell fast so they don't feed them. Yes, they feed the tanks, but scooters are really not great at taking other foods, so if they don't get purchased quickly, they are NOT going to do well. I bought the pair, and despite my best efforts, the female died today. The male seems to be doing *okay*, but he wasn't quite as starved as she was. I'm giving them two stars, as they are nice, and they tend to be well stocked. But they'll never see another cent of my money. It's horrifying to me that they'd stock fish but not the food the fish require, and doubly horrifying that such a cute and sweet little fish died of total neglect :( read more

Love this little fish shop, the owner and employees are very knowledgeable and always answer my questions and help me keep my reef tank happy. read more

Great place to shop for my fish needed! The staffs are so friendly and helpful, they always go beyond to help me like test my water for free even give me some free food to try out on my fish before I have to buy a whole bag. Highly recommend this place! read more

Ive had fish tanks before but I never was the one to manage the up keep of the tank. I would just feed the fish. Now that I'm the one in charge of my own fish tank I got to admit I didn't know much about getting one started the staff here really know their stuff. My tank would've never taken off with out their help and advice. Thanks guys!! read more

We've been coming here for years (procrastinated on leaving a review), but these guys are nothing short of awesome! Their prices are very reasonable considering this is an expensive hobby as it is, but Jake (the owner) goes above and beyond by offering a discounted day every first Friday of the month, food and beer included. Every staff member is super customer-friendly and knowledgeable (shoutout to Francis who's been our long time go-to guy for everything) and they never rush you or push you into buying anything. They have a great selection of fish and coral and continue to upgrade and expand their shop. They are definitely worth checking out! read more