Service and demeanor can be hit or miss depending on who you're dealing with or if it gets busy. Nice selection of healthy fish.

I called ahead to see if Ultimate Aquarium had horned nerite snails for my opae ula red shrimp aquarium - they did! I had tried other stores and they were either out stock or did not carry these particular snails. Also needed chaeto algae - they stock this as well. Very professional and knowledgeable service team - thanks Ultimate Aquarium! read more

TLDR: Reasonable prices - priceless service and advice. Have been shopping here for years and only have a 10 gallon freshwater tank but love it. The kids love coming to the shop and helping take care of our fish, snail and crayfish. Staff is wonderfully helpful. read more

A young gentleman helped us on Wednesday afternoon and we're grateful for his help - my 10 year old and me. We had some fish that didn't do well from a larger chain store (it's hard for their employees to deal with so much and i'm not criticizing them as their employees are extremely nice). He helped us find the correct fish to start our new aquarium (guppies), handled them well, treated us well, extremely knowledgeable. it's an awesome store. Guppies are happy as clams. thank you to the gentleman who helped us! read more

This has to be one of the best aquariums I have been to in the Bay Area. Great selection, knowledgeable and helpful staff, and competitive prices. read more

Local fish shop with a wonderful variety of fish! It isn't very big in terms of square feet, but lots of fish to see and pick from. The store is well managed and service was wonderful when we brought our son here. They didn't make us feel rushed or unwelcome as fish newbies, which was amazing. Definitely recommend! read more

Lovely fish shop. Locally owned with knowledgeable owner. Gave us great tips since we are novices. They have beautiful fresh and salt water fish. Definitely worth the drive for your aquarium needs and advice! Thank you Brennan! read more

This place is great! Lots of healthy well kept fish! They have saltwater, coral and fresh water fish! I bought a new parrot fish and it's doing great! The prices are reasonable and the staff add friendly. There aren't many aquarium stores left in the Bay Area and this place is good one over Petco or PetSmart. read more

Had a WOW MOMENT inside! Felt like being in Disneyland the 1st time! Selection of fishes, both fresh and salt water were awesome! To top it all, I thought I lost my Beats headset, so I called them back. Magnificent JOE even went thru the aisles I walked around at, including the street parking! That's UNPARALLELED customer support! Hey, that's 5 EXCLAMATION MARKS in 1 visit. Now you all know where to shop around the Peninsula!! Appreciate the time shared with me answering all my questions about rocks, driftwoods, fishes, et al. read more

I've bought numerous fish and supplies from Ultimate Aquarium over the years. Their staff have always been professional, knowledgeable and readily available when shopping at their store. Of note, they have the best selection of fish, supplies for marine aquarists and tanks always seem to be clean, well stocked and with healthy fish. That being said, I have not had long term success with livestock purchases here, despite their fish appearing seemingly healthy at the time of purchase. Every fish I've purchased here has ended up dying within a few months, despite my best efforts. In contrast, I've purchased several marine fish from Petco (both the SF and San Bruno locations) and all are long term survivors (over 1 year) and thriving in my tank, and at a lower cost. Bad luck or is something fishy going on here? read more

One of the only places to get salt water. Salt water and RODI. Good selection of live stock

Love this store's selection and service. They will give you advice on how to stock your tank and they always have great selection of fish.

Good selection of fish, Reasonable prices and overall customer service was phenomenal.

This local shop is the best fish store in town. They have a wonderful selection of fresh and salt water fish, incredibly knowledgeable staff and everything you need to keep your tank running right. Small to large tanks, it doesn't mater, they know how to help you handle it. read more

This is the best fish store in the bay area. The tanks are immaculate, and the fish healthy. The people are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Staff is helpful. Store is clean. Tanks and fish are in excellent condition. There is no other aquarium store in the Bay Area that is as nice. read more

Great staff. Very knowledgeable and helpful. I go there for both fresh and salt water fish and supplies

Brought to the kiddos here to pick out some gold fish. Super clean tanks, beautiful fish and reasonable prices.

Great selection of healthy freshwater/saltwater fish alongside plants/corals/etc. Very helpful staff.

The workers are very nice and helpful and the fish are beautiful they come to service my lion fish and snowflake eel every few weeks and they are so helpful read more

Been occasionally popping in for about five years, went back recently to get some corydoras to keep my lone Cory company. Was super impressed with how well the freshwater tanks were maintained and was also over the moon happy when before selling me fish the employee asked what size tank I had and what fish were currently in it. As someone who's also worked in that role it's great to see shops care about animal welfare over predatory profits. Fish selection was great and prices were right. I'll be coming back here more. read more

These folks really know their stuff for keeping fish and corals! I have been going to them for months now and I always learn something new. It's one thing to buy nice fish... it's a given here, but it's another thing to learn from professionals so you can keep your aquarium alive and running. Super clean water conditions and have seen them even close off selling some fish because they needed to quarantine some fish. Have bought both freshwater and saltwater fish from here. 10/10 will keep going back. read more

Ultimate Aquarium - Love them! - Aquarium Services Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Knowledgeable and friendly staff with a large varied selection of fish, plants and supplies

Everyone there is knowledgeable , friendly, and helpful. They always have plenty of fish, and product on hand. read more

Healthy livestock! It's evident these guys care about the animals they sell. And they're happy to teach customers how to best care for their fish/corals. read more

Good selection be it fresh water or Salt. Also one of the few aquarium places still in the peninsula.

If you are an aquarist in upper part of inner peninsula this is the place to go. They have very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff. The fish I have bought from them are healthier and have lived with me for very long time. They also carry a wide variety of fresh and salt water fish. Thanks to them the death in my tank has gone down to basically nothing. So I go enjoy the beautiful fishes knowing I can't buy them . read more

Great local fish shop. Awesome hardscape pricing. Good selection of fresh and saltwater. Has some corals too. Friendly staff.

This is the best and longest lasting aquarium store on the peninsula and Ian gives the best customer service. I highly recommend this business. read more

Stopped in today to check the place out, left with 5 fish and supplies. I was very impressed with this store's layout, everything is organized and labeled and still plenty of room to walk around. The tanks were all in immaculate condition and all the fish were lively and looked beautiful. I had a few questions which were very quickly and easily answered. We will definitely be returning for any of our pond's needs in the future. read more

This place has the healthiest and largest fish selection and the guy who runs the place is amazing and knows everything you need to know about starting and maintaining a fish tank. read more

Wish I remembered the guys name that helped me. He was really knowledgeable and helped me purchase the items I needed. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted and had all my questions answered. I will definitely return ! read more

I love this aquarium store. They always have a great selection of freshwater and saltwater fish. They have a lot of different goldfish varieties and dwarf shrimp as well. It's better than supporting the chain stores and they actually care about maintaining clean tanks. read more

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Great customer service. Talked with Ian store manager for quite some time and he was very knowledgeable and friendly. If you have an aquarium at home and need it serviced, these guys are great. read more

The best fish store thus far. My husband and I walked in wanting to make a purchase and were greeted as soon as we stepped foot through the door. Richard asked us if we would like his help and of course we said yes! He is extremely knowledgeable and knows what's he's talking about! We told him exactly what we were looking for as an addition to our fresh water tank. He showed us each and every single option as he was explaining pros and cons depending on what we chose. His attention to our wants helped us narrow down and make our purchase. We couldn't be happier! We purchased 3 glolight tetras to accompany our other tetra colony fish. I'm so happy to support a small family owned business who know what they are doing rather than a big corp. When you walk into the store you can clearly see the fish are well taken care of and the store is clean and organized and they have EVERYTHING you need for your fish tank; whether salt water or fresh. Thinking about upgrading our fish tank pretty soon so I'm sure we will be back sooner than later. Parking can sometimes be a hassle but at the time we went found parking right on El Camino store front. read more

Ultimate Aquarium - Aquarium Services Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Service is amazing. Walked me through the store explaining which fish to purchase to cycle a tank. Very thorough and kind and patient. No reason to go to petco, pet club, or pet smart when you can support a great local business like this read more

Ultimate Aquarium - Great info - Aquarium Services Near Me - San Mateo, California

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This has been my LFS since getting started in the world of reef keeping. The live stock they keep and sell are always healthy. They have all of the essential peripheral equipment on hand at a moment's notice. They will happily special order whatever you ask. The staff is knowledgeable to the point of a post-graduate degree in marine sciences. read more

The workers are awesome and it's clear the fish are well cared for. The parking is a little rough depending on when you come but it's definitely worth it to go and buy fish from them. read more

The store is very clean and the fishes I bought were really healthy looking. I would buy again the next time I go shopping for fish! read more

Been here a bunch of times over the years. They staff is always really helpful but Richard went above and beyond today. He was really engaging with my 3 sons who were super excited to see all the fish. He gave us tons of great info to help us pick a new fish for our tank. Thanks a lot we'll see you again soon! read more

Ultimate Aquarium - New fish! - Aquarium Services Near Me - San Mateo, California

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