Local Fish Stores - a Review

There are several fish stores within a 15 mile radius of Oakland and I think we have a new favorite, though we have to cross the bridge to get to it.

The Octopus Gardens is where we purchased Ossie, our 75 gallon tank and various asundries. We love Erin, the owner because he has a dark humor, is very sarcastic and dry and ... well, we just like him. Sadly, the Octopus Gardens has closing its doors officially and will be operating out of Erin's home. You can still purchase from Erin at berkeleyaquarium AT yahoo.com however, be forewarned, the prices can be fairly high.

New Alameda Aquatics is another local store I like. They've changed their store hours and their website recently. I've always found their staff to be very knowledgeable and helpful, plus their prices are very reasonable.

Amazon Aquatics, I don't know much about. I've been in there twice and liked what I saw but I haven't really spoken to their staff nor hung out there. There's a lot of space around and maybe that's why I don't hang out there - there just doesn't seem to be as many tanks as some of the other stores.

Lucky Goldfish is really close to our house and rather spacious inside. Because this store deals primarily with freshwater fish, we tend not to go here.

Our latest find is through one of Bratworse's schoolmates. He told us about a store in San Francisco that has a sale every Sunday and so we visited it - twice! It's called the 6th Street Aquarium and it's crammed with fish and fish tank supplies. We took the 3 year old and the 1 year old there this past Sunday because the 1 year old LOVES fish (or at least loves to sign fish). The 3 year old was a tad freaked by the smell, the people and was hanging onto Bratworse's leg almost the entire time. The 1 year old, we tried to keep in our arms, but she struggled hard to get closer looks and finally got her way. She was in hog (or is that fish) heaven!

Anyway, this aquarium gives us an excuse to visit the city.