Fish Pro’s Cotati

I have been into this store several times thinking that it might get better, however I was horribly mistaken.
My first time into fish «pros», I went on a whim to check out their baby bearded dragons. The girl who helped me seemed nice enough and was knowledgeable about some things. She seemed shy but over all a sweet gal. Long story short she told me they were out of dragons but the owner would be ordering some that day or the next and that I should come in that same week. I waited 3 days and went back into the store. The same awkward girl was there with a young man who was too busy to assist me because he was blabbing on the phone about irrelevant crap. When the girl (who was clearly irritated and frustrated with the guy) came over to help, I asked about the baby dragons. She rolled her eyes and told me the guy hadn’t ordered them yet. She apologized and I appreciated that.
Now, I have called this store a ridiculous amount of times trying to get a bearded dragon. I have talked to the same guy every single time who has promised me that he will order a clutch with sand fire babies for me to take a look at. I wasted almost 30 minutes with this jack ass on one conversation because he asked me for my information and descriptions of the kind of beardies I’m interested in. Promising me a call in a week, I waited a month and a half of calling and never being called back to hear the same stupid answer every single time I managed to get him on the phone. «Oh we might get them in 2 days it may be 2 weeks but I’ll let you know» IDIOT.
Basically, these people are morons and the place is run by literal children. As a seasoned vet in the reptile and fish world, I’m horrified. Their reptiles are not well taken care of. There is mold in the amphibian tanks. The lizards and snakes seem to always have mites. Their fish are always sickly. They give terrible advice and their resident chameleon lives on a Home Depot house plant in a small breeze through enclosure with no running water. News flash, chameleons do not drink sitting water and spritzing them with a spray bottle is not a replacement for humidity. Basically this guy is trying to be an expert when he’s a novice. They give terrible advice and know little about the beautiful creatures they’re selling.
The only creatures who get decent care here are the owners resident pets and that might be too generous a statement. Stay away from this place!!!

This is hands down the worst fish store i’ve been to. I rarely write reviews, but the conditions of this store are simply appalling. The musky smell, unorganized wires etc. aside, this place should still be avoided because of how they «care» for their animals.
Dead fish in many of the tanks, and I also noticed a handful of sick fish. When walking through one of the aisles I almost stepped on a dead horseshoe crab laying on the ground (wtf?).
I didn’t see it, but afterwards the person I was with said she saw a tank in the back which had 30+ small dead fish floating in it. She said they were decomposing, like it had gone untaken care of for days.

I don’t understand why there are bad reviews about this shop. As I came from LA, I have visited many fish stores as a hobby. Never for once have I seen a store without a dead fish/​reptile/​amphibian. Come on, it is a big store and you cannot keep up with everything. If we are taking about animal rights, then I have to mention that I did not see any sick bettas living in their tiny dead cups. I didn’t see any chickens running around. Even if I did, I felt it is no big deal since we are living in the rural right? The only mascot in the store is this very friendly British bulldog. In fact, it is one of the cleaner stores I’ve seen. Come to bad parts of LA and I will show you what a smelly and dirty pet shop is like.
Alright, let me get back to the store. It has a nice selection of discus, baby angel fish, and cichlids (yes, I know angle fish are cichlids technically). They carry a good selection of plants including many anubias and the delicate lace plants. I found a new type of badis that I have never seen. Most of all, I didn’t see any abused betta. Here the bettas are living in big tanks, which is the way they should live. I am happy to see such a nice and well-​kept pet shop.

Love the selection and Hari is a great guy to work with thank you for changing the store around and super clean super cool!

For being my first time going to fish pros I was so upset when I walked in to see the condition that these animals where in I was shocked. More then half of the reptiles didn’t have water. There was water leaking from the roof through a light. There was a dead turtle in on if the tanks. I told the guy working there that there was a dead turtle in the tank and he was like no worries at all. The store needs to either shape up of shut down. That is not ok to have live animals in those conditions…

So bad I called animal control and reported animal abuse. Near dead ball pythons on soggy wet paper towels with no heat. Disgusting! The store mascot is a Chicken that walks around the store free and defacates on every shelf, rack and flat surface. Only possible reason for a positive review is they posted it themselves. Note the personal references in 5 star reviews? And everbody else tells it like it is.
Please shut down or go out of biz finally and let animal loves have pets and not fill your pockets.
If you felt guilt you would made conditions better. Id shame you but all you feel is greed. I’d like to put you in one of your own tanks for a few months till other animals bit off your body part like you do to those fish.

I think this place must have gone through a few owners given the wide range of reviews on here. Since moving to the area a about 6 months ago, this has become my go-​to place for fish, inverts, and plants. They have an excellent selection, and are eager to order anything you would need. Their prices are a little higher than what you’ll find online, but given the friendliness and knowledge of the staff, it’s a trade-​off I gladly accept. As far as cleanliness goes, the owners are constantly rearranging things, giving the place a cluttered vibe on occasion. One glance at their livestock though, and it’s obvious they care for them. I’ve been there at least a dozen times in the last few months and never seen a dead or diseased fish in their tanks, which is unfortunately very rare in this trade. All in all, this is a place I will gladly continue to frequent and support in the future, these guys know their stuff.

Twice I went there because the fish plants are cheap, but I always see dead fish in practically every tank I look in and the staff are a bunch of reject-​stoner kids who always try and sell me year-​old expired fish food. This place seriously needs to be shut-​down!

Good selection of fish, but this place is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Huge puddles of water on the floor, equipment and cords in the middle if pathways, large sheets of plywood propped against cabinets. Don’t know who the owner is, but this place is not being properly managed. Tanks are filthy, fish are stressed, overall not a place i would trust for healthy fish purchases. The staff is nice and helpful and they do have a huge selection of fish. .just not sure if I’d buy any.

Wow, what a beautiful store!
Came in not knowing too much about fish/​reptiles and wanted to purchase both for my daughter’s birthday.
When I came in everyone was very welcoming and happy to help me make a good solid choice that we would be comfortable with.
they spent a lot of time with me and answered every question and then some! They even gave my puppy some water since it was warm outside and she was panting.
I ended up with 2 fish and a pet snake, since my little daughter sure loves herself some snakes! Haha.
Anyways, the store was very clean and had lots of inventory to choose from and they invited me to bring my daughter back with her new pet snake.
Also for me to wish her a happy birthday! What a great little family (newly owned) pet store!

As a semi-​serious aquarium keeper, I find this place to be one of the worst places to buy fish. In almost all of the tanks, the fish are thin, fin nipped, and covered in ich. Not to mention the fact that on numerous occasions they have tried to give me advice that I knew was wrong… including «all fish have ich» and «you should put you electric blue jack Dempsey in with other very agressive cichlids… like convicts or red devils». Which, to explain to those not familiar with electric blue jack Dempseys, is terrible advice because they are significantly less aggressive than normal jack Dempseys. I really tried to like this place because I live so close, but I only drive to ceasars fish palace in santa rosa for my fish.

This is a great shop however, I’m used to being allowed to bring my pet into stores and not have any problems. Had the guy been polite about asking me not to bring my animal in I would’ve been fine. However, he said they have been having mite problems in the store and its a pet peeve of his when people bring their animals in. Im sticking to 49er pet now. They not only encourage you to bring your animal pals in, they come up and say hello. Customer service is everything to me since its a huge part of my job.

This place has done a complete 180 since last year. New owners will do that I guess. If you are a saltwater or freshwater enthusiast they will have practically anything you need. The north bay has limited choices for marine enthusiasts such as Pet Arcade in San Rafael, JoFish in Petaluma, Ceasar’s in Santa Rosa and Fish Pro’s in Cotati. Purely from a fish and coral inventory perspective, Fish Pros blows them all away. There is nothing more depressing when you want to buy something new for your aquarium than going into your local retailer and being told «we can order it for you». Fish Pros has a ton of fish and coral on stock, and if what you want isn’t there you can probably find your second choice.
My only complaint is that with large a large inventory comes problems with the fish. I’m not sure how many separate filtration systems they have, but there are always diseased fish in the tanks, and if they share water with the other tanks then the potential for bringing those diseases home to your tank is very high. Chose your fish very carefully and look for any signs of disease or stress. Once you have found something you like have them fresh water dip your marine fish and if possible quarantine them at home for at least a month before putting the new fish in your display tank. Ceasar’s does a better job of identifying and quarantining sick fish, but they don’t have much to choose from compared to Fish Pro’s so it’s a trade off.
If you are buying coral from anyplace, don’t rely on the opinion of the people at the store, do your own research first and know what you want before going. While the people at fish pro’s are fairly knowlegable and very helpful, they don’t always know what the proper lighting, and flow should be for different coral types. Don’t ever impulse buy coral because it looks good at the store. Chances are that it will look much different under your lights, it might be a type that is nearly impossible to keep alive for all but the most expereinces reefers, or it may be a type that will grow so fast it will completely take over your tank within a few short months.

Great staff and great selection, reasonable prices. Very clean shop, tanks, cages ect. The only place to buy saltwater in the North Bay do not waste your time at the other shops.

Fish pros is an excellent store. Their staff is very nice and they know a lot. I purchased my first snake from fish pros, a beautiful albino cornsnake and I recently purchased two bearded dragons from them. Fish pros has a great selection of reptiles and fish and they are now my favorite reptile and fish store.

I walked into Fish Pros looking for a baby Ball Python for my daughter, the staff was #1 in customer service! I was walking in to just «check the place out» and ended up with the most beautiful snake. They just got a positive customer for life.

First off, I’d strongly recommend anyone considering this place to take an extra minute to jump through the captcha hoops to read the ‘filtered’ reviews about the reptile conditions. I don’t know why those reviews were removed, but as pertains to the lizards and snakes, they’re spot-​on.
I believe this place has changed hands at least once or twice in the past few years. I know they’ve reconfigured their layout several times.
I bought an orange ‘cherry’ shrimp from this place once, but last time I was here the reptile conditions were appalling. Waste matter, filthy cages, emaciated or dead lizards. Empty uncleaned cages were stashed off to the side to breed mites, etc.
Their prices on everything but fish are incredibly high. As in laugh out loud in the middle of the store and mutter ‘I don’t think so’ high.
Many of their aquatic tanks are dark in the back, difficult to determine if they have stock in some or not. Again, a few dead animals and not very well kept looking. The place has the feel of a store in decline, yet it’s been here for years, though honestly I don’t understand how.
If I come back here and find their tanks in the same condition, I’ll probably report them to animal control (and I’m sure I won’t be the first).

When it comes to selection of fish and coral’s, Fish pro’s is pretty good, but when it comes to prices on non-​living products, the prices are ridiculous. Many, and I mean many of the products on the shelves here are significantly higher than even MSRP. I’m not sure if this pricing is due to overcharging suppliers or greedy owners, but I will never buy any filtration media or tank supplements here because of the high prices.
What I will say though is that the staff at this store has always given me good advice and steered me in a positive direction. The corals that I bought here are thriving.

I don’t have experience with them for fish, just reptiles. They do not know how to take care of bearded dragons. I bought a baby here that they were feeding king mealworms the size of his body. He died from impaction a week later, from what the vet said. The dragon that is kept there as a pet doesn’t even receive the correct care as far as lighting and nutrition go.
The prices are double any other store in the area. I am all for supporting small businesses, but not with that price.
Everytime I come in there, I am reminded of why I don’t like it. The people are nice, the service is pretty decent, but I feel so bad for that adult bearded dragon.

Re-​entering the aquarium hobby I needed a few fish to help cycle my tank. I got help right away. He was helpful and answered my questions easily, not like some pet store employees that can talk in circles or just try and sell you something. I will absolutely go back.