The Fish Room

I have always had wonderful experiences visiting the Fish Room, though rarely leave any remarks on sites such as these. I felt compelled to do so in this case as I read another review from Jessica J that I found to be unfair. Now I am fully aware that most people only leave feedback when they have had a terrible experience, as that is the only time one feels passionate enough to spend the time on a review. I’m not sure how advanced Jessica is as an aquarist since she doesn’t seem to know the difference between MACNA and MAC. Marine Aquarium Conference of North America has nothing to do with sustainability, however the Marine Aquarist Council (MAC) certainly would. I often look at reviews such as Unilocal just to make sure not all the reviews are awful, so I find it a bit annoying seeing the review that was left. I have seen Jessica J in the past in reviews, and am fairly certain she is a former employee of the store here to fulfill the grudge held against the store that no longer felt she was worthy of employ. Also listing your location as Nevada sounds sketchy since we are in Raleigh, NC. Lets keep reviews on the up and up and leave valid concerns regarding an establishment and its employees.
I have had many tanks over the years and have always had positive experiences with the staff at the Fish Room as well as the products. As another poster mentioned the pricing is always fair and I have had better luck with livestock from the fish room than I have other aquarium shops. Thinking every fish is going to live forever is naïve, but comparatively I have been much happier with livestock from the Fish Room than other locations.

In an attempt to remain as tactful and reserved as possible, let me first say I used to work for this company and left due to their lack of respect for the wild animals they keep. The animals are underfed and not correctly treated for illnesses in order to keep things «cost effective.» They are out to make a dollar and that is all. It’s extremely frustrating and very unfortunate that such a neglectful business has stayed open for so long. Nothing is more valuable than independent research to protect yourself from buying sick animals that are not cared for in a humane way. At least quarantine the fish you get from here to protect your investment. I hope at the least this review will make them up their game, for the sake of the fish. I’m thankful for my experience there, But I feel the public deserves to know the truth about what goes on behind the scenes. Feel free to message me! :)

It’s impressive when you walk in. My visits have varied. The first time we went in, it was great. We had someone who was very knowledgeable and talked us through our options and we left happy. The second time I went in, was a little different but was still fine. I asked the gentleman a question and I was ignored, but I can shrug it off. Maybe I wasn’t loud enough. The reason behind my review is the fact that on our last visit, we bought a vanilla lobster and a big olé catfish. It has barely been a month and the catfish has passed. Upon calling, I was informed that they have a 7 day fish return policy. That’s even less than petsmart and Petco. My husband loved this fish (though I’m not sure how you can but to each their own) and even though I told him this and made a point to say that it passed while my husband was out of town for 3 days, and would like to replace it before he got back and got upset, his nonchalant attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I do believe that I will be going somewhere else.

This was not my first visit to the Fish Room, but it will probably be my last. The aquariums in the Raleigh store are not very clean, and you can tell that there is something wrong with their livestock more often than not. There was no sign of any type of quarantine for new fish that was brought in, and clear signs of fish that were sick. Anything from sunken belly to ick was widespread throughout the store. I have seen this become more and more of an issue over the past 2 years, and I am no longer going to give this store my business.
I have both a saltwater tank as well as a larger African cichlid thank, and I have to say that although they were helpful in letting me know that they could order some fish that I was interested in, I didn’t feel inclined to purchase anything from there after seeing how they added livestock to their systems. No quarantine or quality control. I saw a person (who I think is the manager), just pull out a sick saltwater fish from the tank and went to the back of the store to «dispose» of the fish, and not even try to figure out what was wrong with it and if it is something that could have been spread to other fish in there. At another instance, I have seen them add fish in to their systems that came directly from customers. I will stick to a store that at least care about their livestock instead of just selling them. Especially when the store is not willing to guarantee saltwater livestock. It looks like they have 1 big central system for all of their livestock, so if there is 1 fish that is sick, they all have a chance of being sick.
As far as the freshwater side, they have a decent supply of African Cichlids, but they are no longer carrying the higher quality that were supplied to them locally by someone that used to work there (The name was Raleigh Cichlids, and I think his name was Ken). I used to come in there from time to time on Sundays when the breeder was in the store. He was always willing to share his wealth of knowledge regarding species, setup and stocking. I don’t know why they don’t stock his fish anymore, and when I asked about it, I was just told that «He doesn’t work here any more» with no other explanation given. When you go in to the store now, you see fish that have sunken bellies and have an overall look of being in poor health. No regards is given to the compatibility of the species and you can tell that they are killing each other.
If anyone knows what store you can find Raleigh Cichlids in now, or how to contact him, please post as a response here. I would gladly change the store where I shop to a place where I can find quality instead of overpriced fish that are no different from what I buy at Petco/​Petsmart.
As far as dry goods, the store is overpriced, but they carry a good selection for saltwater. I will however much rather go to one of their competitors or purchase it online than to give them my money. The store has some flashy colors, but their approach to fishkeeping is not much better than what you get at your pet supermarket. Its all about squeezing out the last penny that they can out of every person walking in to the store. You would think that a store promotes itself to be a great saltwater store would care more about it’s livestock. The saltwater that you buy from them is mixed by the cheapest possible minerals manufactured by Tetra, so you are paying a premium for mediocre saltwater. Come to think about it. That’s really what the whole store is about. Selling overpriced mediocre livestock and dry goods in a fancy packaging. There is nothing special about this store except for its coloring scheme. Its like putting lipstick on a pig. Its still a pig, but more expensive than what you can get elsewhere.

This local fish store has a very friendly staff and the tanks always look immaculate when I go here. I frequently come in for RO water and look around while I wait.
The staff is very quick to offer assistance and will also look up special orders.
The fish all seem really healthy. This is the one place I’ve never seen a dead fish in the tank. Not saying it doesn’t happen, just I’ve never seen one. That to me means they keep a close eye on things and clean up quickly. Both are signs of a well run place.
One great think is their water refill rewards, if you need salt or RO water, this is a great place for it. The price is reasonable and they even sell 5 gallon jugs. When you fill up, ask for a card and you’ll get a stamp with each refill. After so many, you get a free 5 gallon refill.
Their selection seems to run more towards saltwater and cichlids. I wish they had more of a variety of freshwater fish and had more inverts. Also their prices seem a bit high. Parking can also be a problem, especially when you have to carry out two 5 gallon jugs of water and walk a long way to your car. Those are my only negatives and one is just a personal preference.
Overall, this is a very clean and friendly fish store that I would recommend.

This place is amazing. Emmit was amazing when helping me pick out fish and making sure my tank was ready for the fish i was putting in. The lady that works there is also amazing and he knowledge is endless. I dont know her name but shes awesome. I will continue shopping here for sure. And recommend them to anyone.

I cannot say enough good things about The Fish Room, and especially the Raleigh location manager Daniel. I recently relocated to the Triangle area from California and needed to ship my saltwater fish ahead of our arrival. To pull it off, I needed somewhere to send them where they could be held until the tank arrived and I was able to sterilize and rebuild it. Daniel and The Fish Room accepted the shipment and kept my fish (in their amazing «Think Tank» educational facility behind the store) *for free* for several weeks until I was ready to take them home. Simply remarkable!
As for the store itself, The Fish Room is in a class by itself. Most LFSs during my years in the hobby have been somewhat depressing places, with less than friendly staff. The Fish Room is clean, organized, and staffed with helpful, knowledgeable people. In an area with few LFS choices, this gem is all you need.

I have always wanted a salt water tank and finally took the plunge. Eric and the team at the Fish room helped me with everything I needed. They took extra steps to make sure the tank was what I wanted and not what they wanted to sell me. The whole experience has been great and exceeded my expectations. I would recommend the Fish Room to anyone.
Thanks Eric!

The Fish Room is everything you want your neighborhood small business to be; quick, helpful, and very informative. It helps that their tanks display an awesome assortment of fish and invertebrates.
I was looking for fancy goldfish and freshwater plants. While they don’t carry goldfish I picked up some java fern and I wanted anubias nana. They only had a huge anubias on a piece of wood and the guy kindly broke off a small piece for me.
The Fish Room has freshwater cichlids, some plants, marine fish, invertebrates, and beautiful coral and frags. It’s too bad I don’t have a saltwater tank.

I wasn’t in to buy anything in particular as my fish tank is settled (for now), but I decided to stop by since I was in the area. The Fish Room is a small local fish store that carries both freshwater and saltwater fish. To the left is all your freshwaters and the middle and right is saltwaters. All their tanks look very well maintained and have beautiful fish and corals.
I have a freshwater tank, so I’m not too knowledgeable about saltwater pricing, but the freshwater species seemed to be a decent price. The employees are very helpful with any questions you might have and this will definitely be a place I’ll stop by when I’m in the mood to re-​vamp my tank again.

The employees are knowledgable, helpful, and friendly. They helped my daughter and I find exactly what we needed for her 1^st aquarium.

I was surprised at the number of tanks they had. The have both Salt and fresh water fish here. Great selection of live rock ! Nice tanks and accessories to make your aquarium a success. Right next to Panera Bread.
The selection of fish is good and they have juvenile fish you can watch grow to adult hood.
The tanks are clean and expert advice from the staff.

Located across the street from Triangle Town Center off Capital Blvd, this aquarium store specializes in saltwater fish, corals, inverts, and supplies. They are perhaps the only aquarium store that stocks a supply of good dry rock, and they also have a large supply of live rock. From time to time, you may find rare specimens such as Japanese pygmy angels here. Once my favorite aquarium store in the Triangle, amidst tight competition their ranking has dropped in my book as of late due to multiple sightings of dead or dying fish in their tanks: I’ve pointed out dead fish at least twice, including a large Desjardini Sailfin Tang in a show tank, and after pointing out that an adult French angelfish kept in a large tank with (among other large fish) a second French angel and a Queen angel was cowering in a corner looking rather tattered and beat, was told that «that’s normal for that particular fish and she does come out to eat.» Well, the staff member did try feeding that fish there to prove it and no, she didn’t eat. I appreciated his willingness to look into things, but a second staff member acted rather annoyed at my friend and I for pointing out that this fish was clearly not doing well. Anyone worth his or her salt when it comes to saltwater fishkeeping knows that keeping multiple large angelfish together even in a large tank is a potentially risky operation, and I was disappointed that I had to point out that their experiment in keeping these particular three angelfish together had clearly failed.
That being said, I have had no trouble with the quality of the supplies, rocks, and fish that I did buy from The Fish Room, and may do business with them again in the future. They do have a great little store and some lovely display tanks! I don’t want to bash a store based on a couple questionable experiences, but in all honesty I will have to rate this otherwise-​excellent store 3 stars. They do post an updated new arrivals list on their website, so check that out.