Beyond the Reef

This place’s prices are a complete Joke! The staff is snobby and there are plenty of places in the Chicagoland area with better selection, healthier corals and fish, and staff that actually wants to help you and wants your business. I seriously wouldn’t buy anything from this place, ever! If you’re familiar with this hobby and have nothing better to do, and want a good laugh, go check this over-​priced chop shop out. Example $ 179 for a small 5 head plain green candy cane. LMAO! The only reason they get 1 star is for the nice display tanks. Take my advice, go elsewhere.

These guys know their fish. And tanks. And fish food. And Finding Nemo. And to top it all off, they are incredibly friendly and patient!
After stopping in another aquatic shop and leaving empty handed, my 3 year old daughter and I still needed to find pellets for our fresh water beta, Frank. Even though BTR doesn’t sell specific freshwater beta food, they walked us through options that will keep our little buddy full and swimming happily.
I wasn’t kidding when I said they know their Finding Nemo — they have the whole cast here, so if you have a kiddo who’s Pixar-​fish obsessed, it’s worth a trip!

This is my trusted LFS. They have a great selection and very knowledgable staff that is more than willing to help out and listen. All the fish I have purchased have been very healthy! This place comes recommended from others that I’ve met in the hobby.

Great LFS! In my 3 or 4 visits to your store I been greeted by friendly, well informed and passionate employees.
Thank you for spending time with me yesterday, it was great to learn a little bit about your business!
See you soon!

We are first timers with owning a salt water tank and were able to learn so much from their staff as we got into creating our tank. Their staff takes the time to work with you. Their display tanks are amazing… be sure to not miss the jelly fish tank in the back of the store. High quality fish and some of the most beautiful corals you can imagine. Chris who works there is so absolutely knowledgable and always a huge help.

I went in a couple weeks ago to get advice on setting my 55 gallon aquarium as a saltwater tank. I have had a 20 gallon tank for 2 years now and was just looking to upgrade. I talked to Jim when I was in and he told me everything that I would need. He made sure that I had everything that I needed. He asked if I had a stand which I didnt at that point. He told me what he had and he said he could order one for me and have it in tomorrow. He ordered the stand for me on thursday and they called me early Friday afternoon and they had gotten it in. I chose them over the big box aquarium store that is almost right next door to them. Great store with great and very helpful advice. I will be back to them when i start stocking the new tank.

The fish are beautiful and all seem to be super healthy! Their display tank is to DIE FOR! It is utterly amazing. The staff cares about all of the customers that walk in the door and are super helpful. The corals are so vibrant I almost thought I was in the tropics. I haven’t seen corals like that in a while! Prices were right on point– nothing was over priced (unlike every other fish store in the chicago land area)! I love their fish only tank– beautiful fish with enough space for them to be happy. The coral only tank was a nice mix and was AMAZING. Defiantly recommending this place to all of my friends and family! Keep up the great work!

This is the best local fish store in all NW suburbs! The whole staff is extremely knowledgeable about the salt water hobby. They have the best selection of LPS AND SPS corals around, but the one thing that sets Beyond The Reef apart from other fish stores is how much they actually care and the perfection that they put it in maintaining/​care they give their fish and corals. All price is reasonable. Here’s a quick story. I bought a Royal dotty back from BTR. They warned me that it might be aggressive towards my other fish. We’ll turns out that it was extremely aggressive. I call Beyond The Reef, and they said that would take it back for store credit! I think that was an awesome way to handle the situation and make the Costumer happy! I will be a lifelong customer!

One of the few exotic fish stores in the area. I’ve only heard of like two others, one in another suburb that seemed to go out of business and another in Old Town (Chicago).
Place isn’t that clean (to be specific, the floors), but I guess I’ve never seen a «clean» pet store. I know the tanks are a lot of upkeep and require a lot of maintenance, so I shouldn’t really judge the tanks themselves. I personally do not own a fish tank and have not seen enough of them to know what they should or should not look like. I will say their massive tank towards the back of the store is pretty sweet. That tank is probably the nicest and has the largest fish. I imagine they treat that one like a baby because the fish in it are definitely not cheap.
I’ve been here a few times, mostly just to look. My boyfriend has a 45 gallon saltwater tank, so we’ve been in here to get an idea of what to buy next since a couple of his fish have died. He currently has an eel and a porcupine puffers «blowfish.» He had a blue, skinny fish that resembles Dory from Finding Nemo, but we pieced together that the eel killed it when we discovered it dead inside the rock where the eel always hides with bite marks on it. At that point, I knew my bf needed another fish that could defend itself.
For his birthday, I wanted to buy a fish. I told an employee the scenario with Dory looking fish and asked if he recommended anything. He said no to another puffers because two or more puffers probably wouldn’t get along. I pointed out a couple fish that I saw and liked. I narrowed it down to two: a Picasso Triggerfish and a Greenbird Wrasse. Although the Picasso was a bit more pleasing to the eye, I realized the Greenbird had speed, which made it a perfect fit for his soon-​to-​be new home. The day I went to look was about a week before I could bring the fish over and give it as a birthday gift, and I was unable to hold it at my house. I told the employee I could come back in about a week and asked if they could put it on hold. I was told they usually put it on hold for no more than a couple days. I waited and just hoped it wouldn’t sell. I planned to go back on a Saturday to purchase the Wrasse, but called on Wednesday to see if it was still there. It was, and the employee on the phone said he would put it on hold for me. I mentioned how I was told it could only be held for a couple days and was willing to purchase over the phone with my credit card. The employee just took down my phone number and said they would call if for some reason they couldn’t hold it til Saturday. I didn’t have to purchase over the phone and never received a call. Sure enough, the Wrasse was still there on Saturday and they marked the tank to show it was on hold. I asked for a box instead of a bag that they normally put the fish in. The same employee who helped me in store last time pulled out a huge box from the closet and placed another styrofoam box inside which held the bag of water with the fish. The transaction was quick and smooth. He explained a couple things like how to transfer the fish from the bag to the tank and how they medicate their water, so I shouldn’t mix that water with the tank at home. I forgot to ask what the fish eats, but he offered any future answers with a simple phone call. The policy to return is just 24 hours, so I feared transporting the fish safely. Luckily, the fish is still alive, almost a month later and still swims about with quite some speed as it had in store.
I am happy with my experience at Beyond the Reef and would recommend it.

I have to give this place five stars, because it is a great saltwater shop. They have an incredible selection that keeps me driving there from Chicago to purchase items for my tank. Oddly enough, for a store like this, their prices are quite reasonable, especially for coral frags. What’s even more impressive is that the staff knows their stuff. I recently was in the store and saw this beautiful nudibranch that I thought would be a great addition to my tank. In the end, the staff gave me a bunch of information, but said they really weren’t totally certain what it has been eating, and didn’t want to sell it to me because of that reason, so it didn’t just go home at starve in my tank. I was shocked that a store would turn down the $ 30, to help keep the creature alive. That’s the way to do business! I will gladly keep making the drive!

Excellent store… great selection of saltwater fish and coral. The store is kept very clean and the staff is knowledgable. I’m very happy with this store.

I’m very new to salt water tanks — I’ve had my tank for about a month and have been checking out fish shops in the Chicago area. I live near the Old Town Aquarium shop which is truly fantastic with prices to match. There is also a surprisingly decent Petco on Clyborn. However, the best place I’ve found so far is Beyond the Reef, way out in Schaumburg.
The place isn’t very large, though the focus is entirely on fish and mostly salt water. They stock a wide range of fish, invertebrates, and coral. The front section has a bunch of tanks for sale. All the tanks look clean and the fish all look happy and healthy. Heck, all the coral look happy and healthy too. They have some very impressive fish including a lion fish and a massive puffer along with an eel. They were kind enough or my 4 year old son and I were just lucky and happened to be there when they fed the puffer and eel. Wow, it was amazing to see the eel eat a little minnow type fish.
Prices seem reasonable — somewhere between Old Town and a Petco.
I’d also like to give thumbs up to Tyler who patiently chatted with me about putting together a small clean up crew. This guy knows a lot and was very pleasant and not condescending, even though I am sure he thought I knew next to nothing. I ended up buying two snails, two hermit crabs, and a small coral frag. They have a selection of mushrooms for $ 5/​each and a bunch of smaller frags for $ 10 each. They of course have larger and more exotic looking corals for big spenders.
My understanding is that this place went through an ownership change late last year — I have no idea what this place was like before, but the new owners and staff seem to be doing a good job. I would suggest to them an email mailing list.
Schaumburg is a trek for me, but I guess I can add this fish stop on my Ikea/​Outlet/​Woodfield mall shopping expeditions.

Jim and the clan are very helpful. Much better store now under new ownership with a bigger selection. Now carry Ecotech and AI. Excellent Bali rock — a bit pricey, though.

These guys have some real amazing fish! The selection of fish is hudge! The prices are alot lower then the other fish stores. The employees are very friendly and have alot of knowledge. What more could you possibly want?

John and my favorite marine shop. John first took me here in 2005 when we met, and I’m sure he’s been coming to this shop since he first started getting into saltwater aquariums. Always very helpful staff, healthy fish, great coral selection, and we even get our rocks, sand and water here. I was kind of scared they would lose a lot of business since Aquarium Adventure opened, but Beyond the Reef is still here and I hope it stays. When you walk in, there’s this tank to the right with tons of corals and Xenias, I don’t know how they do it, but that tank is amazing.

One of the best shops for healthy marine fish and inverts. The coral is healthy and happy they have some great deals on frags. Their selection of live rock beats any store anywhere near Chicago. It is expensive, but worth it. Great coraline growth and fully cured (i experienced no cycle at all). Last but not least they have a fantastic selection of healthy fish, shrimp, crabs, snails, etc. And, they are always getting in new stock.
Of all the Schaumburg stores, this is the best. And it is certainly worth the trip out the burbs if you live in the city like me.

Great little shop. It has everything you need to either begin your saltwater addiction — or escalate it to obsession. The layout is very practical and user friendly. Segmented sections for Reef safe fish — aggressive fish, and the fun stuff in-​between. A little disappointed with the health of the tanks — I saw a few dead creatures — decomposing at the bottom, not encouraging if I had picked that fish the day before. Nonetheless, the staff is very useful and informative and the prices are right in line with the industry standard.
They did charge me $ 1.00 per water test. Which is unfortunate because most other places do that as a complimentary service — to have you come back. And since Schaumburg is 45 min. away — it will be rare for me to head back.
All-​in-​all a good store to buy supplies, just a bit out of my way.