The Fish Gallery

1^st time customer at the Fish Gallery. Alyssa and the guy at the register were assisting me with my needs, they were Great. I went just to look around ended up spending almost $ 200. I will be back.

I haven’t been here in a couple of years. Fish stock didn’t seem to be what it had been in the past. Spent 20 – 25 minutes looking and nothing really struck my fancy. Maybe December is a bad time of year to look for new fish?
The entire time we were in the store, no staff spoke to us, I guess we didn’t look like buyers.

Very most pleased! I was very delighted to come to this store the other day, I was showing off some of Houston’s best fish stores to my dad and boy did fish gallery make me feel at home! Danny greeted us and was extremely helpful and answered all my questions and was very nice and respectful towards my children! Hes really awesome! The other guy that got my fish was Kevin ! Very cool and smart and laid back. Thanks for great service!

I can only speak to the freshwater side – I will be honest, I don’t think there is a great option for buying fish in Houston. This place is probably the best (not saying much) they have a large selection of fish and decent plant/​light/​aquarium selection. They have a big/​flashy display room that is fun to browse. Big problem though: they have a major ich isue that seems persistent. I QT all fish from here and still lose some even when medicated. Lots of tanks have dead fish in them, and even though there is an abundance of employees it is apparent some fish have been dead in the tank for hours to days. Also, staff is a MAJOR problem. Lots of staff, most of whom never acknowledge you and are monosyllabic when asked for help. I once witnessed two (I assume managers?) yelling/​cursing at each other in the middle of the store, so clearly the issue is from the top down. Bottom line, I shop here, because there are no better options and they get unusual fish in. Expect to lose some fish you get here, QT ALL, costumer service is pretty poor, but store is fun to look through and they get some cool varieties. It is such a shame since the store could be top notch with new management.

Fish Gallery has been my Fish and Aquarium store for years and they have always given me GREAT service. I now have them come to my home to maintain my tank and all of their employees have been gracious and very professional. Simon is the head of the in-​home or business services and he always goes the extra mile to make sure my tank is cleaned and he picks out fish, he thinks I would like and sends them at the monthly cleaning time. If you have ever needed help with snails taking over, or needing new fish, equipment, and maintenance, Fish Gallery is the place to call. Prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly and ready to help! Thank you Fish Gallery for your premium service!!!
Sincerely,
Helen K Kreller
Houston, Texas

I just recently got into the hobby and this place is the closest fish store to me. They have an awesome setup when you walk in. Huge tanks and even a few aquascaped tanks with no water that gave me the opportunity to see how I wanted my tank to look. I bought a few freshwater fish 3 weeks back and they are alive and healthy! You’ll notice there are some tanks that says NFS (not for sale) on them. They said if they see some fish die or become sick, they treat the whole tank and don’t sell them so they don’t contaminate other people’s tanks. I think it’s great they don’t just sell them and let it become your problem. They have a great freshwater selection from what I have seen. (I’m new to the hobby so I’ve only been to 3 LFS stores outside of the standard chain PetCo and Petsmart).
I will say their supplies and equipment is more expensive than your standard pet chain and they don’t have a livestock guarantee at all where other stores will give you at least 2 weeks. But everyone seems to be helpful and knowledgeable and they have more fish options than I’ve personally seen on this side of town.

I was in Houston for a free-​style weekend with a friend. We decided to just check out this place on a whim and I was pleasantly pleased we did. We walk in and immediately noticed a moderate selection (about 15) tanks for sale. They were displayed well with decoration, substrate, and other supplies (minus water and fish). The tanks looked nice which provoked me to look further into the store. As I walked to the back part of the store, I saw several areas of different types of fish and plants. They even had one small room dedicated to bettas alone. That room had a selection of bettas, small tanks, and supplies just for bettas. That was kind of cool in my book. Then I walked over to the main selection of fish. It was three aisles divided by community, semi-​aggressive, and aggressive fish. Each aisle had about 50 tanks or more of fish to choose from. A great selection to me. They also had a few other tanks set up for plants to choose from… all sorts of plants. They even had a couple of display tanks which look nice in the store.
While browsing around, an employee, Josh, came up and enthusiastically asked if he could assist me or answer any questions I may have had. I did ask him a few questions and even his suggestions about different fish for my tank. He answered quickly and with great knowledge. It was as if he is a walking, talking, breathing, living encyclopedia about all things fish. He is so very helpful. He said he «loves what he does», and you can tell he means that. I’m not trying to down play the other employees there. They also asked seemed eager to help me, but since I had an established history with Josh, I stayed with him for a salesperson.
I also checked out their stock of supplies such as additives, conditioners, and tools. They have a nice assortment, but I didn’t stay too long in that department.
The prices I noticed are higher than your big chain stores, but the level of service is higher as well. Most, not all, of the employees at big chain stores have knowledge, but nothing like what I saw here.
I ended up purchasing nearly twenty fish to put in my tanks in Beaumont that weekend. They have adjusted and doing well. They are pricey, but a great store! I will be returning again.

I love the fish gallery. I have found all the employees to be friendly and knowledgeable. Now that I know more about the hobby I’m very thankful for all the answers and patience they had for me. My favorite fish store by far!

Unfortunately this place can’t grasp customer service… I’ve given them a 2 nd chance from my initial experience when looking to buy a salt water tank & they were obnoxious & rude & way over priced. I was reassured that all the riff raft was let go & the current staff was better… which was mostly true… UNTIL I ENCOUNTERED SCOTT. Wow what a nasty rude piece of work. As he smugly told me he has worked here 8 yrs. I thought to myself… Oh your the guy that’s responsible for all bad reviews written about this place. I’ve had enough of spending hundreds of dollars at a place that has no respect for their loyal customers.

Nice fish store. They have great selection of fresh water fish and aquatic plants (I wasn’t able to check their salt water selection cuz i was in a tight schedule) came to buy cockatoo cichlid (apistogramma cacatuoides) in here, so far its the only LFS in houston that I know that offer them. $ 46 for a pair, not bad i guess. (In ebay its $ 30 for a pair + $ 30 shipping =$ 60). I did put them in a quarantine tank before i put them in my main tank. I also saw some discus but they seem stressed so i just passed by them. If i come here again i would probably just go buy some aquatic plants (love their selection) for my tank or some more cockatoo cichlid if they get some more.

Ok, Roger the owner called me up, and my parts came in and they were the correct ones and now my aquarium is up and running. Fluval even threw a CO2 system to boot. I was just happy that Roger called. So thanks to Tina and Jaime and Brian and Fluval rep guy! My f90 rocks!

We bought a goldfish for our daughter. The fish died within 24 hours. I’ve kept several dozen freshwater fish for over a decade so I think it’s fair to say that I’m familiar with how to acclimate them. Never had one die so quickly.
Fish Gallery wouldn’t even offer an exchange which was very disappointing. I’ve never seen a fish store not offer some basic guarantee on their regular stock assuming water quality was good.
To top it off, the prices here are higher than other fish stores but customer service quality does not seem to be a priority.
In the end, our Petsmart goldfish was half the price and came with a 14-​day guarantee (which we never needed to avail of).
We will not be going back to Fish Gallery.

I like the setup of the store. It’s very nice and inviting. They have a good selection of saltwater, freshwater livestock. However I advise you not to buy any discus from these guys. They also have a great selection of plants. That’s the main thing I buy from them. I should also mention that they have a great selection of supplies and tanks if that’s what you’re looking for.

I love coming to this place its clean and I love the fish tanks they have on display. They have good prices when ordering in multiples.

Its ok…
Fish selection is normal. Its really expensive though.
I guess ok for fish but I recommend buying all other supplies at petsmart or petco.

I love the way this place is organized. It’s great to just walk around and see all the different fish. My brother had to buy some plants for his tank and the employees helped him out eagerly.
Might I say, all the fish here look very healthy and lively. This is not true of all fish stores.
I quite enjoyed sitting on the couch in front of their huge aquarium wall to the left of the entrance. Very calming!

I absolutely love the layout of this store. An ideal place to just walk around and watch all the different varieties of livestock (Tropical, Semi-​Aggressive, Aggressive). The lights mixed with the decorations of the store give it an aquarium feel. When I’m in this area I enjoy stopping by and observing the livestock or talking fish with the employees.
I do feel their prices are on the high side. They have that aquarium look and many staff members, so I understand they have to pay for all those luxuries. It’s definitely the nicest «fish store» I’ve been to. I utilize the store only for livestock because exotic feel or not, I cannot justify paying five dollars more for a filter, light, etc.
On another note, I HIGHLY suggest quarantining your new purchase before introducing into your display tank. I’ve had a couple cases of ick from their livestock. It’s an easy process and you will avoid costly problems later.
So if you are looking for more exotic livestock that the chains can’t offer, Fish Gallery is your place.

I used to be a frequent shopper at The Fish Gallery when they were located near Kirby and 59 (a good while back I suppose). I’m not sure what changed when they moved but I swear it’s like a different store now. Previously I found all the associates to be incredibly helpful and friendly, but more than that knowledgeable. Now it’s like every employee doesn’t want to give me the time of day. If you can manage to track one down their knowledge seems to be incredibly limited. This wouldn’t bother me nearly as much if they didn’t have such a general apathy towards helping customers.
As someone else mentioned their prices are on the high side, and they DO NOT price match.
Above all else though the thing that upsets me most is the number of dead fish each and every time I go in. In my many trips to the old Fish Gallery I don’t recall ever seeing a single dead fish. Obviously fish died under their care, as this is unavoidable, but the employees seemed to do a great job of removing carcasses. The fish that die now are seemingly left to rot in the tanks. I’ve spotted fish several times that must have been there for days. I feel like this is unacceptable as it means either someone saw and didn’t care or no one has checked on that tank in days.
Overall I shop here because their fish are healthier than those at my local PetSmart or PetCo, but given the choice I’d happily support another fish shop.

We use The Fish Gallery to clean and service our aquarium tank every month and I think they are a good company and get the job done. A few weeks ago they lost their assistant that schedules the services so there was a month where they came late. It only happened one time, but once the new employee that was in charge of scheduling the services got the swing of things it never happened again.
Every month when they come in it is different employees every time, but when they come they get the job done. I have never seen their step by step process but it takes about an hour to clean the tank. They provide plenty of food supply so we don’t have to purchase it. Sometimes managers come along to supervise the work to make sure the process goes well which I think is pretty cool.
Another cool fact about this company is that the employees are very knowledgeable about the different kinds of tropical fish. They really know their stuff it is impressive. When they come they ask how the fish are doing and then they give us a quick lesson on which one is which. It’s interesting knowing and understanding the different types of fish makes me want to get an aquarium for my home. Overall the Fish Gallery is great with us and they do amazing work.

I’ve seen some fish stores in my time as a young clown fish in California. I used to go with my dad, Marlin. Then, I swam upon The Fish Gallery. Never have I seen such a clean store with beautiful displays, a very good selection, and an amazing and knowledgeable staff. I was really impressed with the range of services provided including ²⁴⁄₇ on-​call help in case your scaled friends need an extra hand… or fin as it were.
You can easily spend big bucks here, as the tanks and species (plant-​ish, fish-​ish) can get more elaborate and exotic! (I say «ish» because biologically I’m not sure all species sold here fall under these taxonomy classifications.)
They sell tanks, décor, lights, saltwater fishes, koi, Chinese goldfish, plant life and coral, pebbles, freshwater fish, agressive, semi-​aggressive, non-​aggressive… the list goes on! Sharks, eels, seahorses, star fish. My geeky scientific roommate exclaimed, «Echinoderms and blue lobsters!» Shrimp. (Remember, «Fish are friends, not food!») Ohhhh, and the awesome yellow sea cucumbers!
It’s amazing, and they have decently long store hours. Try not to get too carried away, or you might find it hard to es-​ca-​pé. I will admit that although you’ll see Crush, Dori, and others, you won’t find it terribly useful to speak whale here…
Overall, you’ll have a good time, even if you’re just looking. Try to say hi to the little longhorn cowfish for me. What a cute, flirty li’l guy! Hi, I’m Dori. What’s your name?