Manhattan Aquariums

Amazing store, always super helpful. Great quality and healthy coral. About 90% of my coral are from here and thriving. Another plus is you can order from
and have it shipped to them for free. Go here about once a week just to pick up a frag or 2. Just wish they would get some of the more pricier chalice, but can deal with that. When looking for a new led setup they spent multiple visits with me going over the pluses and cons. What a aqurium/​coral store should be. Great prices even for Manhattan.

huge selection of live coral & salt water. not much freshwater — but with space constraints, this is understandable. friendliest fat kitten in the world hangs with the betta fish in the front (without eating them) :)

The selection of corals and salt water fish is amazing. However, I just bought 5 fish and 2 of them were dead when I arrived home. All because the lady that was working there was angry that I was keeping her there 10 min late. So first she gave me the wrong fish and charged me the price for the one she did not select. Second of all she was in such a hurry that she squished 2 of the other fish’s fins and when I got them home they were belly up struggling with one fin.
This place is really good and some of thr people that worker there are the best, but this lady is just bad.

This review is for the aquarium moving service, not the physical store.
I have a 300 gallon full reef tank with all the fish, coral, and inverts you can imagine. 2 years ago I asked these guys to help me move the tank to a new apartment. Sure, it was very expensive, but I was willing to pay twice what they charged me to ensure the safe transport of my fish and corals. The move took 12 hours, but everything made it safely to the new place. Never once did anyone complain or stop working until the job was done. Nothing broke, nothing died, and when I move again this summer I will be hitting them up for more help.

The Good: Clean, spacious, amazing coral selection, healthy fish, sparkling tanks.
The Bad: Okay freshwater selection but nothing special. It is really far away from any train stations.
The Ugly: The woman who helped me sold me two fish that are supposed to be in brackish water to put in my freshwater tank, along with a third fish that is supposed to be in very different conditions. She also sold me $ 15 vegetarian cichlid pellets, when the cichlids she sold me are carnivores.
Note: They may have happily taken the two fish and the mis-​matched fish food back, but the three are actually doing quite well in my tank, so I am going to wait and see. And I am willing to lose $ 15 not to have to take the hike back to them to return the food.

I must say this was the best thing next to sliced bread for me since starting my reef tank!
To say the least, I was very misinformed when I started my reef tank.
Two tank crashes within in a 3 month span (thank you Petco) and I was at wits end!
Until I found Manhattan aquariums!
They saved my sanity and my pockets!
I cant say enough how great the staff is there and how knowledgeable they are! (and patient, judging on how i ask a bazillion questions when i go there lol)
if you own or want to start a saltwater or Reef Tank you must/​NEED go to Manhattan aquariums!
I now have a healthy tank with beautiful coral specimens that I admire every day of my life because of this place!
I may be what you call a «regular» there, I just cant keep myself from visiting this place!
They have healthy livestock and take excellent care of their marine life!
DO NOT BUY FROM CORPORATE aka PETCO!
doubt me? Just walk up to any corporate staff and ask them what an Acropora is… exactly…
If you’re into Aquariums and Corals go to Manhattan Aquariums!
Heck just go there even if you don’t have a tank, you may inspired to start one! You wont regret it!
Manhattan Aquariums is #1! =)

Great selection and quality of fish and corals, however they are pricey and service is sub-​par.
I’m willing to pay extra for quality and service, unfortunately their service has been less than stellar and worsening over the last couple of years.
I walk in and feel like there’s an «attitude». The staff looks like they are doing me a favor by being there. If I ask for any advice I swear I’ve heard a sigh on a few occasions, as if they are thinking «I don’t have time for this».
Recently I’ve met staff that are not knowledgable. That’s not all bad as long as they try to get you an answer. Instead they seem to make up things and on top of it still make you feel like they are too important.
I only continue to go there because they are close and because of their selection. I prefer Fauna where they are very friendly and welcoming, unfortunately their selection (fish in particular) is limited.

I don’t understand why this place is so highly rated. I think a lot of people are swooned by their nice display tanks but don’t have enough presence of mind to see why this place is a disaster.
I have been into this place 5 times so far and not a single time have I been approached by staff asking if I needed assistance with anything. Every time they are preoccupied and you have to intervene and ask for assistance (typical of most businesses these days anyway).
When you ask for assistance, the staff don’t know a thing. I mean that, they don’t know ANYTHING. Apparently there is only one guy who works there who can inform you of what is what, but he works out on the field all day and he leaves a bunch of clueless dimwits to run the shop.
This shop is very out of my way, the day I set up my planted aquarium, I had purchased some plants from Pacific Aquariums, and I headed over the Manhattan Aquariums to see if they had any plant species they could sell me. I saw a big, wonderful planted aquarium with lots of plant species, but no labels indicating what species or even a price. So I show up, going way out of my way to buy plants, and the young woman tells me that she can’t sell me any because she doesn’t know the names of the plants and she doesn’t know the prices. She informed me that the guy who knows all that stuff isn’t in the store. I was very frustrated, I was looking in the tank, I knew which plants I wanted, they were right in front of my face, but I couldn’t buy them because untrained staff were left to run the store. I finally talked her into calling the guy so he could tell her (I didn’t come all this way to leave empty handed!) and he told her the names and prices, and I bought some plants. The only problem is that the next time I came in, a plant they had sold me for 6.99 per stem, they (different staff this time) were quoting me $ 1.99 per stem. WHAT!!! Really? You have got to be kidding me…
If you know plant, fish and coral species on the back of your hand, than you may benefit from this place in the sense that you may find what you need and you won’t need help from the staff except for them to bag up what you want and check you out. Other than that, the place looks cool, but the staff are clueless and unprofessional.
By the way, don’t pet that stupid cat. It has a nasty attitude problem and the damn thing bit me. I don’t know why they allow such a temperamental animal to roam around the store.
I would have given this place 2 stars for the cool tanks but I’m shocked to see it’s rated an average of 4.5 stars which I think is very undeserved so I’m giving it 1 star to knock that average down.

I wish I could give them 6 stars. Awesome selection of corals, decent prices, no pests, and a very friendly, helpful staff!
Definitely going back for my next livestock purchase.

My husband’s obsession with establishing an aquatic ecosystem in our tiny Queens apartment has gone above and beyond what I’d anticipated. Let’s just say we started off with a fish bowl a year ago and today, it is a 50 gallon tank. We initially had some fancy gold fish (the ones with the longer and flowy tails) but they all succumbed to an unexplainable illness. I called it fish Ebola, while my husband was (and still) pointing fingers at me for not looking after them. (Oh I love marriage life!) But that didn’t stop him from revisiting his grand plan and we have now officially decided to eradicate the fresh water aquarium and adopt salt water instead. To be honest, I was a tad more excited because I always wanted a Dory (if you watched Finding Nemo, you know who this infamous character is). But my husband quickly disappointed me by saying how big Dorys get and they eventually won’t fit a 50 gallon tank and we will need to upgrade to a 150 gallon tank instead. Without encouraging my husband to upgrade our tank any further (as we have no more real estate within our tiny 1 BR apt), I told him I was absolutely fine not having a Dory and instead, we’ll just some have some clown fish. It was a two and half week process to recycle the water to prepare for the salt water creatures. There were buckets, tubes, and filter mechanisms deployed to get this bad boy started. In other words, my apartment became a (insert profanity) aquatic laboratory.
When the tank was ready, we decided to do more research on the best places to pick up saltwater fish in the city. We had enough with Petco as they have a track record of low survival rates. Unilocal eventually gave us Manhattan Aquarium. Quite a ho-​hum name but straight to the point. It was a surprise hole-​a-​wall type of place but very well kept. It’s not an obvious storefront and from the outside, it looks quite shady. But once you walk in, you’re in a completely different world. It’s like finding a speakeasy club in a basement. But for fish enthusiasts like my husband, this place is better than sipping on a Barcardi cocktail. It was visually entertaining for me, especially those giant Dorys they were selling for $ 200-​$ 300 a pop. Unfortunately, for a beginner’s tank, we had to start small and we found our itty bitty Nemos (clown fish) for about $ 20 each. Still pricier than our former freshwater companions but prettier. We also picked up some snails to help with filtration. If you thought snails are super slow, you are wrong. We bought one particular one that always seems to be on a mission to go somewhere and almost tried to slime its way out of the tank. Definitely on steroids.
I am by no means a fish expert like my husband but from my brief visit at Manhattan Aquarium, this place is professional and definitely specializes more in saltwater fish than any other kind. We also went to Pacific Aquarium on the east side and even that place doesn’t have as many saltwater varieties as Manhattan Aquarium. I only wish there was a closer subway station.

Love this store! For a Sea Hare for a hair algae problem and it went to town. Couldn’t be happier!!! Thank you guys!

Where do I begin? Manhattan Aquariums has it all! I know it’s a bit out of the way but in a city so cramped for space where else can you fit a store that has everything stocked for your hobby needs. This place is almost as good as visiting a real Aquarium. From the Ginormous custom tank in the front to all the varieties and species of fish available for purchase to improve your own tank. They have the largest selection of live corals I have seen anywhere! This place is your one stop shop for anything you might need. Their staff is very friendly and knowledable. Next to scuba diving this place is also a great place to check out all the ocean life. Manhattan Aquarium brings the ocean to you. I highly reccomend them for all your hobby enthusiast needs.

I’m like a kid in a candy store when I trek to Hell’s Kitchen for some corals. Their specimens are healthy; a great variance of saltwater fish and corals. They have a selection of equipment, reef supplements and fish food that you’d expect from a fish store. The customer service here is top notch and very knowledgeable. If one member is unable to answer your question, rest assured they’ll have another who can give you the guidance you need. FYI I remember when they had the sting ray touch tank and their miniature seahorse tank which left me in awe. I love this place!
*They offer maintenance services for your tanks at home. They also sell RODI water, if your tapped out (no pun intended).
Pro-​tip: Call ahead and find out when their next livestock shipment comes in, that is if you want to cherry pick the brightest corals. They have beautiful acans, and you will not be disappointed. You may want to leave that credit card home or else you’ll have some «splainin to do.»

It’s so odd that the Unilocal pin is incorrect, but the address is correct. MA is located on 37^th between 10^th and 11^th. It is a great place for salt and fresh water aquarium hobbyists, but I’d say their collection of salt water equipment, fish, coral, anemones, etc. is much larger than their fresh water collection. I think they may be working to change that.
The staff is very knowledgeable and you’ll find each staffer actually has a tank at home and can provide useful tidbits for taking care of your aquarium at home. They have a small selection of tanks for starting your own tank, but I’m pretty sure they’d be able to custom order almost anything you’d like.
Their return policy is a bit strict (testing your water, small window of time for returns, etc.) but I find that the staff is willing to work with you if something crazy happens to an aquarium mate that you buy, for no reason. I often find myself in MA just browsing and the staff (including Miss Piggy – the name I’ve given the chubby kitty cat lol) don’t mind.
I’d say the store is pricey but that’s almost the case with everything relating to salt water aquariums. Definitely worth a visit.

The staff is super knowledgeable, they always have answers for my toughest questions. Love love the big show tanks, it’s really like an aquarium in there. The frag tanks are beutiful, stocked with a big selection of all kinds of corals.
I like how the servicing company is in the same location. I asked about maintenance and maybe a custom tank build, they made an appointment to come out and do a bid. The prices were actually better than a lot of the other places I looked at. Definitely my favorite L.F.S.
Btw it’s located on 37^th st, between 10^th & 11^th ave, the Unilocal pin on map is wrong.

THE COLORS DUKE THE COOLLLOOORRRSSSS.
i have been active in the Reef community since October and have been to quite a few LFS (Local Fish Stores); from chains to mom and pops. Manhattan Aquariums is my second favorite place to go, after Coral Theory.
When you walk in, the first thing you see is the HUGE Display aquarium. that’s when you realize, that these folks don’t just sell fish, tanks and supply’s, but this is also their hobby. they love these creatures. Past the first display is the dark furniture room LOL. its full of empty tanks stands and canopy’s for sale (please put some lights here its always dark)
Passed that is the meat of the store. they have a small African Cichlid collection (mostly the commons Lake Malawi [think peacocks and Mbuna] as well as New World [Jaguars, Oscars, Rams]) they have good prices, for Manhattan that is, and a HUGE selections. 3 big frag tanks with all kinds of goodies from zoas to softies to LPS and even SPS.
this is the only place i have been able to find pistol shrimps btw!
The workers wont come to you, so go to them. they will talk to you as people not as sales man. some may be a little condescending if your a newbie but don’t let that bother you. they have good advise and have very healthy stock. come here. you wont be disappointed.

I was here last month visiting New York from out of town. This place has some of the best selection of fish and corals I’ve seen. Definitely THE place for everything aquarium. I’m a beginner hobbyist so I was very glad to see they have fresh water too.
The shop girl Hellie was very helpful, she gave me some great advice for my future tank. They told me about their online store also where I can have livestock shipped to me via FedEx! Needless to say that was very exciting.
The whole place felt like I was at an aquarium. I’m so glad I stopped by this place. Will definitely try to check this place out whenever I’m in the city.

I was looking for a local fish store that carries special lighting and exotic corals and fish and I finally found it! This store is absolutely amazing! The corals and fish were extremely healthy and the selection was vast! I was able to choose between various lighting and different types of advanced filtration. The staff treated me like a million bucks and they were very knowledgeable! They have the most amazing display tanks that will just leave you in awe with your mouth watering! It’s definitely the most unique store I’ve seen in NYC! I am really happy with my visit today and I will be a loyal customer from now on! Thank you Manhattan Aquariums!

Salt water fish, coral, aquarium size tanks oh my!
Found this hidden gem as i made my way out to javitz. What a treat. If you are a big salt water fish aficionado or looking to start up one i would say this is the place to go to as i havn’t found anything else in manhattan very similar.
A wide selection of coral and and salt water tropical fish. It can get pricey but the staff is knowledgeable to get you started.
They have a huge tank in the front of the store which you can stare at and meditate with tranquility.

Love this spot. It’s worth the fact that it’s a bit out of the way from where I live and work.
Though the staff will generally ignore you at first, they are super knowledgeable and will spend the time to help you even if your purchase is small. Their freshwater selection is small, but enough to keep me satisfied.
My first visit practically made my day. Morris helped me from start to finish and was amazing when it came to giving me advice on my tank and being patient with my annoying questions.
My second visit was much less pleasant. I walked in super excited to be back, wasn’t greeted, finally asked if someone could find a particular type of fish for me and was disappointed when a guy hastily went and just picked one out for me, handed it to me and never asked what kind, size etc I wanted.
Still, my first experience was good enough that I’ll just go back and ask for Morris and hope the other employees care a bit more next time. Seems like everyone has a similar problem here.