Exotic Aquatics

Write a Review410-668-1200

CLOSED NOW - Opens at 11:00am

This place was amazing!!! There is to this day no where better. They had the biggest selection and were very helpful if anything ever went wrong. I went there since I was 4 years old with my dad and now 27 I have my own house and fish tank and wish they were around. They were usually busy so it would take a minute for help but well worth the wait. I do know they were having money problems. This is why they moved over to the new location in Waltham Woods and were hoping to get more business.

It is unfortunate such a high end store has such a low quality staff and an incompetent owner. You can wait 20+ minutes before getting helped, you don't get greeted at the door. One particular employee curses around women and small children on a regular basis. He also likes to call customers idiots. He is their go-to guy as he has an amazing wealth of knowledge and is the reason they have healthy livestock; unfortunately, he is rude, profane, and intimidating. It is a shame as he could otherwise be the foremost fish expert in Maryland. It isn't hard to smile and say 'please' and 'thanks you'. After a few incidences with him, I filed a complaint with the owner who then became aggressive towards me. I explained to him I had spent over $2,000 in the past 2 months with his company and that despite there being other places to purchase livestock and dry goods, I chose his store as I like to service small businesses. His response was: we appreciate the business but don't need it and to adjust our schedule based on when he was not working. He told us that he cannot control his employees. Despite an excellent selection of fish, dry good, food, chemicals/treatments, tanks, and hardware, I am finished with this store due to poor attitudes and do not recommend this as a family location and I highly discourage you taking children there who are very likely to say as they hear!

This store may have the best fish and the worst people in Maryland. The staff is impatient, ignorant, arrogant, rude, condescending, and all out mean. I would not recommend taking your children around them either as they often use profane words out loud in the store. They treat their customers poorly and it is unfortunate as many of them are exceptionally knowledgeable. If you need a part or item, only one person who works their can order if for you, and everyone else tells you to call back later. If you ask for someone to bag a fish up for you, some of the people their will simply say "no, not now". The owner is quite a unfriendly, as are quite a few others who work their. Because the customer service was so poor, I purchased a $1500 Oceanic Aquarium from a different company. If they were a bit nicer, they would have made that sale. With that said, there are a few people their who will treat you very well and help you with any questions you have; sadly, these few individuals wind up having to carry the load of the rest of the slackers and they are constantly busy because of this.. If you go in on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, ask for John.



With that said, they take meticulous care of their fish and I would say probably the best care I have ever seen in a fish store. The water is clean, the fish are almost always clear of bacteria and parasites, they change the water constantly, feed the fish a premium food, use an excellent filter system, and even quarantine fish prior to selling them. Their selection is impressive and their prices are competitive. If the staff became slightly more people friendly, they would be the best fish store in the state of Maryland.

I was there yesterday and I used to like this store alot, but all the good people that used to work there has gone. The staffs that work there now are all axx hxxx. I have to point out the guy named Mark, he would be the axx hxxx of the year. I don't know if he is the owner or not, but he sure act tried to act like one. I hope he is not the owner and he should be fired. I would have give all 5 stars if it wasn't for him. I also talked to other customer that was in the store and they are agree with me. Good Luck!!!