Aquatic Gallery Services

This is not a typical retail store. To keep long story short, they are specialized in service and they are very professional about that. I bet you cannot find anyone better in the Bay Area. They are also responsible and reliable. They helped me moved 2 one hundred reef tanks and they did an excellent job.

I am an experienced hobbyist in general but new to the reef setup.
I had purchased all my hardware elsewhere but loved the displays tanks at this store.
Anytime I would ask questions in the store I was usually met with a sales pitch for them to come to my house and service my tank.
I did not want that. I wanted to know how to do things myself. I would have bought the coral and fish from the store but they clearly are more service oriented and the store is almost pointless.

Although Dr. Lee has had to limit his storefront hours to survive these last few years, this is still the best place in the Bay Area to find high end corals and fish that are not stressed.

Highly Recommended.
I have been a fan of this store for years. Even before they relocated and downsized the staff. I like the service waaaaaay better now. The owner is way more hands on and has gone beyond the call of duty with service. I’ve been hooked up on product in ways that no other store owner would dare to do. I bragged to a couple family hobbyist and they were floored. So yeah, I’ll keep coming back and I’ll keep spending money here as long as I’m in the saltwater hobby. I always receive excellent advice and service and I have never been sold product just to make a buck. One of my favorite fish stores in the Bay Area.

My Husband and I have always wanted a saltwater aquarium, and Aquatic Gallery helped make our dream a reality. We bought a used tank and stand with its basic components, only to find out none of it was worth keeping. Aquatic Gallery’s maintenance team rebuilt our 225 gallon tank, stand and 100 gallon sump the proper way, with no half done jobs!
All the employees are very knowledgeable, and know their corals and fish like the back of their hand! Although some livestock is pricy, it is definitely worth buying. We have never had problems with any fish or livestock from them. The staff are experts on what to buy, what not to put in your tank, and how to «do it yourself.» Their at home service taught us how to maintain our tank. They even give their personal cell phone numbers to customers in case of an emergency!
This is not a hobby for someone who doesn’t want to spend excessive amounts of money. Its a very EXPENSIVE hobby. We learned the hard way. We now are so overjoyed with our tank, and are extremely happy with it, and for the way Aquatic Gallery put it all together for us.
The showroom is hidden in an Industrial part of Milpitas, but fairly easy to find. You may have to wait your turn to be helped, but always definitely worth the wait. If you truly are looking into being a saltwater coral/​fish hobbyist, do consider visiting Dr. Bao Le and his team.

Aquatic gallery is the epitome of «hidden gem».
I was taken here a couple months back, and the location is pretty isolated. I had no idea there was a fish store over there, but I’m glad I’ve discovered it.
The employees that work here DEFINITELY know what they’re talking about. Especially in comparison to some other local fish stores. What’s even cooler, is the owner — Bao Le. He is very knowledgably and it is quite apparent that this is his subject matter expertise.
I highly recommend anyone who is interested in the hobby to stop by… And the pictures I’ve posted should be helpful :) The only downside, is that the store isn’t open during weekdays.

It’s a shame that the highest reviews here are the ones that are «filtered» by Unilocal!meaning that they believe the reviews are biased, faulty, etc.
But most of them aren’t, as I’ve recognized some of the reviewers myself! Most of the filtered reviews talk about how wonderful their tank set ups/​maintenance has been and I couldn’t agree more. By just looking at the set ups on their Facebook page you can see how beautiful they are. The staff is really friendly and helpful and Brian and Dr. Le are more than happy to explain anything to you. If there’s a type of fish or coral you want they always try their best to order it and let you know if they got it.
They have a wide selection of corals, 2 interesting eels, supplies, food, RO/​Salt water, live rock, etc. Definitely worth a stop by.

From a hobbyist perspective:
Everything was a little on the high side for pricing.
Some fish were 2x the price of Neptune’s but they all looked very healthy. Coral pricing was high and the frags were pretty sad IMO.
ALL of their display tanks were very healthy. They know what they’re doing when it comes to taking care of tanks.
That said, let’s face it — This place doesn’t care. They exist to service tanks and their shop is there just because it can be there. It’s also an advertising haven for people who are new or in the hobby but don’t want to take care of their own tanks. What better way to advertise than to show off a few nice tanks? Their goal isn’t really to sell to the public but to sell to their maintenance accounts. That’s where their revenue is. Why bother with a few frags or a few fish when you have big business accounts to service?

Great selection! I love the new location. I used these guys to install my system back in 05′ and I would recommend their install services to anyone.

Some of the people here who placed low scores, read their review carefully.
1. Pansy’s, This place is pretty much perfect, you don’t go to a store for just customer service, but pristine conditioned material. The owner of this store Dr, Le, may not be a marine biologist, but who the hell cares? He’s a chiropractor, and non practicing — but how does that affect you? He earned the title — stop pussyfooting around minor details.
2. CORALS!!! I’ve never seen so many variations and healthy conditioned corals! I love browsing ALONE and have no one badger me on what to buy — I love it. The employees? they do what they need to do to keep them healthy, and if you walk up to talk to them and not wait for them to speak to you like an idiot, it wouldn’t seem like they are rude. you’re not royalty, walk up if you want something.
3. who cares if the front desk girl can say something about the animals, saltwater/​marine animals are hard enough to take care of, and not everyone knows everything — do your own research, and go for what you want — hobbyists will put you in the right direction if you ask. Also if you know what you want, you won’t need advice.
GREAT PLACE! I love the store, will be returning soon.

On a browsing trip with the bf who has plans to overhaul his current aquarium at home, I discovered this nifty little place that was hidden in the not so glamorous hole of «behind the police station» in Milpitas.
The owner was very friendly, greeted us when we came in and he had a very helpful assistant who knew the gallery like the back of her hand. She thoroughly explained all the sales, fish, and any other random questions I had as someone who has never really looked into an exotic aquarium before.
Apparently they also ‘baby sit’ your fish if you need to overhaul your aquarium at home and you need some place to keep them for the time being. They have fantastic tanks for sale and so many unique and cool looking fish and coral.

I recently bought a fish for my tank from here after visiting a couple times. Unlike some of the people who have had reviews with bad service, I found the staff to be helpful and I was approached (not in a pushy way) each time I was in the store to see if I needed help/​asked questions. I thought everyone was nice and friendly. I did not deal with the owner.
The positives — the livestock. The corals here are good looking, their selection doesn’t rival Neptune’s but they do have a fair bit, and the quality is excellent. They have a wide variety of fish to choose from here, and the staff was very forthcoming about if a fish was sick or not. In general, I found the fish to be very healthy and happy. The fish I ended up buying has been very happy so far despite being a reputably difficult fish to keep/​acclimate.
The negatives — I did find the prices to be on the expensive side for corals and fish. I suppose this is somewhat justified by the higher quality, but when the same quality of items can be found elsewhere for the same price I will probably go there. Also, the fish I ended up buying turned out to be one that prefers a larger tank than mine (at least, according to the internets.), and I did tell the staff the size of my tank. but so far he seems pretty happy so we’ll see. I guess that’s also partially my fault for not reading up beforehand.
If you are looking for a good selection of healthy fish this place is worth checking out. I won’t mind coming back here, but I will also probably try some other places. I will stick to Neptune’s for my corals — I’m sure anything from here is also fine based on what I’ve seen. and they do have some larger colonies for sale if you are impatient, but otherwise, why pay more?

This place will impress you with all the visuals, and it has plenty of eye candy. The tanks are pristine and breathtaking.
That’s all. It’s more of a place to walk through, like a miniature, free Monterey Bay Aquarium, than it is a place to buy stuff.
The service is pretty much terrible. It’s worse that Fry’s Electronics or Wal-​mart. I’ve been there several times and was probably only greeted once. The girls up in front can’t answer questions other than how much something costs, which is as simple as reading a price tag on an item behind the counter. I think they are there as eye candy only.
The owner, Dr. Le, was probably the only one to greet me. He came off as nice and willing to help, but I couldn’t shake this uncomfortable vibe. I came in wanting one thing, and he was pushing me into something else. Now, I don’t mean that he was simply recommending a better way to do something (which is always helpful), I mean that the dirty car salesman vibe was suddenly kicked on. There is a big difference between looking out for the customer and livestock and looking out for how big a sale can be made. He will only be as helpful to you the size of the sale he thinks he can get.
Positives…They make stunning works of art at business establishments, they have excellent quality livestock and custom builds, and their store is loaded with eye candy. If I were to review the store on these alone, I would give 5 stars. However, bad service is a killer. You can’t make a sale if you don’t serve people well.
I do not give them business anymore. I find the owner to only have excellent business ethics if you can afford his services. Everyone else in the store has no clue about the reef keeping.

With all the hype I’ve heard about this store, I thought I was in for a treat. Well, yes and no. I was there for a good ooohhh… 45 minutes and was not even greeted or acknowledged. Twice. Thrice… C’mon, WTF?! One time, they were apparently cleaning so no one bother to help me out. Ok, fine. The other time, I had to wait 20 minutes to get B-​ionic Calcium while the cashier was talking to a customer for like 30 minutes while I was standing there. Hello… can’t you see other customers are waiting, and it’s not like the store is that roomy… when they were doing water changes during business hours, a whole isle is closed off… and there’s only 2 in the store! WHY?
I mean, on the positive side, there are some very nice corals they have there… but in their display tanks. So if you wanted it, prepare to shell out some cash… Lots of it. Speaking of prices, it tends to cost more than other places and they do have a frag tank in the back. Funny, it says «$ 20 each or 5 for $ 100.» No, really?! Wow, I’m saving so much! Not… They got a nice acro colony tank in the back to, so if you’re into nice-​sized SPS colony, there’s something to look at.
I have to admit that they indeed have some very nice display tanks. It’s impressive, but in the end, I just want to BUY stuff for my tank and not break the bank… I know they offer other services, but I haven’t and don’t plan to use it, thus my 2 stars. Sure, the stuff are nice, but that’s no reason to charge almost double\triple what others are charging. Well, actually yeah, I think I kinda understand… they do have a lot of people working there so ok, I give them that.
I’m disappointed and tried very hard to give the place another chance, but hey, can’t say I didn’t give my effort.

I’ve been coming here since 2004, and I really enjoy the entire experience. It’s not the most voluminous store, but with judicious optimization of their tanks, lighting, colors, and specimens, the layout feels rich and warm.
Now, if you’re looking for Walmart prices, this is probably not the place for you. There are cheaper salt water stores out there. But let’s contrast «cheaper» places to Aquatic Gallery. First, Aquatic Gallery takes the time to actually acclimate their fish and corals prior to releasing them for sale. They will gladly feed a fish in front of you so you know the fish you take home won’t go on some hunger strike and die. I’ve seen some lower priced places that just float the fish in a bag and dump them directly into the tank and ready for sale that same day. I guess that’s fine when you’re buying damsels, but if you buy a clown tang and wonder why he’s floating belly up in a week, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
With that said, it sometimes is difficult to get someone to help you. The staff is (for better or worse), more often than not, attending to their tanks. I’ve had requests for a water fill take more than 30 minutes. But the folks there know what they’re doing, and contrary to some lamentable ad homonym attacks, I mean «reviews,» they’re not just out to make a buck. They are genuinely knowledgeable about the reef environments they maintain and sell. Do they cost more than Petco? Yes… but they know more, and if you build a relationship with them, they’ll know about what works best with your tank, and you’ll have more piece of mind that no random majano anemone is going to hitch hike on a rock and sting the heck out of your corals, or that your newly acquired fish is a harbinger of ich. For that, I’ll gladly pay a bit extra.

If you are into keeping saltwater aquariums, then you have to visit this store! They consistently have a very large selection of healthy corals (SPS, LPS, Softies), fish and inverts. They normally carry a wide range of specimens to choose from; from the common — to the exotic. The prices are usually good (for this hobby), I have found them to quite comparable to other stores in the area, even comparable to prices online.
Dr. Le and his staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, they always make an effort to talk all the customers in the store. They have even temporarily housed a couple of my fish (I have a flame angel who has become quite territorial, and will harass any other fish to death, if i attempt to add them to my aquarium).

Beautiful specimens and wonderful tanks. Bad customer service and poor survival rate of anything I buy from them. That’s the down and dirty.
They have some of the most amazing tanks of any aquarium store in the Bay area. I started my tank over a year ago and I have visited many places. Although Aquarium Concepts in Dublin is more impressive in size, the tanks in Aquatic Gallery are wonderful. They have a rose anemone bigger than my head (which people make fun of for being so big) and a Frog Spawn that is bigger than a basketball. Seriously, this is a great place to take a couple of kids who are bored.
What I don’t like about this place in the customer service. They just engage with you. Even if they are around, they won’t greet you or ask if you need help. They just stand there, chillin… talking to one another. If you do have a question, they almost never know the answer. They will go run and get someone else. This company actually offers a service to build and perform maintenance on aquariums within businesses in the area. Sometime I feel like they are way more focused on that than with any walk-​in customers they might get.
Also, everything, and I mean everything I have ever bought from these guys has died within two months. This is not an issue with my tank. I have bought MANY other things from other stores and never had these problems.

This place is GREAT!!!
1.) their corals are very healthy and at a reasonable price
2.) great selection of corals
3.) great selection of healthy fishes at a great price
4.) they have great products at a good price not overpriced like other places.
5.)they do not pressure you at all which is great.
6.)they have a good number to knowledgeable staff to help you out. they are very friendly. they go out of their way to explain and teach you the right way to maintain your tank.
i would recommend this place to everyone. do not even bother shopping around any where else. no where can compare.

Review only on saltwater related goods and livestocks.
People = Friendly and knowledgeable. Owner (Dr. Le) is very nice and willing to answer any related questions.
Fish = Huge selection (some exotic fish too). Healthy. Willing to feed the fish before you buy. Gives you honest answers. Price is on the high side.
Corals = huge selection of normal and exotic corals. Another perfect place to get your corals. It is not cheap though. But they are healthy.
Equipment = some selection. I did not get any equipment there.
I recommend this store. If you are crazy about saltwater aquariums … this store is a MUST visit.

In the years that I was a reef aquarist, I went to AG many times. The service is good and Dr. Le (the owner) will always take the time to talk to you about your tank.
I’ve gone there since the store opened, so I have seen a (good) evolution in their selection of corals and fish. Among the things I have bought there: shrimp, anthias, zoanthids, SPS, and ricordea. You can even make special requests and Dr. Le will keep an eye out for you. Important thing is that the stock is healthy and Dr. Le will work with you to make sure that you remain a satisfied customer. Prices are reasonable for the hobby. The only downside is that the store is a bit cramped.