Living Sea Aquarium

 

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Dorian S.

Winnetka, IL

Easily the foremost in fresh/saltwater aquarium stores in the Chicagoland area. The store and their aquarium exhibits are simply stunning and their livestock always look healthy. All of their employees are amicable and educated about what they sell. There is a bit of wating time, but who cares; their reef tanks can keep me occupied for hours on end. Anyone who keeps aquariums should definitely check out Living Sea Aquarium.

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Travis G.

Chicago, IL

What more can I say about this place?  It's a wonder to walk through, and especially fun to watch/help feed the stingrays and sharks.  They have a great selection of fish, always something here that I've never seen before.   Good place to find things like Endler's livebearers, or that crazy puffer you've been searching for.  A little pricey, but the selection and overall wonder of the place truly makes up for it.

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G. F.

Chicago, IL

I love this store, they have shark, puffer and stingray ponds for your veiwing pleasure.
Really nice staff, very well educated and not pushy like some places. Always willing to answer questions, no matter how many one may have.
They have healthy fish and  lots of live foods to choose from. I like their selection; wide range of tetras and barbs and they seem to have something new/different every time I go there
Weekends can be crazy cause of the feeding displays with kids and parents everywhere.

I can't give them five stars cause they do that injection to fish to display names. not cool, but other than that its my second favorite fish store.

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6

Tim B.

Chicago, IL

What a beautiful store! As others have said, it is expensive compared to other fish stores-- but the quality is unmistakeable.  I made my first trip here yesterday and thought the fish were remarkably healthy-looking and happy-looking. And it seemed as if almost every fish was an especially lovely example of its species. Their collection of salt-water fish is eye-popping and their coral tanks are beautiful. They also have a great collection of freshwater fish, with some of the prettiest gouramis I've ever seen. Their discus fish were also looking fancy and delightful. And store has some wonderful mascots: a massive, friendly-looking puffer with a droll expression; a circling shark; and stingrays that swim right up to you and bob their noses out of the water.

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Tom S.

Naperville, IL

Impressive selection, healthy fish and very helpful and knowledgeable staff.  I am new to the hobby and Justin, Mark and all the staff were extremely helpful.  I purchased a 70 gallon Oceanic tank for less $$$ than an AGA 65 gal. at Scott's.  The fish look healthier than other stores I've been to.  Their display tanks and ponds are awesome!

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Nancy K.

Chicago, IL

This is equivalent to, or dare I say -- better than the Shedd (sans the oceanarium).  Truly wonderful.  This is the best place of it's kind that we have had the pleasure of visiting.  Salt and fresh water fish -- the most amazing we have ever seen.  The colors on these fish are some of the most beautiful we have ever seen in our lives!  They have a couple of ponds and one has an amazing puffer fish with huge eyes and s/he follows you around with those beautiful eyes -- so cute, acting like a pet.  Now of course I can't eat fish for a while ; )

If  you're in the area, stop in and enjoy this place.

M-T 12-8
F 12-9
S 12-6
S 12-4

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Patty V.

Franklin Park, IL

They do have a massive selection of saltwater fish and coral.However, they are very expensive and have had a turnover in staff that may not have been for the better.It is cool to see the rays and the sharks being fed. If you are looking for something unique and don't mind paying big bucks,then by all means,shop here.Keep in mind,if you frequent a place and are a good customer, just about any pet/fish center will go out of the way to find what you are looking for!I am not saying that this place is bad,but for a serious saltwater set-up,it will cost you a fortune to do so here. A great place to go look and get pricing,several other places nearby will be more reasonable.

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Elite '08

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Jacob J.

Chicago, IL

This place is of an upper echelon of Chicago aquarium stores.  It's massive just in its distinction to other aquariums stores.  They've got a lot, of fish, freshwater, salt and brackish.  

I believe it's the weekends when they do the feedings of the shark and sting-ray.  Read other reviews for that info.

They've got a small selection of aquarium decor for aquariums as well as different kinds of stuff for people with ponds. All kinds of feed, live, frozen or dried.  Frozen selections are very nice, though expensive in comparison to chain pet stores.  I will say that their frozen foods were loved by my fish, more than what I usually got at chain pet stores.

Stuff is expensive, fish, decor, feed, even basic things, feeder guppies or fighting fish.  At times I've felt like the help is too stuck up.  Some really know their product, others, just know enough.  
If you aren't too strict / hardcore about your aquarium, please beware when making "live" purchases.  These people are strict about returns.  If you return stating that the fish died for some reason, etc, Living Sea will want a sample of your aquariums water.  They'll test it and see if your aquarium was a bad environment first.  Makes sense, they keep theirs well maintained.  
Did I mention they can test your water for you?  Yes, look above.  Previously they'd test it for free and give you tips on how to keep the water clean, pure, or maintain a sufficient Ph level for your fish.  

Check them out.  Newbies? want to learn about aquariums? also if you want to know how to do it the right way from the beginning, check them out.
If you have a lot of money to blow on really cool aquariums, ask about their personal service.

They do have sales sometimes, get on the list for their newsletters.
If you are a connoisseur of fish, check them out, you will find some fish you haven't seen before and may find a new pet.
I was drawn here specifically for fan tail guppies (exotic colored kind) and blood (red) Parrot Cichlids which whether they were babies or med size, were very expen$ive.

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Elite '08

23

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Benjamin B.

Chicago, IL

Not bad at all, this place! The staff is fairly friendly and the livestock is plentiful... although I do find that the livestock's health isn't the best. It isn't really the worst either though... not like they're diseased... but the livestock just doesn't seem to have a lot of constitution. The prices are quite good here though, so you can afford to make a gamble on their somewhat "iffy" livestock.

They have a decent selection of hardware, accessories, foods, supplies, etc. There is one fella who works there who is extremely helpful... but I always forget his name... younger guy, usually wears metal shirts. Plus he has never looked twice at me while swiggin' my flask o'bourbon.

Check this place out, it is a bit far out there for my Logan Square arse... but still worth checking out.

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Elite '08

6

400

Emily C.

Naperville, IL

Make sure you call and find out when the sharks are being fed.  I know there are better and cheaper places to buy fish, and I don't mean chain stores, but you should check this place out at least once.

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Robert L.

Chicago, IL

This is one of the best and coolest stores to buy tropical fish or freshwater fish. It's like a museum in here. Many people come in just to look . There is alot of sea turtles and other pets and supplies as well. They have every kind of fish from goldfish to small sharks. They also have giant stingrays on display. I don't think you can buy these however. It's worth the trip here.

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Patricia B.

Chicago, IL

I first heard about this store when they were featured on WTTW.  It's more like a mini museum, aquarium and pet store rolled into  one.  They have some exotic fish and other sea creatures and all you need to keep them healthy and happy.  A great addition to any home. Fish make great pets - no walking during bad weather, no mess on your carpets and you can yell at 'em and not hear any sassy barking back at you!

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Emilee H.

Chicago, IL

If you want service this is not the place to go. It you want entertained, have beautiful things to look a and a decent selection of fish at a high price then this is your store. Prices seem to average $1-2 dollars higher than petstores such as petco, petsmart and the like. I bought 4 plants: 3 moss balls and 1 java fern each at $7.99 and a rock and walked out the door paying $43.  This purchase took me 1 hr 15 mins.  Because I could not get anwyone to help me and they were NOT crazy busy either.  The employes in the salt water room though not helping anyone would not help out in the fresh water room and vise versa. My 5 year old loves seeing the shark, the puffer fish is awesome and worth the trip just to see s/he great you. All in all a decent store that is IF you can find someone to help you and then agian find someone to ring you up.  Also if you are fish friendly and really love fish you will find that they are more into the sale then the fish. They did not have any beta fish because they sold them all to someone for a wedding. The person getting married put them on the tables as decorations.  Yet everywhere they have signs in the store that states they will not sell more than one male beta per person. This is because people will put them in the same bowl and watch them fight. I am sure a bunch of drunks at a wedding would do this.  A reputible fish store would not sell betas for this purpose. With that said study up on your purchases before you go there. Because they are more interested in the sale of the fish. Not giving you the right fish for your tank size and load.  For the bad service and the beta issue I take away 2 stars and rate it 3 stars.

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