Westside Aquarium & Pets

Fantastic experience: My go to fish store. The owner is kind and knowledgeable

Fantastic experience: Such a great fish store! The owner, Paul, is always ready to help whether you're a beginner or a pro! Great selection of many fish...much more than a typical pet store. We have only gotten healthy fish from Westside!

Fantastic experience: Highly recommend. We are setting up a new tank for our son as his 5th birthday present. We were having all kinds of issues keeping fish alive many died within hours. Paul’s been extremely helpful testing water supplying different chemicals and really trying to get to the bottom of the issue. You could tell he really cared to get it corrected. Paul isolated that live plants we purchased from another store had been sprayed with something causing the fish to die we removed the plants as directed and the fish are now thriving.

Negative experience: Prices high as hell and the aquariums are dirty an cloudy as hell

Fantastic experience: Go here the owner is amazing the product is amazing. This place is one of a kind it’s a gem if you are into the aquarium hobby.

Negative experience: They advertise Saltwater fish online, don't be fooled! They had about 5 ft of tanks for saltwater fish with 3 clown fish, a starfish, and 1 branch coral. Complete waste of a drive. Would have had better luck at Walmart.

Fantastic experience: Paul is great! We were looking for blue/green shrimp and he got them in the next day! He even held a few for us before they sold out! Great prices, healthy livestock!!!

Fantastic experience: This is the most awesome fish store in town. Paul Martin has an amazing collection of fish, reasonable priced and extremely knowledgeable.

Fantastic experience: Best prices and great knowledge of all fish. Also gladly order fish that you want.

Fantastic experience: Really cool store, with great fish options! Prices are great we bought 5 guppy fishes, will definitely keep going back.

Fantastic experience: Good prices, friendly service and my fish are thriving. Paul was friendly, knowledgeable and he wasn't a pushy salesman. In fact I wanted a beautiful yellow fish and he asked me to wait because I had purchased two angel fish and a couple others and he adviced me to let them acclimate before introducing this new one to the tank to make sure they all do well together. He could have sold it along with the others and made more money, but he cared about my aquarium and the fish doing well more than anything else. I will go back for my other fish and continue to shop here.

Fantastic experience: My husband and I have 9 fish tanks ranging from 2.5-75 gallons. It has become an addicting hobby. Paul always has a huge variety of fish ranging in sizes. We go to him for any advice and has always been willing to give it without making us feel like were a bother. We just started a discus tank and we had tons of questions and wanted to buy our discus from him. He asked what color variations we were looking for and found them for us. He's amazing and we will continue to support his business!

Fantastic experience: This is one of the best aquarium stores around. The owner is a great guy. Very passionate about fish, and super happy to help as well. The prices are much better than any other stores around!

Fantastic experience: This is a wonderful local aquarium fish and supply store. Paul was very helpful and he had a nice friend in the store who answered a lot of my questions as well. Went home with a female betta, 6 neon tetras and some red root floaters. All are thriving!

Fantastic experience: Best fish store in the area. Highly recommended!!!

Fantastic experience: Paul is the best. Always has a great selection of fish and accessories. Very fair pricing and cares about satisfaction for his customers. You rock Paul. Best shop in town

Fantastic experience: Hello… where are you store location now? I am one of you client Oranda Goldfish only… let me know… thanks

Fantastic experience: Paul has priceless experience from over 50 years and many generations of fish keeping... ive been coming here over 15 years. Call ahead and check to see what he has

Fantastic experience: Great prices, very knowledgeable and honest owner

Fantastic experience: Paul is the best!! Best prices in town and has the best selections.

Fantastic experience: Super helpful there. Staff knowledgeable and helpful!! So happy its here. They helped me setup my aquarium filter correctly for my betta tank at affordable cost. Very good prices. Thank you

Fantastic experience: Nice plants for fresh water and they have a saltwater set up for sale fish they're expecting for this Friday or Tuesday next week right now they have low inventory

Fantastic experience: great shop, great prices, great owner and good prices! Im 30 minute trip away but this is a top place for me now. Stocks a lot of unique fish you dont see too much which i enjoy.

Positive experience: Extensive supply of exotic fish both fresh and salt water as well as marine crustaceans and invertebrates combined with great information coming from decades of experience. UPDATE: Recently relocated not far from the Dale Mabry location to Manhattan Ave. He started from scratch at the new location and the place looks very good.

Fantastic experience: Great little shop and the owner has been around for years. Paul can help with anything and he's a phenomenal pond builder. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: Paul is so helpful, he will recommend the correct type of plants and fish for ypur aquarium. Great variety and service.

Fantastic experience: The best and most knowledgeable aquarium fish store around, with the best quality fish. Hands down. It’s not real clean, doesn’t smell great, but I don’t go there to lounge, I get great healthy fish at competitive prices. Go to the other guys for over-priced sick fish in a pretty store… come here for good deals on good fish.

Fantastic experience: The owner is highly knowledgeable and helpful. It is evident that he cares for the health and welfare of his fish & aquatic animals. Like many others, I also commute about 45 minutes for my aquarium needs. My guppies are beautiful and provide me great joy. Thank you, Paul!

Fantastic experience: Not like your neighborhood pet mart. This place is packed with amazing fishes and Paul the owner is encyclopedic. Don't be put off by the self service option or the fact that the place is a bit dirty. This store is my favorite fish shop in Tampa!

Fantastic experience: S Tampa fixture for 45 years that I know of. If your a Seinfield fan, you might think the sell soup... But knowlegable sorce of freshwater Aquarium items, so saltwater, and pond building.

Fantastic experience: Paul is incredibly knowledgeable and kind. If you’re looking for anything regarding your aquarium, this should be your first stop.

Fantastic experience: The owner has always been very pleasant very knowledgeable of all the fish overall I would recommend going to the fish store

Fantastic experience: Paul has a super selection in his store and if he doesn't have what you want can get it

Fantastic experience: Very polite and helpful loved seeing all the Betta's were in a nice big tank and not in a small individual cup stuck in a corner. They were happy and healthy. Great place has everything you need.

Fantastic experience: Great selection of fish and plants. If you need advice this is the place to go, just talk to Paul.

Fantastic experience: Paul is great to deal with and very knowledgeable. We bought 6 beautiful angelfish recently and some great African peacock cichlid along with some beautiful Severums in the past. We drive over an hour to get there but well worth it. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: The gentleman that owns this place is so friendly. He sat there for 30 minutes. Talk to me, answered about 1000 questions. So appreciative the time he spent with me. Definitely will be coming back there. Thank you.

Fantastic experience: I meet Paul years ago at his aquarium store and never regretted, his very helpful on anything concerned at marine or freshwater life and also you can do special orders thru him and very honest and modest man.

Fantastic experience: Best fish store around withe awesome sized fish!! We go here often and we live in lakeland! So worth the drive!

Fantastic experience: Best place to buy fish and any aquarium needs. Paul is extremely knowledgeable and nice. Will guide you if you are paring wrong fish together. Would rate higher if I could.

Fantastic experience: Paul soooo nice and very knowledge about fish.

Fantastic experience: Great fish store! Very knowledgeable and always willing to help out with advice

Fantastic experience: The absolute best service, knowledge and selection! A great small business and I will gladly drive 45 minutes out of my way to get there.

Fantastic experience: Stopped in today, great to meet Paul and the fish are incredible!

Fantastic experience: A South Tampa staple. A family business with over 50 years of serving people. Superior selection of fish and supplies. Extremely knowledgeable. Paul is a Guru that could teach Aquaman a thing or two. I highly recommend going here if you want to do things the right way.

Fantastic experience: Always a great experience with Paul. He has so much knowledge and is so willing to help it’s unreal. I was really impressed with the amount of live plants in his tanks. All the fish I’ve gotten from him have done great. It’s a small store but a wealth of information. His prices are also arguably the best in the area, super reasonable.

Fantastic experience: I recently got into the hobby and as I have been establishing my two tanks I keep finding myself here rather than the 5 other places I have tried. I will be shopping at Westside exclusively now. No, the shop is not fancy. However, he has the healthiest fish in town at extremely reasonable pricing. Driftwood and rocks are also competitively priced. I saw someone groan about customer service. It's a one man show, he does it all, and if you ask a question the owner will spend lots of time explaining and brainstorming ideas and offering years of knowledge.

Fantastic experience: I just moved to Florida and found this place online. I couldn't be happier with the service I received here. Talked with Paul and he was super helpful and nice. Grate prices on the fish and everything. I will definitely be coming here from now on. Thanks Paul glad to know there is a old school mom and pop shop down here. I won't be going anywhere else for my aquarium needs.

Fantastic experience: Great selection. Great knowledge. Great prices. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Always helpful and very knowledgeable on fish. Highly recommend getting fidh here

Positive experience: It's refreshing that there's still a few privately owned aquarium stores in Tampa :-) this is 1 of them! It's a great little shoppe!!

Fantastic experience: Great selection of fish, both fresh and salt. Owner highly knowledgeable.

Fantastic experience: This is a small business run by a hard working and honest man. The owner is very knowledgeable and reasonable. Bought a few kois and goldfish here. They are all healthy with a reasonable price. Love to support local small business, especially when it’s tough for small businesses to survive nowadays.

Fantastic experience: Paul is amazing ! I read the few negative reviews. Seems fraudulent that the negative reviews came all at one time, from people in Australia, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and California. There are larger, fancier stores. That said , are you more interested in healthy fish from a lifetime expert who is more interested in you…or looking to spend big bucks from an inexperienced retailer also selling dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, and reptiles in a fancy plaza. Personally, I care about MY OWN tank and MY OWN fish. If your goal is to have your own great tank and great prices with free advice, go here. If you care about what you want, this is the PLACE. He is Focused on YOU !

Fantastic experience: Honestly I can’t recommend this place enough. Good selection of fish. The owner is very nice and actually cares about the health/ quality of what they have in stock. Answered all of my questions and they have a good selection of driftwood and other natural tank decorations! Also compared to other stores in the area their prices are great.

Fantastic experience: Paul has great knowledge of the hobby. He humored as many questions as i had specific to my tank and community. He pointed out where i might have some problems with different spiecies of both fish and plants as well as what paremeters each species thrives in. He also told me the best products & practices to use to maintain said parameters. Went on to give me a deal on the fish i purchased and some free food to top it off. He also took my number and a list of the fish i was looking for so he could check with his suppliers to see if he could help me out with the whole order. All of these 1 star reviews coming in withing hours of eachother seem fishy to me. Pun very much so intended. Been 2 weeks and all the fish i purchased are alive and well. Will be back to stock the rest of my tank.

Fantastic experience: Paul is very knowledgeable and kind. The fishes are more exotic in color and size , yet the prices are the best I’ve seen. Same goes for the aquarium plants.I’m happy to know that the store is still around, but moved from the location I grew up with on Manhattan years ago.

Fantastic experience: Super helpful and friendly! Great prices! I am new to the hobby and they were very gracious with their advice. They gave me a coral magazine to take home and told me about ReefCon next April in Orlando. I really liked them and will definitely be back!

Fantastic experience: Love this place. The owner is great and very helpful. Bought all of my fish and plants and basically everything from here. He has everything 9/10. If not. They’ll be coming in the following week! Great customer service!

Fantastic experience: Best place in tampa for aquarium fish Paul really knows his stuff

Fantastic experience: Westside Aquarium has some of the healthiest-looking freshwater fish I've seen in the Tampa area. The tanks are individually filtered & oxygenated and larger than you find at chain stores. Paul is a self-proclaimed old school fishkeeper with access to a wide variety of captive-bred and imported species. He's very knowledgeable and helpful.

Fantastic experience: I've been to 50 aquarium stores this year and this place is by far the best. a little small but man they have a huge selection compared to any other store I've been to and the cheapest prices and highest quality fish AA

Fantastic experience: Great place, excellent variety of fresh and saltwater fish, and shrimps also plants. Owner is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Fantastic experience: Updating my review to provide more comments by actual versus posturing customer. The fish at Westside are anything but abused. The owner, Paul, has his own fish farm, and takes wonderful care of those in it. The saltwater and more exotic freshwater come shipped in most careful freight...that he unloads delicately. He also meticulously picks out each group of fish in a shipment before bringing them to the store (to ensure they are healthy). The store is not immaculate, but it's also run by one person. Still, Paul hand feeds and monitors every tank of the nearly a hundred in the store, and is likewise aware of literally every fish in his inventory. None of the fish are 'forgotten' or what-not. He does regular rounds to remove any fish that pass. There are literally multi-thousand dollar fish in the tanks(!). Paul is one of the most considerate and kind people I've ever met. He maintains a hospice/sick tank for customers like myself to allow fish to heal/recover in dignity...which he's often treated with no expectation of compensation. He provides medication - often for free - to customers with sick fish. He donates oodles of equipment to schools. He helps older people - via house calls on evenings - take care of their tanks. He even allowed me to store my tank/fish - again for no expected cost - during termite tenting. Paul gives my son food to feed the in store koi fish pond. His prices are less than half of competitors. He is willing to trade in fish that outgrow a tank or just aren't fitting in. He will custom order high end items and sell them 1/3 less than Amazon. All these fake 1 star reviews are ridiculous. This store is almost always packed, and real hobbyists/locals go here versus chains. This is not a requested or otherwise response to the fake reviews, rather the actual truth about a small business so many of us in S Tampa love.

Fantastic experience: Paul is a good guy. He is helpful and will spend what ever time it takes to help. His prices are very good compared to other shops. Just like the way he conducts business. I have read all the reviews about what a bad and dirty etc. place it is. It's a fish store and I can afford to go and buy anywhere, I choose Westside. Nuff said!

Negative experience: You should see the video yourself... I bet the next day you cleaned the store like crazy I guess a little negative reviews can do a lot huh? Or is the store still as filthy as it was?

Negative experience: The fish tanks have roaches in them, and the water is horrid. Never buy from a pet store that feels no responsibility towards their animals.

Fantastic experience: Weird that a ton of negative reviews came in over the last 2 weeks. Sounds like a little snowflake wasn’t happy and asked their friends to write bad reviews. From someone who actually goes there on a weekly basis, the selection and health of the fish is top quality. Anyone who is in the hobby would know that aquarium stores are purposely dark. If you want a wide selection at the best prices in tampa, you go to Westside. If you want a big box store with high markup, go for it if you feel safe there.

Negative experience: Kinda sad that the owner spends majority of his time reading google reviews, when they could be spending that time properly cleaning + cycling the fish tanks and removing the roaches. Absolutely disgusting place.

Negative experience: Walmart is better and they don’t even have fish anymore.

Negative experience: Place needs to be shut down poor fishes that have to live in theses dirty not cared for tanks not to mention the smell and spider webs accumulateding on the tanks this place needs to be shut down.

Positive experience: Nice place. Better and healthier fish selection than most shops in the area, but they could stand to move into a larger retail facility.

Negative experience: Place looks awful for any fishes to live in, bug infested, dirty tanks, and not to mention how horrible the atmosphere is in general. I also see the business replying with selfish and childish responses, get this place shut down now

Negative experience: disgusting nasty place that deserves to be shut down. Before you talk about “cancel culture” because you can’t come up with one good reason your store looks like TRASH, Think about why you need to be canceled. You’re an awful human who treats animals like garbage. Look at their living conditions. If i could post the photos i would.

Negative experience: Worst place to buy a fish or anything from. The store smells so bad and there are bugs in the fish tanks and cob webs on the top and they just have rats just running around

Negative experience: If i could put zero stars i would! This store should be shutdown the tanks are so dirty I cant even! They obviously do not care for their fish! its digusting! TAKE CARE OF YOUR FISH OR SHUTDOWN!

Negative experience: The conditions these poor fishes are living in are horrible. The water isn’t clean and there are dead roaches. It’s disgusting

Negative experience: Disgusting place where the fish are not properly taken care of , swimming in dirty water, swimming with roaches, putrid smell of dead fish. This place needs to be shut down if they’re going to neglect the animals they advertise !

Negative experience: this place is nasty. one tank so dirty you could just see the glimmer of fish. do not support this business you’d literally be better off supporting petco than here and that’s saying something

Negative experience: There's tons of proof and other reviews saying that this place neglects their fish. It's so sad to see the fish living in these horrible conditions.

Negative experience: This place needs to be closed. There’s no way they can even make money when their fish are dying of disease and their own filth.

Negative experience: The fish are in horrendous living conditions, with unclean tanks and pests in every nook and cranny of the place.

Negative experience: Dirtiest and nastiest tanks ever. This makes me feel that the fish are living in the hood with no hopes of getting out.

Fantastic experience: Very knowledgeable attendee, but he's probably the owner.

Negative experience: This place is just sad.. smell like dead fish.. water all over the floor.. saltwater no selection at all .. but they have alot of rock and por fish can swim.. I was there for 2 min got sick

Negative experience: I have given this store a 2 star review because i was told that he can delete one star reviews and I know that he has. This was one of the most horrific experiences I have had while shopping for fish. The tanks were dirty and there were dead fish in a lot of tanks but the worst thing was the total disregard for the health and safety of the fish by the owner. There were 3 axolotls put in a crowded tank with fish that they should not have been with. In the short time I was in the store, the 3 axolotls were killed. They were eaten by the other fish and the owner did nothing to save them. Completely shameful!

Negative experience: the fish are terribly taken care of, 3 axolotel were fed to goldfish within the 5 minutes i was in the shop. most of the tanks had dead fish and or fish rot taking over and the tanks were all filthy. they shouldn't be allowed to own or sell pets.

Fantastic experience: Paul is fantastic, he listens to you needs and will not sell you something you don't need jus to make a sale. His prices are more than fair, Westside Pets has been around a very long time. He has customers that have been with him for years. That alone should tell you that it's a solid business.

Fantastic experience: Paul is the man Great service, Fair pricing and lots of fish....

Positive experience: The tanks were not that clean. They had to many fish in one tank. Had a weird smell in the store. But the manager knows his stuff

Fantastic experience: Genuine, no nonsense and super knowledgeable. Add super helpful and honest to that list too. I'm so lucky to have found Westside Aquariums. I could not have set up my aquarium without your help. Thank you Paul!!

Negative experience: Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll have to edit my original review due to the way mask-wearing is handled in this shop. Not mandating masks during a global pandemic is unacceptable. I hope that the owner changes this to protect the safety of his customers, but I don’t have high hopes. I’d be willing to bet money that I’ll get a snarky comment from him on this review though!

Negative experience: Wasn't bad . The guy didnt act like he wanted to be there though. No prices have to ask for prices.

Fantastic experience: Enchanting mystery in every corner, invites you to search every nook with your eyes, knowing that you're going to find what nobody has and you have looking for a long time.

Fantastic experience: I moved here from Miami and let me just say PAUL is the best in the business this guy is extremely knowledgeable and he knows what he is talking about. He help me and guided me through my first tank and now I'm on my second tank. If you want a flashy store with a bunch of idiots then go for it but I know everything I put in my tank is from this place. I've gone to flashy stores and when I mention Paul they praise him like the fish GURU. He has my business for many years to come . Thank you

Fantastic experience: We love this place!! The owner is super knowledgeable!! Lots of fish options!

Positive experience: Prices are good for the area, especially for the size of the fish. The few fish i looked at seemed very healthy and disease free. The store is a super old fish store without a lot of flash or upgrades. A lot of negative things to say from looking at the condition of some of the tanks, specifically the saltwater and lack of stocking. However, after a brief conversation with the owner all my former apprehensions were gone. Owner knows what he's talking about and has been in the business a long time. The stock is limited because he orders fast moving fish or only the requested fish for the week. So be sure to ask for what you want and he said it would be there within a week. I was only looking, but I will give a detailed assessment of the livestock once I start purchasing.

Negative experience: I couldn’t bare the smell of the shop and there was a loud ringing noise and if that wasn’t bad enough most the fish were covered in ick and fin rot. I hope he can pickup and gain back my business.

Fantastic experience: Great variety of cichlids and wealth of knowledge from owner. Recommend for any avid fish keeper

Fantastic experience: Love the place, everything is responsibly proceed sms the man behind the counter is also knowledgeable and very helpful and sweet definately a fave for me