The Fish Gallery

This review is regarding the Fish Gallery Aquarium and Design service. TLDR: Serious issues with design, execution, and quality of a very expensive aquarium. Horrible communication and customer service. I made a huge mistake choosing to work with the Fish Gallery and I recommend you avoid them. PROBLEMS: 1. (I should have seen the early signs and backed out of this deal). I asked Dean multiple times for the dimensions of the cabinetry internal space and door openings so I could arrange for a sump that I wanted to fit my needs. He basically refused to provide me this information even with multiple requests. It seems that he wanted to sell me his sump, which ended up being a 30-gallon Aqueon aquarium with a cheap plastic drop in piece that holds very little media. This DIY looking “sump” cost me $445, is grossly inadequate for a 195-gallon aquarium, and is not something one expects to see on a $10K + aquarium. 2. Delivery Day. The very first thing I noticed was that the stain on the cabinetry was very wrong! I am at fault for accepting the delivery and not returning it immediately, I admit that. Initially I thought it was my fault, since this aquarium order/purchase took place over many months and I was in the process of renovating and then moving into a new house, I thought maybe I wasn’t clear about what I wanted. After reviewing all of my communications with Dean and the Fish Gallery, I found the email where I told him exactly what stain to use including the brand, the stain name/color, and a picture sample of the color. The stain I requested is not anywhere close to what I received. 3. Leak!!! Within a few weeks, the aquarium developed a leak in the plumbing!! I called in to their customer service people a few times with no answer. Finally, I left a message informing them of the situation. You wonder what they did for this situation, well, they did nothing. No answer, no call back. I had buckets and towels under the leak for a week. A leak on a 195-gallon aquarium is a pretty big deal, they did nothing, no response at all. I ended up repairing the leak myself. 4. Quality. The 72” long aquarium came with 3 custom fit lids, left, right, and middle. The problem is, the lids they provided are made of plastic and they bow such that the middle is sagging low, and the corners are all raised up, some of them almost 1”. They barely cover the area they are supposed to, and often fall into the water. One of the main functions

Roger, the owner took the time to call me and apologize for the service I received and let me know that the one person that was the basis of my prior review was no longer with the company. Hated to see that but in a customer service business, if your not taking care of the customer and trying to resolve issues, your in the wrong place. The fact that he took the time to do that and was very honest and open has made me decide to update my original review. I respect that out of an owner and this shows how much he cares about his business!

I purchased my dream aquarium at the Fish Gallery in Houston ( Would NEVER do Business with them AGAIN!) at the end of December 2023. It was almost a 300-gallon tank and custom stand. They told me at the time of purchase that they would be building everything in house, custom. Was told it was being custom built by them and would take 4 to 6 weeks. Even brought in a door from my desk and handles to match the stand to my office furniture. Paid in full for it and waited. After 6 weeks, I began to call them. They had no updates for me. Finally on March 15th they sent me pictures of the stand and said it was ready. Drove over 45 minutes to see it and when I got here, they told me it was not in as of yet. Drove back on the 16th and once I arrived, was told that the manager was the only one who could help me and show me my tank. He was going to be gone for the next hour. Texted the regional manager Kendall and they got a hold of the store manager and had him come back early so I could see my tank and stand. The stand looked great, but the tank was the wrong overflow box (it was internal and not external) They told me that they could fix that by the next day. I arranged for my person to go pick it up and they called in the late afternoon to say they had to get me a new tank. I was paying my person for all the time he was waiting and the trips to their store for empty promises. It will be on Tuesday, the next day. No tank Tuesday. Given some excuse about it taking longer and needing more dry time. No tank then on Wednesday, said their delivery truck broke down. They said they were getting a delivery service to bring it from their other store on Thursday. Finally on Saturday my aquarium guy was able to pick it up. Cost me almost $500 dollars for the trips and time my guy had to put into all of their missed promises. He did pick up the tank and brought it to the house and it was then that we noticed that the tank had scratches in the glass both inside and outside of the tank. They also sent the incorrect overflow box. It was way too large. It took almost two weeks to be put in touch with the person who was going to get it fixed. They finally agreed to get me a new tank after I found out that they did not custom make this tank at Fish Gallery but purchased it from DFW Aquarium Supply in Dallas TX. The aquarium glass cover still had their sticker on the boxes. On their website I was able to see that I needed the 18” overflow and they sent me the 20”. I had to walk them through that so they would order me the new one. They finally got my replacement tank in on April 18th and they delivered it on Wednesday April 24th almost 17 weeks and not the 4 to 6 as promised. Asked the name of the person who built the stand. He did an amazing job and I wanted to know the brand and color of the stain they used on the stand. I want to have some bookshelves made and match them or ask if they are interested in building them. They have never provided that.

Do NOT buy a tank and set up services from this place! The crew they sent over made a mess, dripped saltwater on our laminate floors damaging the finish, did not bring any equipment required for the transition of the old tank to the new tank although we were told they would provide everything needed, I.e. vats, aerators, etc. Thankfully we had enough buckets to accommodate the transfer process. The so called experienced technicians could not explain the equipment to us or how to use it. They took all the spare parts for the cabinet so the inside looks unfinished. When I visited the store to discuss this with the store manager, he was gone. In talking to their Live Stock manager he referred us to the company headquarters In Houston where all the service is handled. I finally spoke with their operations manager who said, "we will get back to you". Terrible installation service, terrible customer service. Avoid this place!

My entire experience with the Fish Gallery was fantastic. Every step of the design process up to the delivery and installation of my tank was an absolute pleasure! I truly could not be happier with the quality of service and aquarium they designed for me. The fish gallery built the entire aquarium for me including the stand, tank and the beautiful cabinetry. My pets sharks will love their new home!

Extremely happy. Roger is a very good businessman. Very impressed with the service and would highly recommend. Was very impressed!!

We at Mid-West Electric cannot thank Fish Gallery enough for what an awesome job they did on our new fish tank. We have been using Fish Gallery for over 25 years now and could not be more pleased with their friendliness and great customer service they provide. This is our second tank to get from them and it is absolutely beautiful in our lobby at our business. So many compliments in just one day since the tank has been installed. Thank you to Roger, Jaime, and Simon for taking care of us and providing this beautiful tank. Fish Gallery is the place to go if you want a gorgeous tank and great customer service, thank you again!

Fantastic experience. The Fish Gallery helped throughout the entire process. They supported me from concept and engineering to completion of my 300 gallon reef aquarium.