About
Violet Aquarium LLC is a saltwater-focused aquarium store in San Jose, CA, built around a large showroom where rows of tanks hold some of the rarest marine livestock in the South Bay. Walk in and the appeal is immediate: reef corals, anemones, and hard-to-find saltwater fish that hobbyists say they couldn't track down anywhere else. Customers like Aaron describe finding fish here that simply weren't available at other shops, and that reputation for unusual stock keeps serious reefers coming back.
The marine fish selection runs deep. Shoppers have brought home blue angels, Moorish idols, copperband butterflies, goldenback triggerfish, wrasses, foxface, tangs, and a range of gobies, from firefish to panda and citron gobies. If you're hunting a standout centerpiece angelfish for sale in San Jose, CA, this is the kind of store that tends to have one swimming in the back tanks.
Invertebrates round out the livestock, including cleaner shrimp and an anemone selection that spans bubble tip, long tip, and carpet varieties. Corals are a genuine specialty. Customers regularly report pieces, daisy coral among them, that open up and look healthy within minutes of being placed in their display tanks.
Alongside the livestock, the shop carries aquarium tanks and the everyday necessities a reef build needs. Saltwater is the heart of the store, but freshwater keepers will find options here as well. Staff names come up often in the best visits.
Antonio is repeatedly singled out as a knowledgeable, helpful presence on the floor, and owner Dan is mentioned by customers who value the hands-on, hobby-first conversations about acclimation and tank care. Steve, decades into the hobby, called the team incredibly responsive to his questions. This is a store for the committed saltwater keeper.
If you want rare reef fish, corals, and anemones available in San Jose, CA, and you enjoy talking shop with people who live and breathe marine aquariums, Violet Aquarium is worth a walk-through. Bring your stocking list and plan to ask plenty of questions.
What they offer
Fish & livestock for sale at Violet Aquarium LLC in San Jose, CA
Violet Aquarium LLC stocks corals, reef fish, anemones, rare and hard-to-find species, invertebrates, shrimp, angelfish, tangs and freshwater & saltwater fish for sale in San Jose, CA. As an aquarium store serving San Jose, CA, it also carries aquarium equipment and offers aquarium consultations.
- Livestock & products
- Services
- Specializes in
Highlights
What makes them special
- Saltwater-focused San Jose showroom stocked with rare, hard-to-find marine fish
- Deep coral selection, with pieces customers say open within minutes of going in the tank
- Anemone variety including bubble tip, long tip, and carpet anemones
- Marine fish like blue angels, Moorish idols, copperband butterflies, triggerfish, and tangs
- Staff Antonio and owner Dan known for hands-on, hobby-first guidance
From keepers
Customer reviews
“UPDATE: I knew it wouldn’t take long…got a nasty e-mail message from the owner in less than 2 hours. This guy is a SERIOUS psychological lunatic!! (SEE 2nd screenshot ATTACHED). ***A FEW DAYS LATER, the owner started messaging me AGAIN with PERSONAL ATTACKS and INSULTS that weren’t even relevant to this review. (SEE SCREENSHOTS)*** ————————————— This place raises red flags to me big time. I will say I have purchased fish from these guys before… I’ve had some good experiences and some not so good experiences. I am in the market for a copperband butterfly, So I called the store to ask if the ones they had in stock were eating, and the guy said “oh yeah they’re eating pellets”. I asked if they would be willing to send me a video of them eating, and he said “sure send us an email and we can do it”. so I sent the email and I get the response back today that is in the picture. Here’s my thing… I would never buy a fish (Especially a copperband butterfly) that was not readily taking prepared foods before leaving the LFS— and most reputable people in the hobby would agree with me. The response I got from these guys makes me wonder if they’re even feeding these fish anything while they’re there or are they just getting them in and selling them so fast that they hope it becomes the customer’s problem once it’s sold. One of the two people I talked to is lying… Either the fish are or they aren’t eating, but they need to get their story straight of which it is. Nothing sends up red flags quicker than people lying to me. ****And while I was here on Google, I happened to read through a lot of the other reviews, most notably, the responses from the owner on the negative reviews. Just reading those responses should tell anyone all they need to know about this place and how it operates. ***** And no need for the owner to come back with his usual defensive comments in response to this review. I know you’re gonna tell me you “don’t wanna do business with me anymore in the future” and that you’re “better off without me as a customer”, yada yada yada. The same ‘defensive’ and hateful rhetoric I’ve seen you post in response to everyone who has a negative review for you. Quite frankly, I’ve made the decision on my own that I’ll never be back to do business with you again—I don’t need you to officially “kick me out” of your customer base—but I know that makes you feel like a ‘tough guy’. Go ahead and be a ‘tough guy’ with no customers, because that’s where you’re headed with that attitude! In fact, if you keep that same hateful attitude towards any constructive criticism, you probably won’t be in business for long! You guys need a good lesson in team management, communication, and customer service! I’ll take my business elsewhere, like Marine Collectors, where I know I’m getting a healthy, quarantined fish that is actually eating.”
— Zackery Harper1.0Edited 4 weeks ago“I recently ordered a goldenback triggerfish and a wrasse. Both came in healthy and ate on the first day! I also was communicating with them via Instagram DM and they were very helpful! Only change would make is to be able to pick your shipping date when placing the order, but would 100% order again!”
— Tom Boyle5.0a month ago“Violet Aquarium gets my honest 1-star review after spending thousands of dollars and repeatedly dealing with unhealthy livestock, poor shipping quality, and customer service that feels more focused on policy than actual accountability. I own multiple established saltwater tanks with a wide variety of healthy fish, including sensitive and hardy species alike, so this is not an issue of inexperience or poor tank conditions. My systems have successfully housed foxface, tangs, gobies, inverts, and many other species from multiple reputable vendors. I know how to acclimate, quarantine, and maintain marine livestock properly. That’s exactly why my experience with Violet Aquarium stands out so negatively. Roughly 90% of the fish I’ve purchased from Violet Aquarium have died within a week, with some dying within hours of being introduced despite proper acclimation. In several cases, fish arrived in visibly poor condition, severely stressed, malnourished, or shipped with insufficient oxygen in the bags, leaving them compromised before they even entered my tank. Major issues I experienced: * Extremely high mortality rate About 90% of my purchases from Violet Aquarium died within days, despite my proven success with fish from other vendors. * Poor shipping quality Fish arriving with inadequate oxygen, stressed, weak, or in visibly poor condition is unacceptable—especially for expensive overnight shipping. * “Alive on arrival” loophole If a fish barely survives delivery but dies hours later from shipping stress or poor condition, Violet often offers no meaningful resolution because technically it arrived alive. This policy shifts all risk to the customer, even when shipping quality is clearly a major factor. * Severely malnourished or unhealthy livestock Multiple fish appeared skinny, weak, or compromised upon arrival. * Wrong orders / switched fish Incorrect shipments forced me to spend even more money to fix mistakes I didn’t make. * Store credit policies that still cost the customer Offering store credit while requiring another large shipping fee or additional major purchase doesn’t feel customer-friendly. I’ve spent thousands with this company because I wanted to believe the issues were isolated—but after repeated losses, patterns became impossible to ignore. Bottom line: When a hobbyist with multiple healthy tanks and successful experience with many other vendors sees this kind of consistent loss rate from one source, the problem becomes hard to dismiss. Between poor shipping practices, questionable livestock quality, and limited accountability, my experience with Violet Aquarium has been overwhelmingly negative. I cannot recommend Violet Aquarium based on my personal experience, and I strongly encourage buyers—especially those investing serious money—to proceed with extreme caution.”
— Mark Maynard1.0a month ago“I’ve been in the hobby for several decades After reading the reviews, I feel like I should share my experience. Whenever you’re shipping fish, there’s going to be risk so it’s hard to point. The finger at the vendor there’s a lot more factors involved. I ordered a typically Delicate angelfish from them yesterday at 3 PM the entire team was incredibly responsive through their website even when I had questions a little later in the evening. The fish arrived in great condition and honestly, the packaging is super superior to some of the other orders have gotten from other online vendors . Even with the weather delay, the package arrived with no leaks and the fish was an excellent condition. Extremely responsive I can’t say I’ve had anything but an excellent experience.”
— Steve Munoz5.0a month ago“Had to say, I was pretty disappointed coming in to the shop. I had previously bought a firefish, daisy coral, panda goby, cleaner shrimp all in different days and after what I saw today sucked. Coming in today I went in to get a Citron Goby but sadly it was too big and when I asked to measure the man with big ear rings took the fish with the net and THREW IT on the measuring table. I was honestly shocked when I saw that because it showed how much they cared for the fish, and when I said I wont be buying it he looked mad like I was going to buy a damaged fish. He later showed me the Panda Goby which was cool so I bought it for 39$ and they later sold it for 30$. I dont care for the price because its only 9 dollars but I do care about consistency, respect, and knowing that they provide care for the fish they sell, which they do not have any of these traits in this store. I often try to buy from locally owned fish stores and try to trust the employees but I wont be coming back again. I give it 2 stars because there are some good employees in the store who really helped me get into fish keeping and gave me some good fish, but some employees just do not care and makes it hard to like this store. Not hating just do better. Responce: I visited this store and had a disappointing experience and was overcharged for a fish that had not yet been properly priced in their system. While the staff did acknowledge the pricing issue and offered to refund the difference, the overall interaction felt disorganized and unprofessional. What concerned me most was the owner’s response to my review. Instead of addressing the issue respectfully, they chose to respond with personal attacks and aggressive language. This kind of behavior toward customers is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about how they handle feedback and customer service. I understand that mistakes can happen, but how a business responds to those mistakes matters. Based on this experience, I would adivce anyone looking at their website be cautious about purchasing any items.”
— Drew S1.0Edited 2 months ago“I received my first fish order from Violet Aquariums and I must say it was by far the most professional fish packaging I’ve ever seen! The ordering and delivery process was A+++ and the fish were amazingly beautiful and extremely healthy! I wish I could give 10 ⭐️!!! Will definitely be ordering fish from Violet Aquariums again!”
— David Baxter5.0a week ago“Me and the wife have been buying fish from them for a while and they are amazing fish come healthy great place to get your fish Antonio helped me out tremendously great asset to the team!!!”
— william quidley5.0a week ago“Very argumentative and unprofessional.”
— Alexis Curington1.0a week ago“Very unprofessional, poor quality livestock. Put me on your do not order list that you threaten everyone else with so I dont make the mistake of spending a dime with you cause ive put you on mine.”
— Jordan Roch1.0a week ago“Despite some negative reviews, I've ordered from Violet twice now and have received healthy livestock in a very timely manner. Both fish I've ordered were healthy and fat. These two fish were fish I couldn't find anywhere else. Thanks Violet team!”
— Aaron Marney5.02 weeks ago
Reference
Frequently asked questions
Note — Store information and services may change. Always call (408) 352-5339 to confirm current availability, hours, and services before visiting Violet Aquarium LLC.