About
Rockland Aquarium has earned a devoted local following as the freshwater fish store of choice for hobbyists across Rockland and Orange County, and much of that loyalty traces back to owner Marlon and his right-hand John. Walk through the door in Bardonia and you'll find rows of crystal-clear, meticulously kept tanks — reviewers consistently call the shop clean, organized, and stocked with one of the best fish selections anywhere in the Tri-State Area. The store's reputation rests on its cichlids.
You'll find South American and Central American varieties alongside African cichlids like electric yellow labs, plus standout Geophagus — including Geophagus Sveni, Red Head Tapajos, and Albino Hecklii — and severums such as the Red Spotted and Starry Nights. These are the kind of harder-to-find freshwater fish for sale in Bardonia, NY that you simply won't see at a big box store. Marlon also surprises serious keepers with rarities like fire eels and freshwater moray eels, while shrimp and invertebrate fans can take home healthy neocaridina shrimp and mystery snails.
Cory catfish and a deep wall of fish food, medications, water chemicals, and equipment round out the shelves, often priced below the chains. What keeps customers coming back is Marlon's consultative, no-pressure approach. Longtime hobbyists praise his patience, his knack for compatibility advice, and his tips for trimming maintenance costs — go in with questions and leave with the right fish for your tank.
Beyond livestock, the team handles new tank setups from 10 to 210 gallons, custom tanks, aquarium maintenance, tank cleaning, and equipment installation and servicing, and they'll even haul out large tanks from a newly purchased home. Exciting news for regulars: reviewers note a new and larger shop is opening soon, giving Marlon room for even more livestock. For anyone hunting cichlids near me in the greater New York area, Rockland Aquarium is well worth the drive.
What they offer
Fish & livestock for sale at Rockland Aquarium in Bardonia, NY
Rockland Aquarium stocks cichlids, African cichlids, catfish, shrimp, invertebrates, rare and hard-to-find species and freshwater fish for sale in Bardonia, NY. As a fish store serving Bardonia, NY, it also carries dry goods, fish food, fish medications and aquarium equipment and offers aquarium setup, tank maintenance, tank cleaning, custom tank builds, equipment repair and aquarium consultations.
- Livestock & products
- CichlidsAfrican CichlidsCatfishShrimpInvertebratesRare SpeciesDry GoodsFish FoodMedicationsAquarium Equipment
- Services
- Tank SetupTank MaintenanceTank CleaningCustom TanksEquipment RepairConsultationDeliveryShips FishOnline Store
- Specializes in
Highlights
What makes them special
- Standout cichlid selection — South American, Central American, and African cichlids, plus rare Geophagus (Sveni, Red Head Tapajos, Albino Hecklii) and severums
- Owner Marlon and John offer patient, consultative advice on stocking and compatibility
- Hard-to-find freshwater species like fire eels and freshwater moray eels, plus neocaridina shrimp and mystery snails
- Full services: tank setups from 10–210 gallons, custom tanks, maintenance, cleaning, and equipment servicing
- A new, larger shop is reported to be opening soon
From keepers
Customer reviews
“If you're in the Rockland, Orange County area, Rockland Aquarium is the absolute, number one go to place for your fresh water aquarium needs. Not only are they fully stocked with everything you'll need to get started, they have an amazing selection of fish on hand and new stuff coming in all of the time. Marlon and his staff are very knowledgeable and helpful and you're bound to have a wonderful shopping experience. With their new and larger shop opening soon, I cannot recommend checking them out enough. Fair warning though, you may not be able to stop at just one tank.”
— alex colon5.0a day ago“Top notch customer service..fast shipping and quality of the fish are incredible.”
— Albert Liong5.02 days ago“Great store with incredible fish and prices. The owner is awesome too! Definitely going back for more fish”
— Diorky Veras5.02 days ago“The best and only local fish aquarium with such a large selection of all types of fish and amazing customer service. It is simply a pleasure to deal with them. Plus, they offer *aquarium maintenance, *tank cleaning, *fish transfers, *new tank setups, *custom tanks, *equipment installation and servicing, and *emergency assistance.”
— Yechiel “Chili” Dirnfeld5.03 days ago“Well kept aquarium store with good selection of freshwater fish., food . Competitive prices.”
— Artur S5.04 days ago“i’m gonna be fair and say I purchased one fish on the 12th received it the next day no problem I purchased another fish on the 17th so I called to see what they be sending it out like they did the other fish the next day I received a text saying no we cannot do it today. We’ll send it out Tuesday. No problem. Today’s Tuesday calling all day. Emailing to confirm my fish will be sent out to no response. I know everyone is busy, but that is a profession and I would think he would be professional or she would be professional and return someone’s email our text. I find it very unprofessional. No one contacted me to tell me that my fish is no longer gonna be sent out today. Due to the fact I took off work to receive my fish not happy with the whole thing”
— Amber Shannon1.04 days ago“These gentlemen did a great job removing to very large fish tanks from a new home we purchased. Courteous professionals”
— Michael Malloy5.0a week ago“They’re stealing pictures of my wild caught breeders, removed my watermark and put theirs on it. They’ve also done this to almost all of Imperial Topicals photos! We’ve reported it to the FTC, and NY state business/licensing board.”
— Andrew Em2.02 weeks ago“Excellent quality fish, shipped almost immediately and arrived healthy, packed beautifully. Highly recommend!”
— Liz Begley5.03 weeks ago“Ordered 3 red spotted severum. 2 of the 3 the fins were torn up. I put 2 in one tank and 1 in another tank. A few days later I noticed all three had ick. None of my other fish had it but I had to treat both tanks because of Rockland. Never again.”
— phase electric Phase Electric2.0a month ago
Reference
Frequently asked questions
Note — Store information and services may change. Always call (845) 269-1530 to confirm current availability, hours, and services before visiting Rockland Aquarium.