About
Across from Sky Zone in a Springfield, Virginia strip mall, Splashy Fish has grown from a Vietnamese family fish farm into one of the most talked-about freshwater fish stores in Northern Virginia — the kind of shop people drive an hour or more to reach, from Baltimore and Richmond to Tysons. Step inside and the layout tells you this is a specialist's store: a main room of beautifully scaped display tanks, a separate betta room, and a dedicated shrimp room that regulars treat as a destination of its own. Recent visitors have walked out with pumpkin-orange neocaridina (plus a couple of surprise baby shrimp), bigger amano shrimp, and baby Panda Garras after staff helped match them to an established tank.
If you're hunting nano fish, this is the place. Ember Tetras, Pygmy Corydoras, guppies in a dizzying range of color variations, Strawberry and Phoenix Rasboras, and Celestial Pearl Danios are the sort of healthy, hard-to-find livestock for sale in Springfield, VA that colors up fast and goes straight into a display tank. The plant wall leans on Tropica tissue cultures, and the hardscape section is stocked with river rock, driftwood, and aquascaping stone — the kind of in-person selection that beats rolling the dice on photos.
You'll also find brine shrimp and live foods, a genuine rarity among local fish stores. What people come back for is the team. Owner Nguyen is a seasoned aquascaper who only stocks what he'd run in his own tanks, and staff like Brit (a marine biologist), Nick, Alan, and Bella get called out by name for patient, real advice — spot-treating black beard algae, sizing a UV filter, walking a beginner through tank cycling step by step.
" Prices run a bit above the big-box stores, but the health and selection earn it, and weekdays are calmest in the compact space. For freshwater fishkeeping in NOVA, Splashy Fish is the store hobbyists keep returning to.
What they offer
Fish & livestock for sale at Splashy Fish in Springfield, VA
Splashy Fish stocks betta fish, shrimp, tetras, invertebrates, rare and hard-to-find species, livebearers, goldfish, catfish, aquarium plants and freshwater fish for sale in Springfield, VA. As a fish store serving Springfield, VA, it also carries fish food, aquarium equipment and dry goods and offers aquarium consultations, fish quarantine and water testing.
- Livestock & products
- BettasShrimpLive PlantsPlanted TanksTetrasInvertebratesRare SpeciesLivebearersGoldfishCatfishFish FoodAquarium EquipmentDry Goods
- Services
- Specializes in
Highlights
What makes them special
- Dedicated shrimp room with neocaridina (incl. pumpkin-orange neos), amano shrimp, and varied color strains
- Separate betta room plus a main hall of aquascaped freshwater display tanks
- Nano-fish specialty: Ember Tetras, Pygmy Corydoras, guppies, Strawberry/Phoenix Rasboras, and Celestial Pearl Danios
- Tropica tissue-culture plants alongside river rock, driftwood, and aquascaping stone
- Owner Nguyen and a knowledgeable team (incl. marine biologist Brit); fish quarantined and well-fed before sale
From keepers
Customer reviews
“They are very professional”
— ehsan karimi5.0a week ago“Drove an hour to check it out. Went in and tanks were beautifully maintained and the store didn't have any unpleasant smell that fish stores can have. The associate let us look around and was quick to help when we were ready. Ended up with 10 beautiful pumpkin orange neos and a surprise 2 little baby shrimp so nice little bonus. Will definitely make the drive again.”
— Tiffany German5.0a week ago“Pleasant, helpful staff willing to take the time with each customer. Answering questions and sharing helpful ideas.”
— Richard Zulewski5.0Edited a week ago“They are very friendly and always have a very good fish”
— housam ghazaweiah5.0Edited 2 weeks ago“Incredible staff and amazing selection of fish. Tanks are clean. You can tell immediately that this place not only cares about the fish, but they care about you, too. Will be back!”
— M. Buel5.02 weeks ago“Bought red cenepa pencil fish online and they sent me beckfords Pencilfish would never purchase from them again”
— cj j1.02 weeks ago“I called today regarding assassin snails and the gentleman that answered the phone said that they had at least four maybe more. I drive from Tysons to come get them only to discover that they were sold earlier in the day. This is only my second time coming, but it’s now left a bad taste in my mouth.”
— Kelly Smith3.04 weeks ago“Great selection and knowledgeable staff. It gets better every time we come here.”
— Howard Frame (HFrame)5.0Edited 4 weeks ago“The only reason this isnt one star review is cause they have a nice selection. However, the staff can be quite rude and condescending If you are not completely knowledgeable. I’m relatively new to fish keeping. I’ve only started within the last year. I have three tanks so I have a little bit of knowledge, but not everything. I am moving and I won’t be able to take my current fish with me. I know they have a donation tank for guppies, and I had called to ask question if they would take more fish than just the guppies cause I have Corey‘s a beta and some rasboras as well and when I asked the question over the phone, I got a lot of attitude, and then the woman said that she had answered my question in a very rude manner, then proceeded to hand off the phone to another employee, and he said the exact same thing in a much ruder tone and proceeded to hang up on me. I’ve been calling for three days now multiple times a day and they very very rarely answer the phone and when they did, it was a very rude conversation, and I did not get my answer because all they said is yes we have a guppy tank and nothing about the rest of my question if they don’t take donations of anything but guppies, they could just say that and be polite about it and I’d go on about my day but instead they were rude when they didn’t need to be. I had a simple question just to see if I could handoff my fish to somebody. I know would take care of the fish. Would only come here if you have already decided what you want do not ask the staff for help.”
— Ken M2.0a month ago“Yesterday I decided to stop by the store to see what it was all about. I've been seeing Splashy Fish pop up on google for a while, even before the store opened and it was a home based business. Since I was in the area with my wife, we stopped in to look around. I specifically have a BBA issue in my tank and was looking for some solutions. As we walked around, Bella (forgive me if I got the name wrong) asked if we needed help. I told her my issue and she immediately pointed to a product to help spot treat the BBA. She also mentioned a UV light/filter would help once I cleaned up the tank of the BBA a bit. I also mentioned how I have 3 amano shrimp but they're so tiny in a 30g so they've been "MIA" for a bit but I do know they're alive because I occasionally see 1 or 2. She did mention they had a few bigger amano shrimp but went to see if they had any in stock. Off to the shrimp room we go. After looking around we found 1 tank with bigger amano shrimp so we purchased 5. We also found some Panda Garras. I have 1 that was gifted to me and I've read how they can be with just 1 other Panda Garra or even by itself. So I purchased 2 baby Pana Garras. I would of gotten 3 but 1 was in a plant tank and it kept dashing all over the place to avoid capture. lol. I left the store with a bit more knowledge, an itch for another tank (if I had the room), and some new babies. One thing that Bella mentioned was how my Panda Garra would change the way it acts once I put the 2 little ones in. Sure enough he went from being super active to going into hiding. Figured it would happen since it now has 2 baby siblings, but we ordered a UV filter and I installed it today. Guess what they're doing now, they're all playing in the outlet of the filter since it's a powerful waterflow and they love it! So now Bella's suggestion is 2 fold, it's going to hep with the algae and my garra's have a new play area in the tank. Yes the prices are a bit steep. I've seen this at other privately owned LFS in MD. But the difference between the other spots and Splashy Fish is that the fish and shrimp are super healthy at Splashy Fish and some are hard to find. So you pay for what you get. I'll definitely be back for some more Panda Garras when if I see them in stock. And I'm also thinking of upgrading my canister filter with one that I saw there. I'm doing some more research first.”
— Wilson Roa5.0a month ago
Reference
Frequently asked questions
Note — Store information and services may change. Always call (703) 828-7809 to confirm current availability, hours, and services before visiting Splashy Fish.