Finding a local fish store

Underground Aquarium keeps a free directory of independent aquarium and tropical fish stores across the US. There are no chains in it. You don't need an account to search it, open a shop's page, see its map or get directions.

Where do I find the fish store directory?

There are three ways in, and they all lead to the same shops:

• The homepage search. The top of the homepage says "Find your local fish store." Type a city, state or shop name into City, state or shop name and tap Search, or tap Near me or one of the popular city chips under the box.
• Find a fish store, the store finder. One search box that suggests cities and shops as you type, plus Use my location, Popular cities and Browse by state.
• Fish stores, the full directory. A search bar, a Near me button, a map and every shop, browsable by state.

In the site menu, Shops Near Me opens the full directory and asks for your location straight away. All Fish Stores (under More) opens the full directory without asking.

How do I find the fish stores closest to me?

The quickest way is Near me:

1. Open Fish stores, or tap Shops Near Me in the menu.
2. Tap Near me. The button says Locating… while it works.
3. Allow location when your browser asks.

The list re-sorts with the nearest shop first, and each card shows how far away it is in miles ("under 0.1 mi" for a shop on your doorstep). The map shows your spot as a blue "You are here" dot. The count line reads something like "84 shops, nearest first".

To go back to the normal list, tap the same button, which now reads Nearest first · clear.

On Find a fish store, Use my location works differently: it takes you straight to the city page for the nearest city that has shops listed. The button reads Finding shops near you… while it works.

Why isn't Near me finding my location?

Your browser has to be allowed to share your location with the site. What you see depends on the page:

• On Fish stores, if your browser won't share a precise location, we use a rough location from your internet connection instead and show a note like "Showing shops near Sacramento (approximate). Allow location in your browser for exact distances, or search your city above." Distances are then only approximate.
• If we can't work out even a rough location, you'll see "Couldn't get your location. Type your city in the search box above instead."
• On Find a fish store, you might see "Location is blocked. Type your city instead." (you said no, or location is off), "Your browser can't share location. Type your city instead." (your browser doesn't support it) or "Couldn't find a city near you. Type it instead."

To fix it, turn location on for the site in your browser or phone settings and try again. Or just type your city or town into the search box, which works just as well. (Searching by ZIP code isn't supported.)

How does the store search work?

On Fish stores, type into Search by shop, city or state…. Results update as you type, and the letters that matched are highlighted on each card so you can see why a shop came up.

• Every word has to match, in any order. "aquarium depot" finds "Aquarium & Reptile Depot".
• "&" and "and" count the same, and apostrophes are ignored. "daves corals" finds "Dave's Corals".
• Shop names rank above places. A match in the shop's name comes before a match in its city or state.
• Specialty words work too. Tags such as saltwater or plants are searchable.
• Searching looks everywhere, even if you had a state open.

Tap the X in the box to clear it. The count line says how many shops "match your search".

Does the search forgive typos?

Yes, but only when nothing matches exactly, so a correctly spelled search is never padded with near misses. When the directory falls back to close spellings, the count line starts with "No exact match." and says "shops with a close spelling".

How forgiving it is depends on the word length: words of 5 to 7 letters can have one mistake, words of 8 letters or more can have two, and short words (4 letters or fewer) must be spelled right. Swapping two letters counts as one mistake, so "aquairum" still finds "aquarium".

I searched a town and got shops near it instead. Why?

If no shop name, city or state matches what you typed, we assume it's a place and look it up (it needs at least 3 letters). You'll see "No shop names match "carmichael". Here are the closest shops to Carmichael, CA." followed by up to 12 of the nearest shops, nearest first, each with its distance.

If we picked the wrong town (there are a lot of Springfields), look for Meant somewhere else? and tap one of the other places listed there (up to 4). When you've shared your location, ties are settled in favor of the place nearest you. Adding the state helps too: "springfield il" or "Springfield, Illinois".

Why do I see "More shops near" a town?

When you search a town that does have shops, the list shows the shops in that town, and underneath you get More shops near that town: up to 12 other shops within 30 miles, nearest first, with distances. This only appears when everything you matched is in one town and you searched the town's name (not a shop's name), and not while Near me is on.

How do I filter stores by specialty?

Once there's a list on screen (after you search, pick a state or tap Near me), a row of specialty tags appears above it, such as freshwater, saltwater, corals, reef, plants, reptiles or dry goods. The tags come from what shops have listed, so the exact set can change.

Tap a tag to show only shops with it. Tap it again to remove the filter. Only one tag can be active at a time. The tags don't appear on the landing view before you've searched or chosen a state.

Browsing fish stores by state

On Fish stores before you search, you'll see a map of every shop and Browse by state, with a button for each state and how many shops it has. Tap a state and the list groups its shops by city, in alphabetical order, with the number of shops per city. Shops with no city listed appear last under "Elsewhere in the state". Tap All states to go back.

On Find a fish store, Browse by state links to a state page such as "Aquarium stores in California". A state page shows:

• How many shops and cities the state has
• Cities: every city with shops, alphabetically, with a count
• Fish stores in the 8 cities with the most shops, up to 4 shops each, with a See link to each full city page

What's on a city page?

City pages live at addresses like /aquarium-stores/ca/sacramento. You reach them from the store finder, Popular cities (the 12 cities with the most shops), a state page, or the More fish stores in link on any shop's page. Each city page has:

• A breadcrumb (Fish stores, then the state, then the city) and a line like "There are 6 independent aquarium and tropical fish stores in Sacramento, and 5 more within 30 miles."
• A map of the city's shops (bright pins) and nearby shops
• A card for every shop in the city with its stars, address, phone number and up to 3 specialty tags
• More fish stores near the city: up to 8 shops within 30 miles, with distances
• Good to know: how many stores the city has and the closest one outside it, plus lists such as saltwater fish and coral stores, freshwater tropical fish stores, where to buy aquarium plants, freshwater shrimp and pond fish and koi stores, in and near the city (up to 8 shops each)
• Fish for sale from keepers near the city, with Browse (the free classifieds) and Sell (post a free ad)
• Nearby cities within 75 miles (up to 12), with distances

At the bottom: "Own a shop in [city] that's missing or out of date? Add or claim it free."

Using the store finder search box

On Find a fish store, start typing in City, state or shop name. A list drops down with up to 5 matching cities (with how many shops each has) and up to 5 matching shops (with their town). Use the arrow keys or your finger to pick one. Cities open their city page, shops open the shop's page.

If nothing in the list is what you want, tap Search or press Enter. With no suggestion chosen, you're taken to the full directory at Fish stores with your words already searched, so the typo and nearby-town help kicks in there.

Using the store map

Maps appear on the directory, city pages and every shop page. Green pins are shops. On a city page, the city's own shops are drawn larger and gold. On a shop page, that shop is the gold pin and the green ones are shops nearby.

• Tap a pin to see the shop's name (tap it to open the shop's page) and its town or distance.
• Pinch or use the + and - buttons to zoom. Scrolling with a mouse wheel won't zoom, so the page scrolls normally past the map.
• The map shows whatever the list is showing. With Near me on, it maps the shops currently in the list.

Shops without a known location don't get a pin but still appear in the list.

What do the icons on a store card mean?

Each card in the directory shows:

• The shop name, with a green check badge if the owner has claimed the page
• Stars: the average rating, with the number of reviews in brackets. Five dim stars mean "No reviews yet".
• The town, and the distance in miles when you've used Near me or searched a town
• Up to 3 specialty tags

Tap anywhere on the card to open the shop's page. See Reading a store page.

How many shops load at once?

The directory shows 48 shop cards at a time. At the bottom of a long list, tap Show 48 more (it also says how many are left). Changing your search, state, filter or location starts the list over at the top.

Common problems

"We couldn't find" my search, and no nearby shops appeared. Check the spelling of short words (they must be exact), try just the town or just the shop name, or tap Shops near me. Clear filters removes everything you've set.

A shop I know about isn't listed. Suggest it. See Suggesting a store.

A chain store isn't in the directory. That's on purpose. The directory lists independent shops only.

Distances look wrong. If you see the word "approximate", we're using a rough location from your internet connection. Allow precise location in your browser, or search your town instead.

A shop's city or details changed but the city page still shows the old info. State pages, city pages and the store finder refresh about once an hour. The shop's own page updates right away.

Tap Start over to reset. On Fish stores, Start over clears your search, state, specialty filter and location in one go.

The map is blank or gray. The map loads its tiles over your connection. Try refreshing the page, or use the list below it, which has everything the map has.