Brooklyn Bike Tour: Saltwater Tropical Fish, Free Aquarium Tour

Brooklyn Bike Tour: Salt Water Tropical Fish, Free Aquarium Tour
June 2011

This project started when I needed to select a natural looking (think soil colored) small gravel or pebbles to put in my new custom welded copper plant tray. Then I have always admired salt water/marine fish. They are way more colorful than fresh water fish. And much harder to maintain. Here in Park Slope we used to have the Brooklyn Aquarium at 339 9th Street that I sometimes visited, but the rent got too high and it closed in 2006 after many decades. To take my Brooklyn Storefront pictures I create bicycle tours using Google Maps. Merging these all together gets this tour of all the aquarium stores in Brooklyn that sell salt water/marine fish. The stores are grouped into four neighborhoods: Sunset Park/Brooklyn Chinatown, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, and Georgetown (northwest of Bergen Beach). You can bicycle it, or part of it, and make it a day's free aquarium tour.

To end my gravel story, the gravel I liked best was CaribSea Instant Aquarium 'Peace River' Gravel Substrate. Online it is sold at Amazon and Petco. I was expecting to find it at my local Petco, but instead I bought 25# of Petco branded Pebble Beach Mix for under $15. It appears to be the same as the Peace River I wanted. Most local aquarium stores carry the Este line of gravels. While Este does make some creek mixes, they aren't that easy to find locally and often only in expensive 5# bags.

This Google map is a 12 mile bicycle route with stops at 10 stores. These are all the stores I could find in Brooklyn with salt water/marine fish. The map has no route changes. The route can be shortened and simplified in a few places by dragging the route. Google Maps likes to take you out of your way to put you on a bicycle path. Note that after the first stop it has you go over to the 7th Ave path. If you do, you can stop in the fresh water only 7 Avenue Aquarium at 5814 7th Ave. You can pick up a little if after (D) you continue down 64th St to Dahill. Then turn on Quentin Rd to cross over McDonald to get to Ocean Pkwy (drag a point to Dahill and Ave P). And a bit more can be removed by not going through the park at Gerritsen Ave and sticking to Ave U (drag two points to Ave U on each side of the park). Suggestion: Knock out G, F, & A at Google Maps (in that order) and you have a seven store 10 mile trip of the best. Click map to go to Google Maps.

Sunset Park/Brooklyn Chinatown
	New Lucky Fish & Aquarium Supplies formerly: King Fish Aquarium & Pet Supply 4818 8th Ave 11220 [bet. 48th and 49th Sts] (718) 438-3189 M-Su: 10-8 Business Card Scan	The store is basically all fish. There were only 3 salt water tanks: a reef, a coral, and one for fish split into sections.
	Royal Aqua World (Tien Wei Aquarium) 815 65th St 11220 [bet. 8th and 9th Aves] (718) 238-0918 Business Card Scan	This is a deep store. There is a small bait and tackle shop in the front. In the far back there are 16 salt water fish tanks, plus a reef tank.
Bensonhurst
	Kings Aquarium 7106 18th Ave 11204 [at 71st St] (718) 621-8130 M-Su: 11-8 Business Card Scan	Only fish. There are 22 small and 4 large salt water tanks. Their business card notes that they sell custom made aquariums and have maintenance services.
	Tamco Aquarium & Supplies 6310 Bay Pkwy 11204 [22nd Ave bet. 63rd-64th Sts] (718) 232-2885 10:30-8, closed Tues. Business Card Scan	Only fish and some bait and tackle. There are 2 large and 6+ small salt water tanks to the left as you walk in. There were only a few large fish. This is not a must stop on the tour.
Sheepshead Bay
	Aquarium Gallery 1314 Avenue U 11229 [bet. 13th and 14th Sts] (718) 336-1498 Business Card Scan	Only fish. There are about 17 salt water tanks; a few large, with most being medium size. Their business card notes that they sell custom made aquariums and have maintenance services.
	Petco 1610 Avenue Y 11235 [bet. E 16th and E 17th Sts] (718) 743-2147 M-Su: 9-9	This store was new. Fish are in the center of this store. They have many aquariums for sale. There are 9 large salt water tanks. They are split up into 10 medium sized, 1 large, and a bunch of small. They only sell small marine fish. The gravel selection is not as good as the Utica Ave store.
Georgetown (northwest of Bergen Beach)
	Petco 2343 Utica Ave 11234 [just above Flatbush at Ave S] (718) 338-3896 M-Sa: 9-9, Su: 10-7	This is a large and busy store. The fish are across the back with the salt water at the left. There are 6 large salt water tanks of marine fish, with many of them split into smaller tanks. There are not many fish, and they are mostly small. They have a larger line of Petco branded gravel than the Petco listed above this.
	Brooklyn Zoo & Aquarium 2377 Ralph Ave 11234 [bet. Aves M and N] (718) 251-7389 M-F: 10-8, Sa-Su: 10-6 Business Card Scan	Family owned and operated for 20 years. Fish are more than half the store. They have two large salt water tanks, one large reef tank, plus many small tanks mostly with small invertebrates. They sell custom aquariums.
	Island Aquarium 1963 Utica Ave 11234 [just above Ave L] (718) 241-6688 M-F: 11-8, Sa: 11-7, Su: 12-5 Business Card Scan	Only fish. They have 25 salt water tanks plus fish are in the reef tank. They have many aquariums on display. They also specialize in building aquariums and cabinet stands for residential and commercial.
	World Class Aquarium 2015 Flatbush Ave 11234 [just below Ave M] (718) 258-0653 M-Sa: 10-7, Su: 10-6 Business Card Scan	This is a wide but shallow store. Only half the store is fish (with birds taking up much of the rest). They have 15 salt water tanks. They design and install display aquariums for educational and institutional settings. Custom glass tanks.