Violet Aquarium LLC offers a diverse selection of aquatic life and supplies for enthusiasts in San Jose, CA. Customers appreciate the beautiful fish available, with some reporting successful acclimation of their new pets. However, a significant number of reviews highlight serious concerns regarding shipping practices and the quality of livestock received, leading to many dissatisfied experiences. While there are noteworthy fish options, prospective buyers should be cautious and consider experiences shared by previous customers when shopping here.
Honestly what can I say I had a great experience with this team here at violet aquarium LLC had some unfortunate things happen to a fish I ordered from there website and let me tell u they didn’t even hesitate and sent me a gift threw my email and I was able to get exactly what I wanted again and there even so good that they are taking care of my order until I’m back from vacation with the wife 10/10 experience very recommended if u haven’t seen there inventory you are missing out great fish and corral everything is top quality
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Sunny Z
via Google
· 5 months ago
Great vendor! Corals are beautiful and strong, fish also looks big and ‘fat’ (was fed well 👍). The owner’s team really tried their best with the packaging. Custom-made insulation box, triple bag with extra tight seal and high-quality plastic bags, heat pack, and a LOT of fresh saltwater.
These marine fish are just incredibly fragile and sensitive to any fluctuations by nature. Hope this one recovers soon, such stunning beautiful fish.
M
Mark Maynard
via Google
· 5 months 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.
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Steve Munoz
via Google
· 5 months 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.
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Drew S
via Google
· 6 months 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.
