Albany Aquarium

Specialties

Albany Aquarium specializes in sustainable approaches to the aquarium hobby with an emphasis on freshwater, planted community aquariums and smaller saltwater reef aquariums.

Albany Aquarium maintains a separate quarantine facility where all new fish are kept until they are healthy. This allows us to offer the healthiest fish of any store in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Albany Aquarium has the largest selection of freshwater aquatic plants in the Bay Area. People come from Oakland, San Francisco, Marin county, Napa, Sacramento, Orinda and Walnut Creek to buy plants.

Albany Aquarium specializes in bringing all the bits and pieces of information that people find about the aquarium hobby into a complete picture, helping our customers resolve information that initially seems in conflict.

Albany Aquarium works to provide a unique high value in-​store experience through a combination of: helpful, knowledgeable staff; healthy fish and plants; and well selected, quality merchandise.

History

Established in 1972.

In 1973 Guy Oei, born in Indonesia and raised in Holland bought a small aquarium shop on San Pablo Avenue in Albany. During the next 41 years, Guy created one of the most unique aquarium stores in the country promoting sustainable approaches to aquariums like keeping live plants. Albany Aquarium has always been a store that welcomed all levels of interest from hardcore hobbyists to brand new beginners.

Some of the notable achievements of Albany Aquarium include:

1. Ensuring the healthiest fish by maintaining a separate quarantine facility for all new fish

2. Offering more than 80 species of aquatic plants for sale

3. Being the first store in the United States to import the Siamensis Algae Eater

Meet the Business Owner

Guy O.

Business Owner

Guy Oei was born in Indonesia and when he was still young, his family immigrated to Holland. While in Holland Guy developed a passion for the Dutch style of aquarium keeping which included keeping a fully planted underwater garden of aquatic plants. As a child Guy kept fish of all kinds from large catfish he raised from babies in buckets to sophisticated aquarium fish in planted aquariums.

Guy came to California and attended college in Berkeley. Through an unlikely series of events, Guy was given the opportunity to purchase a small fish store on San Pablo Avenue in Albany.

In the 41 years as the owner of the Albany Aquarium, Guy has been on the cutting edge of the aquarium hobby, being the first store to import many rare fish and plants into the United States.

Guy is known for his warm, welcoming personality and is a particularly captivating story teller. He often entertains customers with stories like fighting off mosquitoes in the jungles of the Amazon to observe rare fish.