Fish Bowl Milford, New Hampshire

Giving a generous two stars as the animals themselves seemed, for the majority, to not be on the brink of death (from what I could tell.) This store is, for the most part, a fish store. However, they have also managed to throw together a few rodent/lagomorph/arthropod/reptile enclosures to fulfill the rest of the pet store quota. For some reason, they keep their leopard gecko, beardie, and white tree frogs on the plain glass of their cage bottoms. This isn't my largest worry as I am aware these species are somewhat at risk of impaction when substrate is used, but it wouldn't exactly hurt their wallets to perhaps...lay down a few paper towels for the lizards claws to grip? The gecko and the beardie had no moist hide, and I was shocked that they seemed to have all their appendages. Additionally, their singular tarantula was barely hanging onto the wall of its plastic bug keeper cage, as most of its legs had begun to form a death curl. I wasn't able to get a photo of this. Also shown in below photos are some sticky notes taped to the bathroom door which state that once the reptile leaves the store, even if it dies a FEW DAYS. After you purchase it, it's your fault. This is bonkers. If an animal is not deathly ill, I cannot imagine it would die so shortly after being removed, unless it's new owners decided to microwave it or feed it rat poison or something. Next let's talk about the rodent/bunny section. The rabbits are alright. The ones present during my past two visits seemed healthy, well-mannered, and clean. My worries are more about the rest of the rodents, which are kept in ten-twenty gallon glass aquariums, the most offensive of which being a SINGLE GUINEA PIG! First of all, rodents such as the ones being sold at the store are incredibly prone to respiratory issues. Keeping an animal like that in a cage with four glass walls, in addition to the incredibly concentrated urine that rodents produce, is sure to cause respiratory issues. Also, guinea pigs are not meant to be sold alone and it is likely whoever buys that little thing may not know or think to purchase it a partner. Please see the images below and note that this poor animal is being kept in a soiled, ten gallon glass aquarium. I would not recommend keeping these animals in tanks for more than a day or two, and I know these have likely been here (and might stay here) for weeks. All in all, if any employees read this, PLEASE move the guinea pig into an empty rabbit/wire cage, and then move the rats because they will get sick due to lack of circulation. Your care of the creatures is worrying and neglectful. If a potential customer reads this, take your business elsewhere. You don't know how sick these animals could be.

First time fish tank owner, the owner was wonderful! Tanks are clean, much better options than big box stores, which when researching fish tanks/fish the big box stores had dead fish in the tanks. I love the spirit of the owner, she gets to know customers and her engagement with my family was delightful. I only buy my fish from this store.

Quaint little well stocked home fish tank supply store. A young man in there was a font of information. The well seasoned owner knows her stuff. We found everything we needed and a few things we didn't know we needed. A thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Has a great selection of aquarium supplies and fish. Good fish quality and not a ton of quarantined tanks from sicknesses. There is more stuff than usual pet shops like books about species and saltwater care. Friendly people and attentive to their customers by checking on you without seeming like you are inconvenienceing them. Recommend if you are in the area

I'd give a better review if me and my toddler were treated with common decency. We go here a couple times a month so my daughter can see all the animals then get ice cream. But everytime we come in we're glared at and totally feel like a burden going into this shop. She made it seem like my kids and I aren't welcome. Nobody greets you or anything. Just really awkward ppl

Loved the fish person real nice will be back.

Has everything a pet needs

People are very nice and helpful.

Small business, sanitary, and very friendly staff!

Absolutely the best. Enough said.

Didn't have some of the varieties of fish we were trying to find but the staff way knowledge and helpful.

The Fish Bowl is an awesome and unique place. The woman that helped me every time I’ve come has been extremely knowledgeable and I enjoyed speaking with her very much. After paying, we chatted for a bit about her space and the pandemic. As I’ve been a fish keeper for years, it was a very welcome change of pace to be able to speak with someone educated in the area of their work. If you’ve been to the freshwater/saltwater areas in Petco or Petsmart, I’m positive you know what I mean by this, as the employees there don’t know what they’re talking about. I will be loyal to the Fish Bowl going forward- prices may be a little higher but I’ve always preferred quality and healthy fish to the convenience of a Petco/Petsmart.

This is our favorite place to get food for our beardie and fish. And we love to look at the baby animals when they are around.

Amazing selection especially if you keep reptiles/fish. I love stopping by and I always find what I need.

Have had many good purchases over the years. Great place to go to see some oddball fish as well as customer "staples". Stopped by to get an otto, which none of the big chains had in stock, and they had 'em! They do special orders as well.

Love it!! Only place I go for my fish,bird and lizard needs!!

An excellent local pet store. Especially for fish! Skip the big chains and come here.

Great place for a novice to go they can answer all your questions. And help with problems I brought my tank water in for testing and they told me exactly what to do to fix the problem my guppies are grateful. And they have all kinds of fish and supplies

This store is SUPER GREAT!! She was so patient and really took time to explain and teach us why thing did what they did after we told her we were first time fish owners, I really appreciate that she did not try to make us buy like 15 fish or something like that and actually held us back from buying stuff we really didn’t need. I 100% recommend this pet store because the owner really knows what she’s doing. She even told us she’s been doing this for ✨*40*✨ years! So lots of experience in doing this!!!

They have amazing fish and snails the ladies are very nice and give you exactly what you want to buy. Nothing is really expensive but, it is really high quality.

Love how friendly and helpful they are

So they sell more than just fish here. During the entire Covid 19 disaster that we've had going on I was able to get food for our pet snake every Thursday. I don't think he would have made it without the good people from the fishbowl.

Would like to see more attention to saltwater aquatics...

The milford fish bowl is hands down the best place to go for a wide variety of fish that no other pet stores around carry. Ive gotten many high quality koi fish here as well for my koi pond. I got my Alligator gar here when he was only 3 inches long. If you are looking to get a predatory fish here though, please do your research as some of them get very large and wont be able to stay in your little 30 gallon tank for very long.

I visited the Fish Bowl in Milford with my kids today to get them fish for their first new fish tanks they received on Christmas. This was simply and exceptional experience. The shop keeper was so caring and patient with the kids and really grabbed their imaginations and attention. She did not just sell us fish and wish us well. She helped them understand what goes into taking care of a tank and fish and how amazing this experience can be. The more time she spent with them the more questions they had for you. They also had a huge selection of fish and other products. Now my kids are talking about Ph levels and how to make adjust them. The kids cannot wait to goes back in a few weeks to get some more fish and I can't wait either. I cannot say enough to highlight how nice of a customer experience we had. Just another reason to support our local small businesses... there are some true gems in our community and The Fish Bowl is one of them and worth a visit even if just to see all the amazing critters they have there.

Best pet store around. You should shop here

Mom and pop fish store

This is one of the cleaner pet stores I have seen locally. They signed an agreement with the humane society to not sell puppies, so they don't support puppy mills. The fish tanks are bright, clean, and the fish all look healthy. There is a great variety of livestock including some oddball fish. She also had the most reasonable cherry shrimp prices I have seen at a store in NH. Live plants too. I will definitely be returning.

Very nice and friendly staff. The employee that helped me was very knowledgeable!

I grow up in Milford and moved when I was 7. It was Soo good to see the place I used to walk to all the time. And I got to bring my daughter there too. I'm so happy was there still and it has so many cool animals. If I lived there I would not go anywhere else for my let's supplies.