Pet Spotlight: Fresh Tides Aquatics is Turning the Tide for Local Aquarists

When you walk into Fresh Tides Aquatics in Mariemont, you immediately know that this place is something special. The store is clean and bright. You receive a friendly greeting and personable, knowledgeable service. The aquatic plant and fish stock are healthy, happy, and obviously well-kept. The store is beautifully decorated with live plants. It’s very evident that for owners Neal Burke and Tori Beck, Fresh Tides Aquatics is a labor of love.

Tori, originally from Wisconsin, has a degree in marine biology and when working in a fish store in Hawaii, she discovered a love for that role. “I moved to Ohio after graduation and continued working in fish stores,” she says. “And I’ve had all kinds of different saltwater and freshwater tanks at home, mostly under 75 gallons. I’m breeding guppies at the moment.”

Neal is originally from New York, and he’s been keeping fish since he was a kid, with the exception of his time in the military. “You can’t keep fish when you’re in the military, because of deployment, but I kept reading books and things throughout that time,” he says. “The fish world is always changing, and I kept up with it so it wouldn’t be a shock to me when I got out.”

Neal and Tori decided to open Fresh Tides Aquatics after feeling that it was time to move on from their positions at a fish store in the Springdale area. Neal approached Tori with the idea, and on February 14, 2026, Fresh Tides opened its doors. “You don’t realize how many people have a fish tank until you have a store,” Tori shares. “It’s a lot more than I ever realized. I wasn’t sure when we opened how many people would come to the shop.”

One of the ways Fresh Tides Aquatics is different from the average fish shop is that they’re very big on the education side of aquatics. “We want to build a community of people who are interested in knowing more about fish and who want to go beyond ‘it’s just a fish’,” Tori says. “Our experience and knowledge go a long way, and we’re working to bust a lot of the old-school myths, like aquariums are dirty and smelly and that fish don’t live long.” In this age of AI, Neal cautions against using it to get your aquatics information. “Talk to someone with the actual experience of keeping fish,” he recommends. “AI is useful for some things, but it doesn’t always achieve the nuance that you need.” Tori shared a story about someone who came in looking for an aquarium plant recommended by AI, and it turned out that although the plant was beautiful, it didn’t actually exist. So, get your information from your friendly neighborhood fish store instead!

Passionate and knowledgeable about their work, the deep care that Tori and Neal have for all things aquatic really shows up and makes this store unique. “We want to sell a good product, so our customers have a good experience,” Tori says. Neal adds that they are vigilant about the health of their fish, and they can usually tell if a new shipment contains fish who are likely to have an issue. “Our intuition is almost always right with that. If the fish is behaving a little off, that’s a sign of something that might show up down the road, after the fish is sold,” he explains. “So, we don’t sell any fish too quickly. We will quarantine and medicate until a fish recovers. We make sure we’re setting out good, strong fish for people.” This practice does cost money, but Tori and Neal care about every animal that comes into their shop, and they will do what is needed to give them excellent care.

Fresh Tides customers also receive excellent service and care. Neal and Tori will take the time to talk with a customer, understand their needs, make personalized suggestions, and discuss best practices. Neal mentioned that they will sometimes need to redirect people who come in wanting a monster ‘tank buster’ fish that may not be appropriate for their home and tank size. “There’s always something more appropriate we can steer people to,” Neal says. “We try to keep stock that is right for aquariums. We don’t keep fish that will survive if they’re thrown into a river or lake, like red-tail catfish or channel catfish, or even a goldfish. They’re not an appropriate fish, and I’d prefer to leave them in the wild. We try to be ethical in what species we recommend for people’s tanks.” There are definitely better options out there, and Fresh Tides Aquatics focuses on helping aquatics people be successful and stay in the hobby for the long run.

Besides selling shrimp and nano fish (fancy bettas, dwarf cichlids, schooling fish, etc.), Fresh Tides Aquatics also offers aquarium plant supplies, fertilizers, substrate, maintenance supplies, frozen food, aquascape décor, driftwood and rock, filters, heaters, lighting, and rimless tanks, as well as some aquatic-themed jewelry and books. The store is currently well stocked with everything you need for your setup, and Neal and Tori are on the move to expand their stock of aquarium plants (which have been increasing in variety and popularity since 2018), create more tank displays, and write more blog posts for their website.

“A lot of stores get complacent,” Tori observes, “But we still get excited when we get a new fish or plant. We actually care about the animals, and we try to very much stay on top of everything. We want to our store to be a nice place where you feel comfortable coming in to shop and get information. There’s no warehouse vibe here, no humidity, no water all over the floor. We don’t want that here, even though it’s normal for most fish stores. The impression we make on our customers is important to us.”

And they are definitely making a splash in the aquatics community!

Fresh Tides Aquatics is located at 7211 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227. You can contact the store at 513-376-6048 or visit their website at www.freshtidesaquatics.com.