Aquarium Adventure Chicago

Aquarium Adventure Chicago is an aquarium and reptile store in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Owners Dan and Janet Star opened it in April 2006 after visiting the original Aquarium Adventure in Columbus, Ohio. Their site describes 1,000 species of fish in 450 aquariums holding 20,000 gallons of water. We handled the aquarium store website design and development for the Aquarium Adventure Chicago website.

The store sells far more than fish. It carries reptiles, arachnids, live plants, feeders and aquarium furniture, and a service team designs, installs and maintains tanks and ponds. So the site had to sort a huge catalog of living things into pages people could browse, then send service leads to the right team.

Aquarium Adventure Chicago is an aquarium and reptile store in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Owners Dan and Janet Star opened it in April 2006 after visiting the original Aquarium Adventure in Columbus, Ohio. Their site describes 1,000 species of fish in 450 aquariums holding 20,000 gallons of water. We handled the aquarium store website design and development for the Aquarium Adventure Chicago website.

The store sells far more than fish. It carries reptiles, arachnids, live plants, feeders and aquarium furniture, and a service team designs, installs and maintains tanks and ponds. So the site had to sort a huge catalog of living things into pages people could browse, then send service leads to the right team.

Aquarium store website design for hobbyists and homeowners

Two kinds of people visit this site. First, hobbyists want to know what species are in stock and what the store can teach them. Second, homeowners and businesses want someone to build or care for a tank or backyard pond for them. Each group needs its own path and its own form.

For the look, we went underwater. Deep navy and teal backgrounds, full width reef and fish photography and a warm coral accent color carry through every page. In addition, Fraunces serif headlines pair with clean Heebo body text, so long care articles stay easy to read.

Inside the Aquarium Adventure site

We built a custom WordPress theme around the way the store is laid out. Here is what it includes:

• Livestock sections. Our Fish covers freshwater, live plants, saltwater fish, corals and invertebrates, plus pond fish and goldfish. A separate Reptiles and Amphibians section covers lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises and arachnids.
• Live Nutrition and Terrariums. Feeder options for fish and reptiles get their own pages, along with terrarium plants, critters and supplies.
• Service request form. The Services page explains design, installation, maintenance and pond care. Then a Gravity Forms request lets people pick residential or commercial work and the closest store.
• Fish Club page. Members save 25% on regularly priced livestock and plants, and the page spells out the yearly and lifetime membership options.
• Topic based contact form. Every page ends with a short form that asks what the visitor needs, from stock questions to careers, so each message reaches the right person.
• Ask Us Questions panel. A slide out panel in the header offers a call button, directions and a quick message form on any page.

Built to grow with the store

The site runs on a custom WordPress theme hosted on Kinsta behind Cloudflare, with Google Tag Manager for tracking. As a result, the Aquarium Adventure team can add species pages, post blog articles and update coupons on their own. Plus, the site publishes an llms.txt file so AI search tools can read its pages.

Cosmick Media builds websites for pet and specialty retailers in Hoffman Estates, Chicagoland and beyond. Explore our custom website development services, or talk to our team.

Aquarium store website design for hobbyists and homeowners

Two kinds of people visit this site. First, hobbyists want to know what species are in stock and what the store can teach them. Second, homeowners and businesses want someone to build or care for a tank or backyard pond for them. Each group needs its own path and its own form.

For the look, we went underwater. Deep navy and teal backgrounds, full width reef and fish photography and a warm coral accent color carry through every page. In addition, Fraunces serif headlines pair with clean Heebo body text, so long care articles stay easy to read.

Inside the Aquarium Adventure site

We built a custom WordPress theme around the way the store is laid out. Here is what it includes:

• Livestock sections. Our Fish covers freshwater, live plants, saltwater fish, corals and invertebrates, plus pond fish and goldfish. A separate Reptiles and Amphibians section covers lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises and arachnids.
• Live Nutrition and Terrariums. Feeder options for fish and reptiles get their own pages, along with terrarium plants, critters and supplies.
• Service request form. The Services page explains design, installation, maintenance and pond care. Then a Gravity Forms request lets people pick residential or commercial work and the closest store.
• Fish Club page. Members save 25% on regularly priced livestock and plants, and the page spells out the yearly and lifetime membership options.
• Topic based contact form. Every page ends with a short form that asks what the visitor needs, from stock questions to careers, so each message reaches the right person.
• Ask Us Questions panel. A slide out panel in the header offers a call button, directions and a quick message form on any page.

Built to grow with the store

The site runs on a custom WordPress theme hosted on Kinsta behind Cloudflare, with Google Tag Manager for tracking. As a result, the Aquarium Adventure team can add species pages, post blog articles and update coupons on their own. Plus, the site publishes an llms.txt file so AI search tools can read its pages.

Cosmick Media builds websites for pet and specialty retailers in Hoffman Estates, Chicagoland and beyond. Explore our custom website development services, or talk to our team.