Classic City Aquariums has reopened its doors inside the Georgia Square Mall in Athens, Georgia, offering a nostalgic aquatic retreat for locals. Co-owners Jimmie Rattles and Adam Daniel revived the business after closing its previous location, blending personal history with community interest in fishkeeping. The store emphasizes sustainable coral propagation and provides aquarium services across the region.
The idea for Classic City Aquariums originated from a casual sketch on a bar napkin at The Catch 22 Gastropub, drawn by friends Jimmie Rattles and Robert Elder. Rattles, who moved to Athens in 2000, turned his lifelong hobby of maintaining saltwater tanks—spanning about 25 years—into a profession. He worked at an aquarium shop for seven years before starting independent tank services for three years and launching the business with Elder.
The original store operated in Watkinsville, Georgia, for around eight years until its closure in April 2024. During the early days, Elder faced a diagnosis of esophageal cancer, prompting Rattles and Elder to enlist Athens native Adam Daniel for temporary support. Daniel, who had known the pair from his own year-long stint at a fish store, handled store shifts and service clients. Tragically, Elder passed away about two years later, and Daniel acquired the ownership from Elder's family, becoming equal partners with Rattles since 2018.
The duo shifted to off-site services for the last year and a half before securing a lease in the Georgia Square Mall, a once-bustling site now mostly vacant with redevelopment plans announced in May 2020. The new location, formerly an arcade that evoked childhood memories for Daniel, opened in December 2025. Rattles noted the swift positive response on social media, with strong engagement after posting about the lease.
Classic City Aquariums sells freshwater and saltwater fish, corals, plants, and dry goods, while offering installation, maintenance, and relocation services extending from Monroe to Tennessee and areas like Athens, Conyers, Elberton, and Johns Creek. The store plans to introduce sharks and stingrays soon and focuses on farming its own corals to align with conservation efforts, avoiding ocean harvesting. Daniel highlighted the rewarding customer relationships and the personalized nature of aquarium setups, while Rattles expressed optimism about the mall's future evolution and early gains in new clients.
"It was just a hobby that I loved, and it escalated," Rattles said of his journey. Daniel added, "Everybody’s tank should be a little bit different because that’s the whole point. It’s your own little slice of the ocean or the lake."