**Based on memory, not a recent visit** This place is a pillar of my childhood. I used to take public transit and walk escorted as a wee child uphill both ways, yes, literally; in the blazing summer heat and in the dead of winter just to get here. I'd sing "The Ants Go Marching" on the way, out loud, and I loved every step of that mission. The store came up in a conversation recently and suddenly--boom--my whole childhood flashed before my eyes. A few days later I happened to drive by. I didn't go in this time, but just seeing it still standing after all these years gave me chills. It used to be a wonderland of fish tanks... walls of fish... and if memory serves, maybe there were bunnies or ferrets at one point too (I might be wrong on that, but hey, memories blur). Knowing it's still there means I have a chance to walk in again one day and revisit that magical space with grown-up eyes. If you're in the area, especially if you've got kids or a love of aquatic life, maybe go check it out and keep the spirit alive. Here's to places that stay standing, even when the years rush by. I'm 40+ now, and this little shop is part of what built me. read more

My recent visit to this Big Al's Aquarium was my second time in my lifetime. My usual Big Al's location that I frequent is in Thornhill, on my way home from work. It's interesting that I never wrote a review for this Scarborough location. Perhaps I didn't know how to react to my experience walking from the parking lot over to the store the first time I was here. A woman with her army of children were taking up the entire sidewalk as they walked to their minivan and there wasn't any room for me to walk. I politely said excuse me and she yelled at me as if I were one of her kids. And, yes, she was yelling at them along the way. She was obviously having a bad day. I was in the area last Sunday and decided to stop by. My betta fish likes lounging on a leaf hammock that suctions to his aquarium. A week ago, this leaf broke and I needed a replacement. Since he lost his lounging area, he has resorted to hiding behind larger rocks at the bottom of his home. Parking is limited at this store. I actually parked in front of Blinds To Go. Even though there were signs that said that it was for Blinds To Go customers, I decided to break this guideline and park. Seriously, this store wasn't busy. How often do you buy blinds?! I had a different family experience last Sunday. A woman was coming out of the store and calling her daughter to roll their cart out. Her husband went to fetch her. There was a couple ahead of me. The man held the door open for the girl to roll her cart out. Her mom thanked the man. We all went into the store after the coast was clear. I like that the betta accessories are pretty much in your face when you first walk in. I found a new leaf hammock for my pet fish. The leaf is larger. There were also aquarium accessories on sale. There was Popeye, for instance. I managed to text my boyfriend at the store and said that his bicep was bigger than Popeye's. He laughed. There was one guinea pig who looked so sweet and adorable. I don't know if it was male or female, but a bunny kept it company. I also liked looking at birds next door. Big Al's has a rewards program. What I found out through the young woman who cashed me out that the points system doesn't carry over from one location to the next. It sounds so odd to me. Each store has its own points system. Why? How convenient is that to everyone involved? It was also weird that she didn't ask if I wanted to sign up for this rewards program strictly at this store. In a way, I'm glad that she didn't. I don't come here all that often. After installing the new leaf hammock, my fish is back to lounging on it. I'm glad that he likes the larger size. Anyway, this store is huge. You can spend a good hour or two looking at everything from iguanas to goldfish, and all accessories for them to thrive and love. (39) read more

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They keep many small birds in a tiny cage and you can see some of them are injured because of it.. I got two budgies from there and one of my budgies has posture issues because he was cramped with like 30 other budgies in a cage that isn't even suitable for one budgie read more

This store is big with a lots of pets (not just fishes) and pet supplies. The staff are knowledgeable in their respective area. We've been there on and off througout the years and expanding beyond fishes are great. It adds so much more entertainment everytime we go especially for the kids. Everytime we go, there's always excitement and waiting to leave with many things. The fish section downstairs is always humid and it gets unbearable after a while especially during winter with our jackets. But definitely worth to be down down we can probably spend an hour or two looking at all the variety. Always watch their weekly specials, it's more worth it with the special. read more

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BUYER BEWARE: do your research or bring a knowledgeable friend along to guide you in your choices if you are a newbie. Pet's, supplies and entertainment all rolled into one! I usually don't go into a pet/aquarium stores with my hubby, I will wait for him in the car until he's done shopping. I'm so glad he convinced me to go in and check things out. Big Al's is HUGE 6,000 sq ft! On the main floor they have pet supplies, birds, reptiles, and small animals (You can pet the bunnies and they won't run away!). They even have a pet grooming station. Look for the directional signs on the floor that say "Enter the deep" and follow them to the basement where you will be amazed by the enormous fish tank that holds their resident shark and moray eel. If you're there on Tuesday night at 7pm you'll be lucky enough to witness them feeding the shark. They have two artificial waterfall installations that empty into koi ponds. They have rows and rows of fresh water as well as salt water fish, lots of variety to choose from. My hubby has purchased all his fish (tetras and fancy guppies) and all his live aquarium plants from here and his 40 gal tank has been flourishing now for a solid 4 months. The staff are knowledgeable but not the warmest. Make sure to sign up on their website to receive their weekly livestock specials but make sure to go early because they run out of stock quick. You can even trade in your fish (if it gets too big for your tank or if you just don't want it anymore) for 40% off of their retail value. Take your time and look around at all the different kinds of animals in the store, there's lots of interesting things to see. If you get thirsty there's a pop machine in the corner of the tank room. If you get hungry then go outside and grab a hot dog from the hot dog stand on the corner right next to Big Al's. Great place to bring the kiddos! read more

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awful staff! sold me the same thing twice convincing me it was different, staff knows very little about the care of animals and twice tried to (and did) sell the same heater and 2 filters that are far too big for my tank, (i asked for a size estimate and they were very wrong, it was giant.) all my animals are dead and i have big als to thank for giving bad advice, service and scummy sales practices. never coming here again and i hope you don't either. you are better off shopping with petsmart. read more

Gary is an absolute delight. He made sure we were taken care of and tended to our many of question. The team was very friendly and knowledgeable. We also had another gentleman assisted my husband in tank size+lids+sand+filters for an extended period of time. They even offered to assist us in bringing it out to our car. This was North York location. We are an hour and a half away and this is the service I would pay to go back to again. read more

I got really inspired after my visit to Big Al's Aquarium. No, I am not going to get myself a huge fish tank and start my little pet fish project. Though the colourful tropical fish looks so pretty swimming leisurely in the tanks. Geckos!! I want to have some pet geckos! Big Al's has such a good collection of different type of reptiles. They all looks so healthy and active and such beauties!! They also has tent sale where you can find discontinued items that is at a huge discount. How about a little stroller back pack for my dog for $15? read more

Big Al's Aquarium - Pet Stores Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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Today I had an appointment for my older cat Charlie for a trim. Charlie is 12. years old and has a real laid back personality. The poor guy recently got sugar diabetes. I have to give him 2 needles a day. We wanted to get him a trim to help the poor guy feel better. He lost alot of weight when he got sick. I got there on time for my appt.and I got turned away. I was treated very rudely by a short blonde haired worker. I was very disappointed. I felt sad when I left. I don't feel any business should treat a customer the way I was treated today. This location was the one in Hamilton on Hwy. 20. I feel it's terrible when a poor employee can ruin the name of an excellent store. I remember going there years ago. I think that's why I felt so sad when leaving. There was also comments made about how bony he was. Not really in a very nice way. I have not béen treated that poorly in quite a while. read more

Disgusting Store Practice bordering on Fraud! I purchased items on line for curve side pick-up. I arrive at the store and I am charged more than the invoice I received, and the invoice the customer associate dropped in the floor prior to attending to me. The front desk person brought the items up to the front to cash them out and had dropped the invoice on the floor without even looking at it. She then proceeded to weigh everything again, after it had been packed and an invoice completed. Surprisingly the new weight was more and she told me my invoice amount was wrong. I pointed to the invoice on the floor, according to her it is wrong too because it was identical to the one they issued me online. Surprise surprise, one price turned out to be a different price when you arrive at the store and line up for some time outside In the cold. The store did not make an attempt to honour or make things right, the new price that they had arbitrarily decided to conjure up was going to be final. Even though it was not a big difference I felt I was being nickel and dimed and defrauded. I walked out in disgust and ashamed for them. If they can do this to a small charge imagine what they can do with a bigger invoice. I do not know if this is a One-off with an overzealous employee at the end of her shift not doing her job of taking care of customers (the invoice she dropped was the same as I had been emailed and there was no need to redo it again) or this is what they are truly all about. Their original invoice matched mine, why did she feel the need to ignore it and make a new one because in her mind the original did not count? Disgusting store practice that I never expected to encounter from them. I hope they change this practice before people start going to the other five aquariums in the area. read more

Boy, were these guys ever disappointing! We've been in the store many a times as we gawked over their collection of corals and salt-water fish and planned to fill our 60 gallon tank with a beautiful salt water paradise we could admire and grow with. However, we actually got our first real purchasing experience last weekend when we decided to get a small 3 gallon tank and a betta for our toddler for Christmas. We approached one of the sales staff and basically explained that we wanted every equipment/tools to start a small tank for 1 betta fish. The young man who "helped" us was so ho hum with his knowledge of what we should be buying and doing for this fish. We really should have opted out right then. But against our better judgement, we decided to buy a tank, a plant, a betta and some water conditioner and food to start a small Christmas present for our little girl. When we came home, we did everything we were told to do but the betta died this morning, 2 days after the purchase and one day before Christmas eve. Asides from feeling sorry and sad for the little fish that died, I was very disappointed with the level of knowledge and customer service that Big Al's associate offered. It's disheartening to see a store like this one who claims to be the expert in one thing and hire someone so inexperienced/not passionate about the product they were selling. We ended up going out to a local PJ's pet store and purchasing another betta, a tank heater, thermometer, a live moss, extra PH testing kit and an apple snail to ensure the new betta fish doesn't meet the same fate as the last one. So far, the fish and the snail seem happy in their new home so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my little girl will have a happy Christmas morning. read more

I bought bettas from als aquarium... i bought them with SBD. I did a 1 wk treatment. Now all well and active. Though bettas are low maintenance they should still look and care for them. Bettas are unique. I saw a few times bettas are bery sick and floating. One is dead. So sad. read more

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It makes me sad that this Big Al's doesn't have better ratings. When I was setting up my aquarium I came here almost once a week and had good experiences each time. I loved waiting for their weekly flyer to be released to see if anything caught my eye. The quantities on sale are limited though, so try and come earlier in the week if they're having a good deal. This store is *huge* with small pets, reptiles, and aquarium supplies upstairs as well as an enormous fish selection downstairs. IMO they have a good system for fish shopping. You grab a clipboard, wander around and write down which fish you want / the tank # / quantity, and then go wait in line by the counter and they'll grab the fish for you. The lineup is first come first served and gets super busy during peak hours. A lot of the staff here are pretty young but I respect that and it's great to see how passionate they are about aquariums and fish! I've picked up lots of pointers from them along the way. My only complaint is that the plants I brought home unfortunately infested my tank with snails. Pro trip: Come Tuesday at 7:00 to watch them feed the shark! Actually, come at 6:50 because they start at 7 sharp and there are lots of families. read more

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I've ordered from these guys before in the past (online). I recently put in another online order & noticed they got the shipping address incorrectly. I contacted them online. I filled out an online ticket to have the shipping address corrected. We're now moving into two business days & they still haven't responded to my request. So here I am sharing my negative experience with these guys, and I've also been lucky enough to have to sit on hold with my credit card company for a little over an hour, because I had to request a stop payment. I've also filed both an online review & a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Their business practice of keeping paying customers waiting doesn't sit well with me. read more

Wouldnt shop here ever. Went to Edmonton on a day trip specifically for fish, so we went to Big Al's. huge mistake. Upon walking in we were pretty much shoved around by employees, so many employees you couldnt even shop, they're currently displaying sick fish (tumours, missing eyes, chewed up fins, HORRIBLE CONDITION FISH) which the employees KNEW ABOUT apparently? , after realizing how horrible this place was we went to a different store where they told us Big Al's has a problem with selling sick/dying fish. 0/10 experience. would not reccomend to anyone looking for fish! read more

Big Al's Aquarium - Pet Stores Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

If your into aquariums and collecting fish - this is the place to go. It's a chain with many locations across the GTA. I do find some locations better than others. I prefer the Vaughn and Scarborough locations. The fish definitely last longer at these two stores. At a few locations, the fish died a few days later. They have a great selection of fresh water and tropical fish at competitive prices. They carry a huge inventory of tanks and accessories. I find the staff excellent and very knowledgeable. Kids would love a visit. You don't need to buy anything, just look at the colorful fish. They also have a huge shark tank and shark with preset feeding times so people can stop by and watch. read more

I love this place. I come here for my pets supplies. The store is pretty big. There's a lot of pets and supplies at this location. Clean and organized store. The staff is good and n know a lot. I love seeing the different animals and reptiles. My favorite is the fish. read more

Poor customer service, the male staff did not give me guaranteed because I had bought more than 2 fishes.

Some of theirs prices are good I was there to buy a feeder fish to start off. But employee told me their not really good pets if you work there aren't you suppose be condisending and say something like it's good start if you don't want to spend money on a more expensive fish and they'll die right away. Anyway most employees and customers that shop there look really racist and red neck. The store in Vaughn is even worst I wanted to join the points system and she replied something about I have to buy 1000$ worth of product in order to join but anyway it was a long time I don't remember what she said but it seemed like only rich white people can only shop there. read more

Hit and a miss with the fish. Half the time they come equipped with ick. WAY over priced. Everything is cheaper at petsmart. Their warehouse deals are a load of crap. read more

My wife bought a pet rat for our daughter here. Rat was sneezing they moment we got it home and within a few days that rat had a full blown respiratory infection. The Employee had recommended a special bedding that upon closer inspection appeared to be full of paper dust which is terrible for little Rat sinuses and lungs. Store bought Rats have an inherent bacteria in their sinuses called Mycoplasma pulmonis. The only rats guaranteed to be free of the mycoplasma bacteria are labratory rats. Mycoplasma pulmonis is the most common cause of respiratory infections in rats! When a rat gets stressed or is exposed to harsh environmental situations the mycoplasma bacteria multiply and create Pneumonia. Pneumonia in rats can cause permanent damage to the lungs and death if left untreated. We returned the rat and were advised they would call us when a new batch arrived in a few days. Two weeks passed and no call, so I reached out to them instead and was advised that they received another batch of Rats and they had forgotten to call us. The new batch were now sold out again. Terrible customer service! If you want to make this right Big Al, then call my wife and secure us a healthy rat. You know who we are. read more

DON'T BUY LIVE PLANTS YOU WILL GET SNAILS!! Ever since I purchase live plants from this store I've been plagued with snails and now this tiny little eel looking thing (hundreds of them) are in my tank. I purchase tetras because they are beautiful, active and super colourful. Every time I purchase, typically 6 at a time... I end up with one that survives. I don't think the fish are healthy to start with. I WILL BUY FILTER SUPPLIES, BUT NEVER ANYTHING LIVING AGAIN read more

Review from a longtime client ( well a former longtime client until today) First floor: vendors helpful and considerate; they give you good advice about the technical elements of your fish tank and the choices you need to make; they go out of their way to help you... Fish and Plant level: vendors are useless and not much interested in helping newcomers: the standard answer you get is "fill out this form and come back..."; you don't feel welcome (they spend their time discussing among themselves and you might disturb that harmony), some vendors seem to be true experts in their field but they are arrogant with newcomers and others have no experience ("no I don't know nothing about plants...do you still want those on your list?") read more

Still good store. Gone there since it opened. Careful of goldfish as they are regularly stressed; plecos are good; needs more snails and staff are ok; alot of hit and miss with knowledge of fish and products, but they look very young and probably first job. Still ok read more

Yes this store is huge and has a lot of selections, especially in fish. ALTHOUGH the quality of these fish are far below standards. The fish in tanks (that are all great beginner fish) are stored in 10-20 gallon tanks in amounts 50 or more at a time. The tanks also look like they are not maintained to the full capacity as they should be to keep fish in amounts this large, and little to no decoration has been added to the tank to make the fish feel safe. In result, many of the fish they sell to customers are sick or do not stand a chance at living more than a month in a beginner tank. You can buy great aquarium equipment from the store although I would not recommend purchasing fish from this store if you are a beginner. Often large stores selling and breeding fish find it hard to maintain the quality of life for fish as their numbers are too large to care for each and every fish. A lot of the beginner fish they sell you will become sick or extremely stressed once moved from their tank and will require a tremendous amount of care for what should be relatively strong and hearty fish species. Be prepared to learn a lot about fish sicknesses, caring for them, and the COST of fish medicine if you are to purchase fish from Big Als. read more

Terrible terrible terrible. The store is always such a mess and it is disgusting how they treat the animals there. Between all the dead fish and sick reptiles it is an awful sight for an animal lover. They need to take better care of the store and keep things cleaner. It is safe to say I will never be going back to this location. read more

I went there with my family to looking into setting up or fish tank / invest in some proper equipment, I was shocked at the lack of customer service from anyone in the store. The downstairs is what really blew my mind as far as customer service.. I walked around for a bit thinking almost all the staff were busy taking care of something at the counter.. After circling the front desk a few times awkwardly I finally approach the young sales staff and ask them if one of them wasn't too busy to help me (they were all looking at one of their phones playing a game or something) I basically was told there went any fish that I could really get with out investing in one of their tanks. Probably a good store for the experienced but as far as going there as a novice I would think you're in the wrong store. read more

This is a 2 part review. Do not buy dry goods from here, if you are buying maks sure you read the receipt and stipulations. 2 days ago I bought a small marineland filter for my backup tank as I had a fish that was in need of separation from my community tank and the existing filter stopped. I purchased the filter fairly late in the evening (8pm). When I got it home, to my surprise it wouldn't fire up, tried multiple outlets all the good stuff, no dice. Seeing as though I had to utilize this tank, I was forced to head over to wal mart to pickup a similar filter to ensure the health of the fish. Today I attempted to return the filter as I no longer needed it, to my surprise, they do not return product, only exchange or offer a 10% credit (good deal eh?!?!). Stating that the product is used and they were able to get the filter working. All in all, dry goods.. Do not buy! Second part... I've been dealing with Chris (shaver) in livestock extensively over the last month or so. His knowledge, personality, expert advice and experience sets him apart from anywhere else! If you are going to purchase livestock, definitely make sure you track him down! In conclusion, I will no longer purchase dry goods from here.. But will continue to shop with Chris for my livestock needs. read more

This pet store is well stocked in comparison to Other local stores. The staff was friendly but they won't come up to, you have to reach out to them. I love how organized, well lit and clean this store is. read more

They have a massive selection of fresh water, marine, reptiles, amphibians, etc. Their staff is informed and kind. All of their fish are healthy (for a fish store) and ive never gotten ick or anything from their tanks ever. Their plants do have snails, but grab 4 assasin snails and you are golden. Love big al's! read more

Big al's is a great store... but I hate the employees, a lot of them are pretty unenthusiastic about their job. They get annoyed when I ask for help. And they assume I know nothing about fish-keeping. I was there with my friend and he picked out some kind of Molly and without even knowing his setup they didn't let him buy it because they thought he was inexperienced. I was once picking out plants, and the employee was very annoyed and didn't have any desire to be helping me. After he'd take out a plant I like, he'd sigh and say unenthusiastically if there are anymore, when I say yes I almost get an eye roll. And my first time I was there a couple of months ago I was wandering aimlessly and it was obvious but not one employee had any desire to ask anyone in the whole store if they needed assistance... people have to go out of their way to look for help from employees. The store is great but the employees make my shop their a lot worse. read more

I absolutely love this place. The staff are educated, friendly, helpful, and in it for the love of animals. They have an amazing selection of live-feed for reptiles. I own two adorable, 20 year-old leopard geckos, and I'm able to spoil them rotten with wax worms, silkworms, butterworms, and copious amounts of crickets, mealworms and super worms. They are always stocked, here. I've never had trouble with getting what I need. They also have a points program for loyal customers, offer a loyalty program for some of the foods they sell (my cats LOVE Fussie Cat cat food); Big Al's offers a "buy 12, get the 13th free" program. Their coral and aquarium stock is unparalleled in the city. I love hanging out in the basement just to look at all the amazing species they've got. They're located off Kennedy, convenient parking behind the store, and a bus stop right out front. If you own anything other than a standard cat or dog, check this place out if you haven't already... there are things for cats and dogs, but this store is definitely more for the exotic pet and pet owner. read more

The place is really nice and colourful their fish selection is large but the staff at the fish department are very rude and are not very confront-able almost as seeming they don't want u to talk to them the fish there are most of the time sick and prices are a bit high But the staff in the upper level are very nice and very passionate with helping u with ur needs read more

The store was dirty and it smelled. Too many pocket pets and birds for sale. Couldn't even find the live fish. Got what I needed and bailed.

Just bought a pump on sale at the store in Toronto. The pump was not working. Since I live in Ottawa I tried to contact the store in Ottawa and they would not accept the return and told me to call the store in Toronto. When i called the store in Toronto they told me to bring the pump to the store in Ottawa. Anyway I am suprise that a store like this will not make sure the product works before putting the product on sale. I would put zero star if I can but too bad i have to give one star. Well, it's a lesson learn, do not buy anything if you cannot return to the store you bought it. Even it has the same store in your area. read more

BIG ALS IS A RIPOFF Hi my name is Jason Martin, I have been a costemer of Big Al's for over 10 years! I recently purchased 3 anemone's from your North York store IN CANADA, 1 on Friday the 20/October/2017 & it had done so well that I decided to purchase 2 more the following Thursday/26/October! One of the two didn't look 100%. When I ask the sale person why it was like that, he replied "my boss left the lights on all night" but that they where fine. The other was being hosted by a maroon lighting clown fish and look perfect! So I took his word for it and purchased two of them! On Friday/27/October in the morning I went to check on them and the one that I asked about was dead.I pulled it out of my tank put it in the Big Al's bag it came in and put it in the fridge because I had to go to work and didn't want it to deteriorate anymore as I've heard that they turn to mush really fast! The next day Saturday/28/October/2017 I returned to the store in hopes that they would atleast replace it with another! Only to be told by another sales person that they can't its store policy no guarantee on marine livestock! But he can get 10% off of my next purchase! But if the second one dies within 5 days he'll give me another one!? And why wasn't I informed at the time of purchase that it was a final sale and was not guaranteed?! If They did I wouldn't have purchased the second anemone! I will never purchase anything from a big als pets again! And will never recommend Big Al's, in fact I will only speak of this occasion and I was for a lack of a better word RIPPED OFF! Thanks Jason Martin read more

amazing aquarium/fish selection. they also sell small live animals and birds, which i'm not crazy about happening, but their staff is very knowledgeable and small animal care nonetheless. I guess until selling small animals in pet stores is outlawed just like selling dogs finally was, we can't expect businesses not to take part... le sigh. read more