AQUARIUMS EXTRAORDINAIRE I recently acquired a used aquarium, so excited after not having one for almost 20 years. This store was recommended, and I was blown away! One of the best fish stores I've ever been in! And I'm 70+. Can't wait to get my tank cleaned & ready to go. COME HERE FOR PETS! read more

I was inquiring about a female jumping spider and they happen to have one!! They were soo accommodating and very helpful!! The young lady even gave me pointers and did my inclosure for my new spider!! She was amazing!! Definitely will be going back to that business!! read more

I love this place so much that I drive about over an hour almost every weekend just go there and see what they have new there. They have all types of exotic species of fish I thought I'd never see in Minnesota. There customer service is great, very polite and will help answer any questions you have. Also their prices seem pretty fair for the quality of fish they have. I've personally never had a problem with any of the fish I've bought from them. They make feel like my dream fish tank can become a reality. Already half way there!! Got my beautiful arowanas from them now thinking getting a stingray from them soon!! Thanks Forest Lake Pets!! I love you guys pls don't ever close! read more

I absolutely love this petstore. I've been coming here since I was a kid. I got my first leopard gecko from here in 2005. It's been about 6 years since I've been back, and I recently just came back. Now that I am older and have a lot more knowledge on reptiles and aquatics, I really wish they would stop selling the calci-sand from reptiles. There are not any good benefits from it besides excessive herpetologist visits and dead reptiles. It causes impaction. They recommended the calcium sand to me. For future reptile keepers, use the rubber pads from Amazon they don't hold bacteria, doesn't need to be changed every week, and is safer for ALL REPTILES. I love the vibe of this petstore. I just wish they had a little big bigger area to keep their animals in for example, the fish. Some of these fish are so large they cannot turn around in their tanks. I like to come here for reptile decor and cat toys. I also get my live feeders from here. I recommend this place, just join fb groups based on the reptile you want to get to learn the care and basics. Then read and watch YouTube videos to understand the importance of husbandry and the correct uvb lights. Never go with the coil uvb lights. You always need a linear zoomed or arcadia bulb. There is no way around it with any species of reptiles. The store is always very clean and when you walk in, especially once you get to the back of the store, where the fish are, it's like stepping into another universe. Very cool. Highly recommend. read more

Their staff are educated personnel they're always willing to answer all my questions and their selection is huge!!

This is the only store that offers products for serious fish hobbyists that also have breeding programs that need specific products that big chains don't offer. The best thing I like about the store is the prices are even comparable to online stores and better than other local stores I've been to. For it being a small mom and pop shop their customer service is better than some I've stopped in. The staffs are friendly and doesn't shy away. It's one of the few independent own business that I've actually been asked if I need help or have questions. They are not pushy to the point of annoyance if I need help like big corporation retail but not ignoring me as a customer like some independent own store. read more

This is an amazing mom and pop pet store. They have every little thing you could need and walking back into their fish room feels like another world. Wonderful!! I am just getting my tank ready for fish and have been visiting all the Twin Cities area fish stores, and will definitely be buying my fish from them!! read more

With the weather being relatively nice on Sunday, and after hearing that THIS was the place to check out for aquatic pets, I went ahead and drove up to Forest Lake to explore their namesake pet stop. I must say that Forest Lake Pets is just an okay store, however I expected much, much more. There was a lack of display tanks, the stock was not as exotic as I had anticipated, and the store itself seemed cluttered in areas. The saltwater selection is minimal to nonexistent, and the freshwater plants are not very well-maintained. On the other hand, the freshwater stock looks very healthy, the employees are incredibly helpful, and prices seem better than other LFS in this area. My suggestion to them would be to drop reptiles, expand the markup-heavy saltwater selection, and work on the overall ambiance of the place. Then it WOULD be the place to go in the Metro. read more

I use to go there often , and sure their fish are good, and they do carry a good size selections of exotic fish , some will blow your mind with their price The good : lots of fish and supplies , price are ok to good . Most of the time they're willing to give you store credits for your fish .. And cut you a deal too if you're buying stuffs that day . The bad : yeah the fish room can be a bit warm , but that's not the worst part ::: infections parasite , other infestation, I've bought a few shrimps from them before and didn't really notice it till my main tank was infested with Planaria!!! My fault for breaking a golden rule : about pouring store water into my tank ... But when I went back and found the source , that it was THEIR tank that had started it all, I informed them , but the young guy was clueless.. Till I show him and he was like "oh, haven't noticed them before".. And did nothing about it , many months later I went back , to look for other fish and glance in the shrimp tank, it's crawling with Planaria.. It's like trying to pass the plague to others read more

If you like aquariums, this is the place to get your stock!!! Their inventory is huge and they call it "Minnesota's largest free public aquarium" as a joke, but it is true in terms of the number of species housed there. It is especially nice if you are into large aquariums, predatory fish and oddball fish (like members of monsterfishkeepers.com), but they have a ton of small fish also. Their saltwater section is pretty small, but I dont do saltwater tanks anyway, so it has never really bothered me. One of the greatest things is that the staff are actually knowledgeable compared to most other pet stores. They wont tell you that a Pacu or Oscar will be fine in a 10 gallon for life. Aquarists and freshwater fish lovers, definitely check this place out. Thought I would add some fish i've bought through them so you know what kind of fish might be in stock: Datnoids, hoplo catfish, Goeldiella eques catfish, numerous other catfish and plecos, peacock bass, arowanna, numerous tetra species, numerous species of African, Central American, and South American cichlids, wild(sometimes) and non-wild bettas (Siamese fighting fish), motoro stingrays, reticulated stingrays, bichirs, etc read more

They are the only ones in the state of Minnesota that carry Grandma Maes puppy entree. We just moved to Minnesota (back for me) from Arizona and were shocked to find our golden Retreiver's food was rare here. EVERYONE comments on his coat and how handsome he is plus his teeth are very healthy so we did not want to switch him. We called this place and they had their last few bags and said to come on in! The price was very reasonable too. They won't be getting it any longer so we will have to order off amazon. The young gal who rang me up was real sweet and chatted a bit. I'd go back if they continued to carry grandma maes but even so it was a nice visit! read more

One of my top threee places in the state for fish. I drive from St Paul when I need supplies or fish. They have great knowledge and an amazing supply of fish. Very unique options and great staff. read more

About a month and a half ago I bought 4 red eye tetras. I didn't think to look at the fish being a trusting sort that I am. when I got home excited to add some new fish to my aquarium I noticed 2 of the fish where missing 1/2 their faces. 3 of the 4 have died and it has all jeopardized my set up. I know that I should have looked at the fish while I was at the store and I also know just looking at the fish you could see at least 2 where not sellable. I wont be going back sorry to say read more

In terms of fish and supplies, I never had a problem with this pet store. But I went here last Monday looking for a water pump and instead found that they now sell reptile supplies and reptiles and amphibians. Let's just say they should stick to fish ha! They had a sliding glass door and behind it they had many diff small aquariums and critter carriers that had diff snakes, lizards, and frogs. I myself have red eye tree frogs and saw that they had one.. The lady working said they actually had 3, I asked to take a closer look and she let me do so on my own. I opened the glass door and found that it was indeed heated and seemed to be heated from the fish dept where they keep all there fish in the huge back area. If you know anything about frogs then u should know that they need humidity. Behind these doors it was like desert heat! No humidity at all. I took out the small critter tank to find 3 frogs in the following conditions: 1 was asleep (appearing healthy, just because it was asleep.. These frogs are strictly nocturnal), the 2nd one was awake and roaming around, the 3rd was dead, yep dead and dried up from the heat who knows how long it was setting in there.. It was like 5 or 6 pm. The woman knew nothing about how to take care of these frogs, which she openly admitted to me. How do u sell animals u know nothing about?! She didn't know if they were captive bread or born from wild caught parents, nothing ugh! I asked her if I could take the 2 live babies "off her hands" for a discounted price and she only gave me $5 off... Whatever, I just couldn't leave them there to die. She then astonished me even more when she ran around the store looking for something to put them in and came back with a small dusty cardboard box that a fish tank decoration came in!! She then threw a piece of bone dry moss from where they kept the frogs, into the dirty little box and threw my baby frogs into it! I was so angry. I just wanted to get them home so I could hopefully save the life of the one that looked sick! This pet store should NOT be able to sell reptiles. I'm happy to report, almost a week later, that both the baby red eye tree frogs are doing much better. They seem to have been eating and putting on a little more weight and they have there bright green color back (they were a brown color, which means they were stressed) and the one baby is now sleeping during the day like he should be :) I'm just glad I came across them when I did, otherwise I fear the worst may have happened to them. I made a complaint to ASPCA about my experience and I still need to call the store and find out who sells them frogs, then I plan on letting them know they should not supply them anymore. They also had a baby albino pacman frog, I wish I had room for him because I would have got him too... He may still be there, someone should go rescue him :) read more

I have had fish tanks in my life for over 35 years. I currently have a tropical and a reef tank. Forest Lake Pets is by far the best source for fish in the Twin Cities. The staff is knowledgeable and if they don't know the answer they will find out. If they don't have on display what you are looking for they will order it for you and acclimate it in their high end systems. Sure, you can go to a few other places in the cities, but if you want reasonably priced, and a broad variety of selection go here. read more

Good selection on tropical freshwater fish. Very competitive prices. Does not have as large of a selection of saltwater. Has great prices on marineland aquariums and fair prices on most dry goods. Worth the trip from the cities. read more

This place is a must go for fish lovers! They have a huge assortment of fresh and salt water fish (no brackish though). The staff is super knowledgable about fish and they are always cleaning the tanks when I'm there. They also have great deals most of the time! read more

They have a good selection of freshwater fish available. Their prices on fish, aquariums and accessories are also very good compared to other fish shops in the Twin Cities. This is the main place I go to when I need new tanks, fish and live feeders (black worms, glass worms, feeder goldfish/guppies). If you're looking for a tank, make sure to ask about tank deals because they usually have the $1 per gallon deal. read more

Great place, awesome freshwater fish selection. Definitely the largest in the state. One of my favorite shops to go to.

If you are looking for an aquarium related store, this is a good spot. I went in for dog stuff hoping to save a trip to the cities and the selection was...at best...disappointing. Limited. I was in there for about 15 minutes and no one offered me help or even acknowledged me. Also- map shows it on the east side of the road and it's on the west. And it's a pretty busy street to walk across... read more

They really know their stuff. This is the only shop I go to. The fish club is awesome too!

Amazing "fish" store, can't say much about other pets, plants or equipment, but holy cow their selection of fish makes up for it. Theres maybe fifty 20 gallon tank setups with all diffrent kinds of fish. Many you can't find at big chain stores like petsmart. They also have better prices then the chain stores because I'm sure they're fish breeders. Workers know about the fishes and provide frendly and excellent customer service. If you were looking for a "fish" store like I was, look no further. read more