Reviews of Big Al's Aquarium Supercentres - Ottawa (Fish Shop)

Ben Mckinley

Amazing selection. Healthiest display animals I've seen at a pet store.

Mike Tomkins

Helpful staff that actually seem to know what they are talking about when it comes to fish. Not pushy either.

Be Kind

Great place to buy fish and aquatic plants. Friendly staff.

Calogero Cumbo

Knowledgeable staff

Taylor Brown-Loux

My favourite place! Staff is awesome always helpful and super friendly! Very clean too :)

Ella Fontaine

Great selection of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. I have always had a good experience with the staff. They have lots of aquariums and terrariums.

Jrod macolicious

Great staff Awsome place!! If you have not ever visited this place you are missing out big time... Gotta love it... Thanks big AL'S.. KEEP ME POSTED!

Jrod macolicious

Great staff Awsome place!! If you have not ever visited this place you are missing out big time... Gotta love it... Thanks big AL'S.. KEEP ME POSTED!

Armin Last

Great supplies, a lot of fish to choose from.

Aaron Francis

Great selection

Eric Mallory

Our fish tank had the case of green water and instead of recommending a $150 uv machine to cut the algae. The staff recommended a blackout and a product to cut down the growth. My tank looks amazing. Knowledge staff and fun environment if you want to have aquatic fish!

Robert Larocque

Here is why I'm giving you a 1 start. I know it has been hard since covid has started and the curbside pickup makes it quite difficult but when someone comes from Petawawa to Ottawa and has to travel 2 hours please inform them that the fish they are requesting is not available as they are sick. Also when you say you're going to sell someone a rainbow shark and you give them a bala shark instead and ensure them that they have the right fish just to find out when they get all the way home that they don't. These two fish are distinctively different this should not be a mistake that a fish store makes.

Steven Laforce

Best place for reptile in the area

Berger D

Best fish, amphibian and reptile item store in Ottawa.

Amsterdom

I buy all my fish stuff here. Really happy to call this my LFS.

Amelie Brisebois

When your white tip shark dies, don't get another one

Stephanie MacPherson

I have been here so many times over the last few years - from setting up a new salt water aquarium to getting a new lizard enclosure and then to frequent trips to buy crickets. I feel like the service has for sure gotten worse over the years. I was hopeful with the new management take-over that things would get better, but it's not so. If you know what you want, call ahead to check if it's in stock. Though even calling ahead will sometimes result in a trip for nothing as whoever answered the phone didn't actually check to see if the item was there or not. Recently, I've had to go elsewhere to find pin-head crickets as they so rarely have them in, even if you specifically special order them (still waiting for them to call about the order I placed 3 weeks ago). They also don't appear to feed their crickets, so unless you go on the day they arrive, your container will be half dead. I mentioned that the last time and they now only do special orders because "they just die so quickly". They also don't do refunds, even on unopened boxes. All you'll get is store credit. If you can shop elsewhere, I would suggest supporting a smaller local place where the service will be better. That's my two cents!

Philippe Nadon

(Translated) Very low prices, excellent service. The employees know their product very well. (Original) Prix tres bas, service excellant. Les employes conaisse tres bien leur produit.

Luc “Bib Fortuna” Dec

Great service and knowledgeable staff. We bought food for a frog and a turtle.

Joel 1234

I when to buy assassin snails today. They sold me a different species and one was dead.

James Colin

Better variety of fish for aquarium compare to PetStore.

Rush Mountmore (Yoshii)

Great selection

jean-marie fortier

(Translated) Nice varieto commercial fish place (Original) Belle place varieto de poissons commercial

Inesa Kornishev

They are in the middle of the moving process, not everything is set up yet. Poorly managed at the time of my visit. Hopefully they would get better.

Haris Malik

Nice variety of fish but would be nice for some more exotic fish.

sweet tooth

If you're looking for anything related to fish aquariums, this is the place. It also has a pretty good selection of tanks for reptiles. Huge selection of accessories for fish tanks. If you're looking for anything related to that, they're almost certain to have it. Great selection of various fish and snails as well. I do have to say though, because I think this is also an important part of making for a enjoyable shopping experience, that a couple of the employees were a little cold, but there were also two of them that were extremely friendly. But all in all I would definitely return and recommend this to anybody in the market for fish, fish tanks and accessories.

Richard J J Bridle

Everything for your fish and staff who are knowledgeable about it all.

Stephanie Kingsbury

How this place has any stars is beyond my comprehension. I have been involved in the fish scene for many years now both in fresh and salt water. I had to stop coming to this store because of the conditions I would see the fish in. It was literally like walking down death row. So many beautiful fish dead, or lying on the bottom gasping and breathing heavily dying. Fish with parasites, active infections and so on. Don’t buy from these places out of guilt because then you are contributing to problem, the second you buy that fish to save it your signing another up for doom, and ultimately you keep the cycle going. This place needs to bough over by a new management team cause it’s deplorable. Please do not shop here even for dry goods!!

Kisha Rasmussen

Always a good experience. Staff is very knowledgeable.

Tony L

The lights aren’t working in a lot of their tanks but the store doesn’t seem to be bothered by it or care enough to do anything. I’ve seen customers resort to using their cell phone flashlight to see inside the tanks.

Tony L

The lights aren’t working in a lot of their tanks but the store doesn’t seem to be bothered by it or care enough to do anything. I’ve seen customers resort to using their cell phone flashlight to see inside the tanks.

Ashley Barber

It's a beautiful store. They have so many exotic fish to choose from as well as affordable supplies. Some very knowledgeable staff that go above and beyond to help. I just wish their shark had more room to swim.

Dave B

Store isnt open anymore.....literally. They have the entrance blocked off - phone is apparently disconnected (I called 8 times today - no answers). People line up outside - but no one ever sees an employee. Too bad - use to be a good place to shop :(

Katia G.Marchal

(Translated) Very good customer service and a wide variety of products (Original) Très bon service à la clientèle et grande variété de produits

Thomas Leroux

Staff was rude.

Diane Chaachouh

It has a great selection of fish, supplies etc. It's a one stop store. The employees are pleasant and helpful and can answer any question you have. They're open 7 days a week and their hours are good. They have a points card in which you can redeem in store towards your future purchases. There is parking outside the store. Their prices can be a little high but they do have plenty of sales also. They take good care of their fish and have a large selection. It's a little out of my way, but changed to Big Al's after my numerous problems with Pet Smart at Heron Gate Plaza. I decided then that Big All's is where I will go from now on. Love this place and the people.????????

Benoit Brind'Amour

Best aquarium sotre in Ottawa. Wide range of options. Fresh and salt water fish. Good prices as well. Just be ready to wait for service to buy fishes specially on the weeekends since it takes time to collect fishes from the tanks.

ITCHYBEE

Big Al's is great ! You can get many supplies for your reptiles & your fish & many many more !! It's to bad they closed the one in Kanata cause driving from Bellscorners is quite the distance. ????????????

jacob

Always have a nice selection of fish, plants, tanks, filters, etc. Best place to get the more specialized things or rarer fish and plants for aquariums.

Melanie Tremblay

Best place in Ottawa to buy fish. Can get busy so plan on spending a bit of time here. Lots of fish to choose from and knowledgeable staff. Sales start on Friday's; you can check on website for sales and also sign up to receive e-mails.

alexandre bergeron

Best fiah store

Lynn Roy

Nice store with lots of choice. The only thing is I have yet to buy a fish that does not have ick.

Clement Chutskoff

While I visited there was about double the number employees as customers yet none of them seemed to notice or care that multiple tanks of theirs had fish dying in them from ich (a contagious disease).

Mo F

Sadly the shark tank water wasn't impressive, used to seem better kept ans clearer, he also seemed happier... probably because there also used to be a bit of a sound veqrier created in front of his tank...it's a shame the young lady that over a year or so ago worked there no longer does, as she really kept good care of him and also did wonderful feeding and knowledge about his type of fish etc . demonstration which would be wonderful for small field trips for stay at home learners right now... March 2021

Monique Bouchard

Fantastic selection on fish and other fun creatures to choose from for a pet. Staff was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. They go out of their way to make sure every question is answered and you have everything you need to assist with your fish's needs. Thank you for the great service.

colin cummings

Very friendly and helpful there is a vast variety of salt water and fresh water fish the also have a amazing reptile area

Guy Beland

Good store for fish and reptile supplies , big inventory love it

Janet Lavern

The staff are so knowledgeable and terrific with this newbie

Valerie Courchaine

Amazing place with lots of stuff for fish and fishtank just love it and my daughter is always amazed to see the live toothless shark in there

Marc Evans

Great store for aquarium supplies and livestock. Knowledgeable and friendly staff with good rotating selection of stuff. I've been using them for about 20 years now.

James Péladeau

You have to chase after employees sometimes for help but they're always super nice and helpful! I buy my feeders there regularly. I've had zero problems. I would HIGHLY recommend you go to Big Al's. Especially if you normally go to PetSmart!

B Inthavong

Wide variety, staff has lots of knowledge, place is clean and organized.

David Saunders

Just got a new little turtle as a pet, I drove by this place many times, and I thought it be a great place to get some of my starred up supplies and equipment. Well the moment, I walked into the store I was greeted with a big hello from the cashier a great way to start. After that two of the employees took me down to the section I needed and took their time to tell me in a very nice friendly professional manner things that I must have an things that I may want into the future for my turtle. They were very well knowledgable and not in a rush and seem to really know their stuff I was truly impressed. They didn’t push products on me or certain brand type they gave me down to earth honest opinions also based on their own pets at home and products they have used and tried. Their level of friendliness mixed Perfectly with professionalism and detailed knowledge of all questions I asked them made me feel at ease knowing my new little turtle would have the perfect home and food. I would also like to add one of the products I bought a small part broken no fault of the store and here’s what really REALLY impressed me about Big Al’s Aquarium Store when I returned the store to get a replacement for the broken one. They were so nice and the return even though I had lost my receipt they found my purchase on their computer quickly and even apologized many many times for something that wasn’t even their fault because it was manufactured in another country. So for all the above reasons from the employees to the great products and awesome return policy...... This business owners and staff from my experience have sure earned this BIG 5 STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommendation from me!!! Our pets are an Extension of our family from Nature. For all the joy pets give us, Give them the Very Best in return. Get in Your car and go check out BIG AL’s AQUARIUM SUPERCENTRE Your pet will thank you!!???????????? David Saunders

Nancy Syre

I came into the store today and found the service great. We have had some issues with our Betta and the lady I spoke with was extremely knowledgeable and never condesending ever. Definitely will go back.

Marc-Andre L

Good service Easey access with parking

Maserati Last

Very helpful staff and beautiful fish

Brad Clarke

Great staff, good selection of products for fresh and saltwater fish and aquariums. Similarly, they have a diverse selection of fresh and saltwater fish.

Emily “Snakegal” R

One of the best pet store for prices and selection in Ottawa. Do all my fish purchases here.

Minni Ang

This is an awesome place if keeping fish is your hobby! They've got everything you could possibly need, and the staff are very knowledgeable as well as helpful. I went in looking for a new fish tank because I'd been told (by some other place) that my fish needed a larger tank. When I explained the context (e.g. the fish I had and the tank setup I had, etc) I got a very educational conversation that enlightened me as to the actual issues and ended up not having to spend huge amounts of cash upgrading my entire tank and its necessary accessories. I learned a lot about my particular species of pet fish and how to actually care for them correctly. By far the best aquarium store I've visited in Ottawa (and I've been to many of them!)

James Chevrier

Great selection, very knowledgeable staff

Unkown

Awesome experience. Very good service!!

Ryan Leonard C.P.T.

I would like to thank big Al's for wasting $45 of my money, and 5 hours of my time on new years Eve day. I called at 2:30 this afternoon and placed an order over $100 of fish and food, informating the woman who answered I was coming from kingston, and it was a 2.5 hour drive. "Wonderful"... was her reply, "We will have your order ready when you arrive". I then hit the road and drove two and a half hours to Big Al's from Kingston. I arrived at 5:15 to find the store closed with two employees inside. I knocked on the glass and had a woman named Carrie approach. She refused to open the door, so we were forced to yell through the glass, as a heavy set Chinese man stood behind her. She informed me that I would not be able to collect my order because the store had closed early that day. (Strangely enough, she sounded exactly like the woman I had spoke to on the phone earlier) This early closing time was never mentioned when I placed my order and indicated my distance and time of travel. She had the audacity to tell me I had a responsibility to know when they close. The store had been closed for 15 min, light on, debit machine at the front door, all set up. Having owned a retail store in the past myself, their excuse they offered that the debit was down for the day was a lie. It's pretty easy to turn back on and restart the day. I then told them I would not be leaving with out my order and would like to speak to the management. They stated there wasn't one there. They then went back into the store, assumingly to prepare my order and do the right thing. 45 minutes later at 6:00 they both come out of the store, turn off the lights, turn on the security system, and lock the door, walking right past me. So I drive home with no fish for my kid, and food for my fish, with everything closed tomorrow. I have come to find out the heavy set Chinese man, Ed, is the owner. Well Ed, you own $45 and 5 hours of my time back. This was my first, and LAST experience with Big Al's. You would think with business drowning left and right due to the pandemic, they'd be keen to do the right thing and take care of the people willing to support them. Not Big Al's, and not Ed or Carrie. I'd suggest to them finding careers outside customer service and retail, because you clearly have no clue. Happy 2021, I hope your business goes under! Next time, DO THE RIGHT THING!

CODE E

Bushy nose pleco advertised as 9.99 they charged me 14.99. rosey reds advertised as 70-80 cents each charged me 0.99 cents each.cherry shrimp advertised as 3.99 charged me 5.99 each. I am extremely unhappy with my visit there and I felt obligated to buy the fish I made them get out of the tanks even tho the price was way way way higher than expected based on advertised prices. I will not support there business anymore

John Green

Has everything you need for your aquarium needs

Paul Fedor

The only place I go for my aquarium supplies

Mike Crete

My go to place for fish related adventures. Informed staff. Not the cheapest in town but they do go the distance to help with any issues.

Zipper B

Over priced for a lot of product! If you are looking for good quality products that are reptile related, look elsewhere. Reptile food is very overpriced, they oversell and give wrong information on reptiles! Bought a California kingsnake from them, they pushed and pushed for me to buy special lighting rigs and gave very misleading info on that breed.

tang huan

Good fresh fish storage but salt fish r limited. All in all it is alright to get fish but if u try to buy equipment, the store employee r trained to suggest u more than what u need, so be carefull of that

Anna Doxey

Big and clean friendly staff

Nathaly Larose

Love this place, people are nice and willing to answer all your questions .

cuyler brown

Amazing store!!! If you need anything for your aquarium needs this is the place to go! Amazing place and super friendly staff. Will be back again for sure! I'm an hour away and I have no problem driving there for my needs, it's an amazing store. Words don't say enough.

Kaitlyn Mcleod

Verry kind staff! Thanks guys!

Barry Scott

They have what you need and want or they will get it for you.

Dr Horticulture

Very helpful.

Anderson Wong

Love the Big AL store because of it variety of fish, sadly the one in Kanata Centrum has closed since I live in Kanata area but it still is not to far away to where I live. Other than that I think it's the best fish store in Otawa.

tiffany larabie

The staff were friendly and educated me a lot about different fish and reptiles.

M J

My experience there has always been great.

Allagarta

Really amazing selection of fish and lizards

Isabelle Breton

(Translated) Lots of choices of freshwater and saltwater fish and lots of equipment available. By cons some dead fish in the jars and others who seem weak ... Good service also from the employee! I will definitely go back there again. (Original) Beaucoup de choix de poissons d'eau douce et d'eau salée ainsi que bcp de matériel disponible. Par contre quelques poissons morts dans les bocaux et d'autres qui semblent affaiblis... Bon service aussi de l'employé! J'y retournerai quand même sans hésitation.

Anna Trojnar

Best place to get all your fish tank stuff :-) And often good advice as well!

Luis Ortiz

Everything you need.

Derek Ancient technology and loving life

Awesome store.

Daddy More

Over priced and tanks all look so dirty poor fish/reptiles. Will never shop there or recommend anyone.

Jazz S.

Amazing selection of Different fishes

M S

I use to love this store however, now when you go into the east store, it's very depressing. Walk into the back half of the fish lights are off very dark, all the tanks are really dirty including the reptile tanks. I think a little more care from the staff is needed.

Crystal Desormeaux

????????????

Luc Poirier

(Translated) Very good fast service (Original) Très bon service rapide

VIVIANNE DEMERS

Nice, knowledgeable staff, pretty fish, pretty reptiles, wide varieties, and pretty good prices! very nice!!! I'd recommend this for anyone who's planning on buying stuff for their animals, or even buying the animals themselves. I would recommend a bit more supervision of the fish in the tanks though. sometimes there's a few dead ones floating about. which... is to be expected with so many fish, but some look like they've been dead for a while, and I think it'd be a bit better if more staff were looking for and scooping out dead fish more often. The sight didn't really hinder my experience though. Very good! 5 stars.

Priyaraj Banerjee

Huge selection. Some of the stuff are a bit overpriced.

Danielle Tombs

The staff are awesome and obviously care about the animals. Ill definitely be back again!

Jeff Maloughney

Knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Angus Mak

Bought 6 danios, one turned out to be a mosquitofish and 3 dropped dead the same night. They only give you 50% for dead fish and it's only for 7 days. I hate to shop at Pet Smart but at least Pet Smart lets you exchange a dead fish within 14 days. Pet Smart also lets you pick the exact fish you want from the tank. At Big Al's the staff just runs around getting your fish as quickly as possible and stuff them all in another bag so you can't even see then properly. They don't care if they give you a sick fish or even the wrong species in my case. Honestly I feel like the quality of the fish is better at the Pet Smart close to me if you are not looking for rare species.

Stephen Crocker

I go to Big Al's because they seem to take good care of the fish and are generally very knowledgeable. It's unfortunate, however that they seem to have a sense of entitlement, probably since they're the only fish store around. Most times, when I visit the store, it seems the fish room staff always have something better to be doing other than helping customers. They don't seem to have any manners and run around the store, cutting customers off and walking infront of them to openin cabinets and tanks without excusing themselves. This is unfortunate because there's been a few instances where I have gone in to buy something and ended up leaving empty handed out of frustration and disappointment. I understand that they're very busy but they need to work on some better customer service, maybe get some more staff so the current ones aren't so over worked. The people at the Reptile corner are not so bad and nice lady at the front desk has always been very kind, patient and helpful. I am very conscious about where choose to spend my money and who I support. Think I will try another aquarium store before I decide to go back to Big Al's. Hopefully, if I return, my experiences will be better than previous.

Rob Bureau

Very knowledgeable staff. Friendly place. Only complaint is very hot in the store. Very small confined entrance by the cash which people are coming in and out of.

Tyler Arbic

Bought a lizard, return policy is apparently only 7 days, it had scale rot from when we got it and passed away in 14 days with no refund, don't buy animals here seriously

Brendon

I saw a snake and deeply wanted to call him Gilbert and take him home, 5/7

Lisa Noland

Went there bought 60.00 in fish two days later all fish are dead called the store they say we will only give you 50% of the total if you have the bodies and the written receipt. I have the bodies but not the Written receipt. This store has gone down hill. I will never shop there again. If you want to flush your money down the toilet go ahead

Dick Wong

Best prices and honest advice for your aquarium needs. They have a large selection of fish, aquatic animals and plants as well

Ziautu

Staff really knowledgable. Good prices. Loads of options.

Aaron R

This is the best source for live fish in the Ottawa area. Staff is for the most part very knowledgeable and helpful, aside from a few that are far too ‘dorked out’ about fish. One in particular berated my son for wanting to put a piece of coral in a freshwater tank. We are new to the aquarium game and didn’t realize this was considered blasphemous.

André G

(Translated) Very large selection of plant and fish products. The staff is made up of real experts in their field. (Original) Très grand choix de produits de plantes et de poissons. Le personnel compte de véritables experts dans leur domaine.

Allan Banks

Great selection of freshwater fish

Stacey Marion

I love this store! Great prices, beautiful decorations, nice fish, amazing staff!

Allan Turmaine

These people are always helpful, and the pricing seems fair. I've set up a turtle tank and an axlotl tank though them, and all of their plants/fish/supplies have been top notch. Worth any lineup they may have.

Al Conway

This is an amazing store, with great staff that are super helpful, we recommend to anybody!

Susan Davidson

Saw a shark

Nick ndonato

Very helpful staff..

Sinkone

I buy the majority of my fish and supplies here. Awesome place! Staff is very knowledgeable and passionate about their work. Pricing of their product is fair. They also have their own rewards program with "Big Al's bucks". I strongly recommend this place over their "one stop shop" competitors.

Forest Hutton

Great customer service and great help provided for new and experienced aquarium owners.

Jessica Ruttan

Always great selection and customer service. Will be back soon. ????

Jean-Phylipe Theriault (Jay)

I love the staff and the selection of products at this location ! Always a return location for me

Matt Downton

Best fish store in town

Taiye Ahmed

Very organized and clean.

Scott Arcand

This is the only place for serious fish keepers. Nice selection of fish stock along with almost anything you could need for any size tank both fresh water and marine. Staff is always helpful and friendly.

Caelah Devlin

Friendly and helpful staff.

Albert Brooks

I have bought an aquarium with fish form them. It was good experience. They had a good collection of fishes. The staff is nice. the price is reasonable. I am satisfied with their service.

Tom Man

Awesome

Beatrice

I really enjoyed shopping here! There was all kinds of fish and reptiles! I found it amazing! The employee that helped us and explained to us about tortoises was great. He really knew his stuff and he was saying the truth. The other employees were also super nice. I really liked going there and I will go again! :)

Kenzie Bobenny

Pretty decent prices and great deals and discounts. They take great care of their animals, they always look healthy. Staff is very knowledgable and friendly which would help with people just starting out.

Bilal Elhawz

Unique in Ottawa

Tristan Gabriel Vieira

Nice and helpful staff! They have decent prices on their products. My only gripe is that I saw planaria in their cherry shrimp tank and that had me a bit concerned.

Travis Leary

Everytime we purchase fish, they are diseased or sick with some fungus or otherwise. We have cleansed our tank a number of times and not added new fish for months. We have performed normal routine cleanings and ensured that various tests were done to keep all levels well within normal ranges. We have gone along for months without any incidents and then decided to add some new fish. Whenever we have, each time, the new fish last two to 18 days and then die. We find them dead against the water intake pipe. There have been times we have added new fish and within a week and a half, some of the new fish and some of our long terms residents end up dead. We are not beginners at this but we have documented the events and warn anyone buying from this place to be very, very careful because your tank may end up being contaminated by the fish that you purchase there.

Noor Ismaily

Service was ok. Place smelled like pot. Equarium tanks are poorly made. If you are seriously thinking of purchasing an aquarium, DO NOT buy oneofrom here. They even get you to sign a waiver when you buy an aquarium because the quality of the tanks are really cheap.

Bhawna S

Awesome food!

Chrissy Brouillette

Very friendly and helpful staff.

Ty W

10/10 I would highly reccomend anyone to Big Als. Well orchestrated aquarium setups, clean store and layout, and best of all amazing ideas and inspiration for any tank or aquarium enthusiast. Extremely knowledgable staff that will indeed go the extra mile to ensure you are fully educated on any fish or reptiles you would like to add to your ever expanding pet list! An employee by the name of Ty was an amazing help in the fish zone!! You guys keep up the great work!

Andrew Troy

Silent Bob with the fish in the back is crusty always...Smells off when you go in. Much better service and healthy selection elsewhere.

Brian Dodds

good stock of fish and all the necessary accessories for your aquarium. Helpful and knowledgeable staff

Mark Weston

Like a mini tropical holiday staff friendly and knowledgeable.

The Equestrian Groomer

This is kate's boyfriend. I'm unable to submit reviews from my account at the moment. Overall, we're happy with Big Al's. The one thing I don't agree with is that the return policy doesn't cover marine fish. I brought a fish back within 6 days, along with the fire goby that it killed, and the manager insisted the only thing he can do is buy the clown goby back, which is supposed to be a community fish. he was just as surprised as i was, yet he insisted on only 1/3 of the original sale price. Why does Big Al's have to make 2/3 off of a return that it's still going to sell for 3/3??? This is not honest business and customer satisfaction. I also told him i only had the fire gobies for 2 weeks and i was going to buy another goby to replace the dead one on the spot. THE MONEY WAS STILL GOING BACK TO BIG AL'S ANYWAY. I'm saying this because sometimes they make exceptions on their return policy. Perhaps because they know it's not fair? I learned my lesson....

Pierre G

Great staff very knowledgeable and willing to help out

Jonah St-François

Absolutely loved being there, it's almost as good as going to the zoo! And dangerous if you're an animal lover like me.

Daphney Beaulieu

They've got a gazillion different kinds of fish and reptiles. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and incredibly helpful on a whole host of subjects. They really know their stuff. The employees really care, and they want their clients to have a good experience. Especially that little bouncy blonde girl, Jessika. She's a sweetie.

Gennesse Walker-Scace

Haven't bought fish here yet, but went in to get some aquarium filters and starters. Staff at the front of house was really useful and friendly when talking about best filters for the unit I have, and didn't up sell me. Went to the back to see their fish and talked to a fish staff. He was really useful explaining the types of fish we will want to get as starters. Tons of good aquarium accessories and awesome displays. They also have a lovely shark.

John Wishart

If there is a better place for aquarium supplies I dont know it. This is your starting point no matter what type of fish or aquatic life you wish to raise.

Michel Thibault

Love tout shop there.Competent staff and great variety of Fish

Stephanie C (Numbmypain)

Always super knowledgable, and friendly

Wynn Murray

This is THE most amazing fish and reptile store ever. They are helpful and full of knowledge. None of the staff I've encountered are rude. This store has everything. Truly the best store for fish and reptile in Ottawa.

George Mersereau

Large stock of tropical fish & aquarium supplies. If you have questions these guys have answers.

ian young

THE PLACE TO GO FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS GREAT SERVICE

Dean Michaud (Karnatos)

As a new customer, they treated my son with respect and we informative, helpful and got him excited about starting up and taking care of a fish tank. Several individuals helped out, and we both left smiling.

Jf Godin

Great place and excellent experience

Anon Ymous

Loved the info I got from Devin! VERY knowledgeable! Great experience!

John Verdon

This is an awesome fish and lizard store with expertise

Dan Morozuk

WOW this place is amazing as much an attraction as a store.

Elyse Ferguson

They have a great selection and the store is always clean. I love that they always test your water first and won't sell you fish that are inappropriate for your tank just to make a sale. Staff are knowledgeable. I'm here almost every week.

Billie

Nice selection of fish and tank accessories

Win

Fish were in pretty bad condition when I went a 2 months ago. There was a tank of shrimp literally decimated. The ones that were alive were barely hanging on. I could count at least one dead fish per tank in the freshwater section. I just hope conditions have improved since then, but I'm not going back there again.

Graham Webb

It's Big Al's... What more do I have to say.

Gela O

dirty tanks and smelly, hard to get actual service.

Peach Juice

Love this place!!! The staff are super friendly and knowledgeable! And the best part is they care about the animals there. They will ask you about your setup to make sure its adequate for the new friend you're picking up. And if it's not they will steer you in the right direction to make sure it will be good for your new friend. I will always be going here for all my aquatic needs and supplies!!

Courtney White

I love this place. The staff are so friendly and knowledgeable.

David Hiker

Great display tanks and a large inventory of fish and supplies at good prices.

Trevor Keeling

Looking for fish? Fish accessories? This is the spot

R Visser

Staff are really pleasant, knowledgeable, and helpful. Overall good selection of everything. Excited to go back :)

Shane Mitchell

love this place

Andrew Foster

Pretty cool location, not as big as the Toronto location, but still a good sized store. They did have a pretty decent selection of reptiles, and loads of fish options. Same as a the Toronto locstions they have a live shark in an aquarium. Worth a look into if you are in the area

Andrew Foster

Pretty cool location, not as big as the Toronto location, but still a good sized store. They did have a pretty decent selection of reptiles, and loads of fish options. Same as a the Toronto locstions they have a live shark in an aquarium. Worth a look into if you are in the area

Alex Dyke

Nice people and helpful advice.

Dustin Crothers

Not bad but could be more I sure feel bad for those fish wish could buy all of them. Friendly staff. Good product at fair prices. Should have real coral for the shark and puffer they have

Avery Kwong

Staff here are knowledgeable, friendly, and always open to help whether your new to the hobby or not.

Tammy Mast

Very friendly and helpful staff. Huge selection. I would like them better if they didn't sell salt water products as im not sure how sutainable that aquarium industry is.

Valerie Savard

Huge choice and good prices !

Wax fire

Good service

Bryan Gagné

With this place, it really depends who you get served by. Some of the employees are extremely passionate, helpful, and will give you all the time you need. Others couldn't be bothered by the problems you're having with your tank.

Ninja Gaming Skillz (The Incredible One)

Great variety professional courteous staff who are willing to help and actually know what they are talking about. What more can you ask for? :) Excellent experience and I'm glad to be a customer.

Dominic L

Best place to shop for aquarium supplies

Cassandra Larche

This is my favorite store, visiting is an experience in itself.

Jeff

Love the variety of fish! The staff is also great

Anthony Roberts

We love going here. Such an interesting place to go visit as well. They have lots of great things here for aquariums and aquascaping.

Karen SaRoc

For fish is the best! There's also lizards, snakes, frogs, and such.

dutyman21

Bought an African cichlids It died within 5 days they gave a 50% store credit, I also had a box of filters that i purchased, unopened but could not find the receipt for it so they would not give a credit or exchange it for what I really needed. The guy at the cash was all smiles and kept saying oh! it's our policy no receipt no credit. Great customer service. If I could give a 0 star for this place I would. Don't by from Big Al's they really do not care about their customer's.

Ananda Spinner

90% of the Bettas were dead

Neil Greenwald

When I worked here I took immense pride on the condition of the tanks and my customer service. The first time I've been back in months and the place has fallen apart. Tanks are filthy employees I'd never met didn't even acknowledge me or say hello. The one i did work with greated me warmly. I spent countless hours setting up all the wet displays and am completely embarrassed by what I saw. I'll never tell anyone I built them from now on.

Albert Bourdeau

Well stocked, well informed and competent staff

William Blackler

Great for kids.

Shawn Mckinnon

Very helpful very busy place little bit overpriced but overall not bad

Sandy T

Great customer service

Blythe Scott

Friendly knowledgeable staff and a great selection for all your freshwater or marine aquarium needs.

Adam Philippe

The little fish room manager in the back at this location is a bonafide a**, he smugly carries himself around and sarcastically speaks to customers as if they aren't worth his precious time. Jody did a far better job when he ran the whole show himself.

Mary W.

Knowledgeable and courteous! Great service!

Kyle Topping

Would not recommend to buy fish or plants here. I bought 5 guppies last week and they all died within less than a week, due to an obvious bacterial infection that was visible when I got them home. I have also bought aquatic plants here on a few occasions and they don’t last very long either. Staff are friendly and decent selection of aquarium/fish products.

Ian Fortin

The best aquarium and fish place in Ottawa.

Christian Genier

Great place

Lyn Garrah

Big store with lots of fish to choose from.

Frédéric Charette

Love this place! The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. Lots of selection for fish/reptiles habitat and food. Worth checking out!

Frédéric Charette

Love this place! The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. Lots of selection for fish/reptiles habitat and food. Worth checking out!

Adam G

a pretty neet place to buy fish. i think they used to have a live shark there?

Jenny Bould

Lots of diffrrent types of fish, staff seems very knowledgeable

Matthew Brownlow-Hewett

Great selection of products, but the staff were unwelcoming and didn't even greet us within the twenty minutes we were there.

malibu girl

Ppl very helpful lots to choose from

2J's Music Machine

Always welcomed with a hello when I walk in. Very friendly staff always there to help

marc jf Lamoureux

Supper nice staff

Alexey Mavrinskiy

Always can find all for aquarium needs

Michelle Volk

Products are ok, service is terrible. My experience most of the time is waiting half an hour for someone to talk to me, and then being rushed though the conversation once they finally come.

هدایت بسوی نور

I really liked this place they have so many different types of fish and also the prices are very good.

Jeffrey Fennelly

Great aquarium supplies and beautiful, healthy fish and exotics. Also, the staff is always very kind and welcoming to my special needs son, which I really appreciate.

Stefan Kozminchuk

Great place, great staff, excellent selection!

RAREsies Rule Ollier's Disease Canada

Love, love this place. Use to be on St Laurent Blvd years ago. Great variety of fish choices! Plus a big shark in a huge tank????

Tamara Jones

Sales people were very friendly knew a lot about their products and animals.

Alex Navarro

Animal cruelty to the shark

Sara Bentley

Very large fish store got great selection.of products of both reptiles, salt and fresh water products, etc... The fish are healthy for the most part and A good selection of fish too. Descent prices, sadly they've got alot of aptasia in the salt water tanks and possibly worms etc things we can't see with the naked eye possibly, and the chromis I got there were ridden with disease sadly... The coral selection is just sad and terrible!! They've got absolutely nothing going for them in that department, and they're also VERY over priced for the BTAs and corals to begin with... The inverts are good selection though and good prices.

R. S

Always helpful and friendly staff, I buy my lizards food here. They sell everything you need for fish, reptiles and koi ponds. Also just a fun place to walk through to check out their live creatures!???????????????????????????????????? They also have great selection of living water plants!

Jonathan and Stephanie Hodl

Great place but I am biased because I work there.

Ruth Thibeault

Great customer service and very knowledgeable staff

Ric Hobbs

Great fish store and helpful staff

Denis Janveau

Excellent selection and staff who can easily answer any questions you have.

Genevieve Brunet

Fantastic and knowledgeable We always love stopping in at Big Al's. The staff is very friendly and have great ideas for fish and aquariums. My kids are always amazed by the bright red shrimps in the front salt water aquarium. There is a beautiful assortment of regular and salt water animals and flora. If you need equipment, they have a huge selection of parts for all kinds of aquariums.

Jacques Ouellette

Awesome place to buy fish.

Richard Luu

Great place to buy fish and aquarium related stuff

Daniel Laprise

Good prices but the layout gave me anxiety when I saw the amount of people there. Didn't buy anything had to get out

Reginald-Yves Lundi

Friendly place. They know their stuff

Bronzed Dante

I was in here for the first time last week as I had finally started my own own aquarium. The staff are super friendly and helpful and will guide you in the right direction for what you may need. The store is well laid out and the large aquarium in the back is always nice to go see as well.

Myles McLaughlin

Great variety of stock, very knowledgeable staff. However, can be slow moving in there sometimes because of a shortage of that same knowledgeable staff some days.

Sandra Kuchta

Big Al's is great. They took the time to explain everything we needed for our first fish tank. This was our 4th visit to the store, and we took home our guppies today! It took a few visits to ensure our tank was ready for the fish. I highly recommend this store. The staff are knowledgeable and we feel much more confident with our fish now.

Nate Lavoy

The best local fish store in Ottawa. Great for fresh water tanks with a large variety of plants, fish, and hardscape

n fik

Really friendly knowledgeable staff! Love coming here with the kids, fun free activity.

Pascal Mineault

Excellent service & selection. A must for all aquarium enthusiasts????

Deea Saha

Love the store, staff is super friendly- but also very well informed. Would recommend! Purchased a leopard gecko, they have a much bigger stock/selection compared to your average PetSmart.

devon lando

Excellent

Mikey Beau’s

Always friendly. Knowledgeable staff.

Melissa Thibodeau

Love it here. Friendly and knowledgeable staff

Sebastien “Dj Sweb” Cadieux

Great store and good prices.

Mariam Rauf

Such a fun little experience to go pick out a Beta!

Sean Hyatt

Always helpful

DJPD Service

They have a shark lol

Xander D.M.

It's hit n miss. But there is minimal choice in Ottawa for what I need for my reptiles n fish.

Kaitlen Anderson

I love this place! People tend to give it a bad rep because sometimes your fish may catch ick or you may get mystery snales but these things can be avoided really easily if you just look at the fish you buying and look in the bag to make sure. It's really hard to prevent this from happening with the amount of fish they have in each tank, but they do a pretty good job at keeping it under control, trust me, I've seen worse. Also, if your fish dies a few days after purchasing it than it's not always the stores fault. There are a lot of things that could have happened to the fish while it was in YOUR tank. Over all I really love this store!

Cameron Seguin

Great service but there coral tanks aren't to par the lights are not high enough power to even open leather corals but big selection of fish and freshwater fish

Skyzreal

Long weekend time to enter the story, which isn't their fault. Just know you have to plan at least an hour to enter the store, if not more. Their tanks are very well kept, I recommand calling if you want a particular kind of fish (I wanted galaxy rasboras, which they didn't have.) It was my first time at the store, but the employees were really nice. I got a bamboo plant (freshwater), a starfish and a crab (saltwater). You need to ask for help, which is pretty normal too since they are very busy and don't know who need help and who doesn't. Their tanks seem very clean, I was a bit disappointed they didn't have much plants when I went there, I wanted some moss too Overall a very good shop, would go again but probably during the week. The waiting was very long. I would also only go after calling them to make sure they have what I want.

Alyssa crerar

super great staff bought my mom a 55 gallon tank for Christmas with their black friday deals and the staff were amazing and super helpful will be going back in a few weeks to buy the rest of the supplies for it :)

Abishek Xavier

Lots of fish varieties and the place is kept very clean

Brett Wareham

Love this store, lots to see, plenty of stock, and knowledgeable employees.

Shan

Wonderful place. Helpful staff. Many varieties of fish. Some are expensive too

Julia Gladstone

This place was recommended to me from an employee at PetSmart when I went in looking to buy a couple live plants. I went in this evening and it seemed like the employees were trying to avoid the customers. I walked through looking at the tanks and found a full tank of guppies with nearly half all dead in the corner of the tank. There was low stock of fish in general, and the live plants didn't look very healthy. There's a PetSmart next door so I went in and got myself a healthy live plant.

John & Leigh Jackett

Always great servive and healthy fish!

Ian Bradbury

Staff is friendly and knowledgeable, with new stock coming in all the time. My girlfriend and I come in often and always leave happy

teekachu

I come here a lot, but it tends to be pretty hit or miss as far as both service and the health of the fish go. Some days it's an awesome experience, other days it's a bit disappointing. There's one person that works there (pink hair!) that I feel deserves a huge raise. They were so informative and nice, and asked me right away if I needed help, even though they were busy getting ready to feed the shark. :)

Ken Scott

Good products and knowledgeable helpful staff

JoK3RHaZE

Everything you need for an aquarium!

Chris Gagne

Very helpful. Gre at selection.

JP Basque

Very nice aquarium shop, lots of choices and friendly staff

Holly Sheehan

Super helpful employees and lots of cool fish.

Lianne Hebert

Lots of great selection here in terms of products and livestock, and staff are always very knowledgeable!

Emad Fadel

Great restaurant

Eric Duchesne

Very polite and friendly employees. Very nice selection. :)

Jenn Mary Kay “MrsMk1” Gates-Mackinnon

I give this store 4.75!! Not a 5 because its great in a Lot of areas & they have a Lot of amazing well educated employees. Thats great When you know Who you are talking to. Just a few times its gotten messed up & its not 5/5

Jurgen Ludwig

Great spot, prices are slightly above what I’m used to paying but very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Thanks Al’s!

D.J. Potvin

The fish always look happy and healthy, and all the fish I've taken home have does very well. The staff care about the fish, and know how to care for them properly. They are very helpful when asking for advice, products, and fish care.

Carolina K

I recently bought fish from Big Al’s. Two dwarf gouramis, along with cardinal tetras and shrimps. (I had no other fish in there yet) One gourami died within 24 hours and the other had ich and infected all the fish in the tank. My parameters were fine. 1 gouramis and tetras still alive, but i'm still fighting ich and it's costing me.

Richard Theoret

Great selection, good prices.

Drew Leclerc

Great LFS. Always helpful and friendly. Great selection of fish.

Dravyx D

Large selection of fish, helpful and friendly staff. Small selection of some amphibians as well

MacKenzie Knicely-Coutts

While they have a lot of selection, and the people are generally knowledgeable.. I find the employee's can act rather condescending though. While I understand that opinions can vary there is a way to inform someone of your opinion without being condescending. The guppies are happy and fine. ????

Tazz

Expensive and if you return an item it can only be put on a gift card for their store, not convenient. They often have things out of stock

Shea Beauregard

A lot of dead fish left in the tanks

Christian

Employees are really knowledgeable about fish and aquariums. Great displays and selections.

Aaliyah Sylvester

Staff are very knowledgeable

John

Lots of dead fish, dirty fish area. Let's hope next visit is less disappointing. Update. I visited the store on Labor Day weekend and it was like Covid didn't exist. The area with fish was packed with people, we left ASAP. The only Covid protocols seen were masks

Derek Bone

Lots of fish

Curran Chambers

I love this place! The staff are super helpful and they have such a large variety of fish and reptiles. Recently foundout they have two red-footed tortoises which I can't stop visiting

Jishnu K

Best aquarium in the city

David Bate

One of only two places in Ottawa for saltwater aquarium fish. What else can I say.

Nick Shar

Super friendly and knowledgeable staff who truly care about even the tiniest fish.

Rob Bureau

Very knowledgeable staff. Friendly place. Only complaint is very hot in the store. Very small confined entrance by the cash which people are coming in and out of.

Marjolaine Sanscartier

Lack of stocks … more likely due to pandemic. The store needs a lot of TLC … very humid and not very clean. Empty tanks and dead fish in a few tanks.

Hamed Sabetrasekh

Lots of cool aqua animals, it's quite different world. I like it though

jupiter cookson

Knowledgable staff,and friendly.

Poolie Favs

Excellent fish supply store

Frank Hills

Great place. Staff has alot of knowledge.

Rahul Bura

Great selection of plants. The tropica 1-2 grow ones are my favourite! Fish selection can be interesting sometimes but they have the staples otherwise. Salt and freshwater. Not forgetting the hardscape available.

Tasha Brash

The people in the reptile section really care about the reptiles and are always right there to answer questions, they are always very helpful when I go in

Raphaël Fortier

lots of supplies for reptiles that i couldn't find anywhere else. but the items are on the pricey side

Shawn Donovan

Great location friendly staff and great selection if you come during the week

Daniel Migneault

Staff was very busy, but also knowledgeable and very helpful. I'll be going there from now on.

paul doyon

Wonderful staff and selection of fish, both fresh water and sault water. Also the staff are very informed and knowledgeable on any questions you may have. Over all a great store only compliant i had was the customers that were also shopping there where quite rude.

Casey Peel

Really needs to accept American Express card

Alan Taylor

Great store amazing staff

Lil Sprout

A lot of different options of fish and reptiles. I got myself a baby spider that most places in ottawa didn't have. The girl cashier is always super friendly when I shop here. Its a fun store to go to even if you don't buy anything. Prices are little expensive but it is convenient in the city. So over all 5 stars.

Christina H. Rose

Love this place. They are always so helpful with advice for beginners.

Patrick Landriault

If you like fish and aquariums this is the place to shop, lots of great selection for salt and freshwater fish. They also have a great selection of reptiles and everything they need.

James Hunt

Great place to buy fish. Staff really know their stuff

Andrew Schoenfeldt

Way overpriced, dirty dying systems, poor service. OVERPRICED. Just keep your eye out for the underpriced mislabeled gems

Christopher Thorne

The staff know their fish!

Veronique Belanger

They're pretty knowledgeable with their stuff, and have a decent inventory. Things are a little more hectic now due to Covid and health restrictions, so expect a decent wait time if you have to go in. But overall I've always had a good experience.

lea brown

Great selection of fish and awesome staff that knows there stuff.

Shelley Ann

Very nice and helpful a wee bit expensive but worth it in the end

Kathryn Norman

Cutest little frogs, and the staff was super fun and helpful even though the store was pretty busy.

yusurp

dey got a shrk

Robert Comeau

Great people, great service.... it's always fun going to Big Al's

patrick kudiangela

Found my sharks...

Terr P

what a phenomenal experience, watching the Shark eat.

Meysam Safari

First of all, I do not know anything about fish, so my review is not from a technical point of view. It's about an experience I had here. I learned about this place through a Meetup event called Feed the Shark, or something like that. I took my preschooler kid and he LOVEd it! They have many types of fish, shrimps and ..., But most notably, a smaller size shark (4-5 ft). My kid absolutely loved the shark and everything else. Staff here were very welcoming, friendly and helpful, and understanding that some just coming for the shark feeding event. They explained so many things to us and entertained all our silly questions. We end up buying our a fish, which he picked. I highly recommend the shark feeding event to anyone who has a kid that like sharks/fishes. The show is not that long, maybe 10-15 minutes max, but you can visit around. As far as I know, they have this show every Tuesday, at 7 pm. You definitely don't want to be late otherwise you will miss it.

Jt Burke

Twice in a row I've been told to save my receipts because I can't create an account and the fish I brought home had ripped fins and ich, I guess to be expected from a store with so many dead fish in the tanks. Two stars instead of one because they had two of the three items I was looking for in stock.

Leonard Suares

Great experience

Growing Graden

Best pet store ever ????????????????????????????????????????

Matthew Timms

Great aquarium store, good range of hardware and large selection of different livestock. Gets pretty busy on weekends, would suggest going in the evenings when it's quieter, especially if buying fish.

Glenn Buckholtz

Amazing fish! ????????

Kevin Damen

Great place

Anthony P

Cool place, friendly workers and also decent prices.

Suvro Ghosh

Staffs are friendly, helpful. They do good in saltwater probably the only people in town doing good saltwater aquariums.

Syl Gmont

Well equipped, generally clean location, friendly, intelligent and helpful staff. Will be going again for future fish and fish accessory needs :) Donnie + Mossman and the snailSisters seem happy in their new home.

Derek Coopman

Love Al's. They have everything you could ever hope for to care for your aquatic life

Lise Ge

Great store. Nice folks. #keepontankin

Darren DeRidder

I came as a beginner looking for basic info and supplies, got good assistance from one staff member but then an overload of technical detail and intimidating questions from another person. It wasn’t helpful and I left without purchasing anything.

Doug Gillispie

Make sure you have lots of time when you go, it's never a quick stop.

Tammy

Always live spending time here, sometimes too much ???? Staff are knowledgeable, friendly and seem to have a genuine interest. Thanks Everyone ❤

Romil Gaurav

They give Genuine advice, even if it means you end up not buying things from them.

Romil Gaurav

They give Genuine advice, even if it means you end up not buying things from them.

Adam Saint

These guys have great selection and can very probably sell you something to meet your needs.. friendly helpful staff. Good place.... I think this is the best pet store for fish in the city.

David Plyler

Great product selection and the staff are very knowledgeable, however, it seems like every time I am in the store the staff members are talking to each other complaining about other staff. Leaves me feeling they are not very mature or professional.

Michelle Reynolds

The only reason this establishment is getting a rating at all is because the children loved it and one of the young sales associate was very helpful....even after treated quite poorly by a superior. Excellent selection of fish and supplies. If there had been another store in the area, I would have gone there in a heartbeat. #localguide

Keith Willey

great service

Keyvan Khazabi (Mr. K1)

Best place for aquarium lovers

Gwendolynne Hanuse

The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The variety of all things fish is fantastic! I've been happy with every purchase I've made there

David Soegiarto

a little pricey and inventory can fluctuate wildly depending on the season, but very knowledgeable and friendly staff, very good selection at worst of times, and overall very reliable source for Aquarium compared to online shops. keep an eye out for blowout sales!

Isabella Zhang

this is hands down the best place for fish/reptiles. they have a wide variety of animals from common ones to exotic salt water fishes. the tanks are always clean and the animals looks well taken care of. the decorations are reasonably priced and much cheaper than the large chain pet stores elsewhere.

Lynn Hankins

If I could give 0 stars I would, ya like one other reviewer I also think this is a bad shop. I've been there a few times and each one I was pretty much ignored, I was trying to find something and none would help me and when I was trying to purchase a betta fish I couldn't get the proper help. I had questions and no one wanted to help me. I also feel the fish are in such poor condition and to see a shark in one of the aquariums , is down right abuse the poor thingng could only go in small circles which would drive me insane if I was a shark. They are meant to live in the ocean. Not as someone pet. This place is a terrible shop. And I for one won't be shopping for there.

SocaBoy2006

Absolutely, great.

Mian zia-ud-din

They have a wide variety of live aquarium fish at a reasonable price.

Alley STJ

The staff was friendly and they are up with COVID guidelines

John Bettencourt

Love this shop. I just got a finsh thank setup. Went in for a water test and they guided me to get my thank ready for fish.

Jose Ramirez

(Translated) They are very good fart (Original) Son muy buen pedo

Anibal C

Love this store ..great people and awesome stuff Was looking for an excavation kit for reptiles and they don't carry that :( but they do carry the sand???? !!!

Bassem victor

Biggest fish store in Ottawa

Erica Ouimet

I love the big selection of fish and the wide array of setups and anything fish related. They'll test your water for free and will let you pick your own fish! Unfortunately when you go in there with a question, you could ask more than one associate and get a different answer. There's a lot of blockages (stools, ladders, hoses and tubes) in the aisles too which makes it hard accessibility wise (had a hard time when bringing wheelchairs in) and could pose as a trip/fall risk.

Kelton Rynard

Quality dhit

Nyxard

Great selection of fish, ok selection of reptiles and the staff is really nice.

Caleb Armstrong

I've bee through every pet/fish store in Ottawa and this is still my go-to place for stocking my tanks for a myriad of reasons including: -Beautiful selection of saltwater and freshwater fish -Well maintained show room -Almost any equipment, additives, and food you could ever want -Staff that can help reccomend appropriate stocking for your tanks and more importantly know when to reccomend against certain fish. -Staff that recognize the importance of cycling -An attitude of hobbiests first and profits second If you own or have any intention of keeping fish Big Al's is definitely worth the trip.

Arthur Cochrane

Something wrong with the ppl that work here no math skills watch 4 ppl come out n no one go in and half the ppl aren't even purchasing anything. Guess time to find somewhere else to make purchases

Chris Moor

Some employees seem a little bitter about working there but the guy I was served by was helpful

Joel Perron

Would give five stars but only is that they seem to care to sale but then if any problems happen with the fishs or equipment they seem to pay less attention to it

Seeing the world In a different way

I love exploring and looking at nature and Big Als is so much more than just an Aquarium Superstore. There are all kinds of fresh and salt water fish even reptiles to choose from, live and packaged fish and reptile food, display enhancements and enclosures too. It is a full service store well stocked to meet all of your fish, reptile and backyard pond needs. There is even a live shark in an aquarium to look at. I love going to this place and it is really hard going to this store and not buying a ton of stuff. The staff are friendly and the core staff are very knowledgeable to help you start and maintain your aquarium, terrarium or backyard pond. So if you feel the dawning of aquarist and like my reviews, videos or photos, why not hook up a Big Als thumb's up.

David Saunders

Just got a new little turtle as a pet, I drove by this place many times, and I thought it be a great place to get some of my starred up supplies and equipment. Well the moment, I walked into the store I was greeted with a big hello from the cashier a great way to start. After that two of the employees took me down to the section I needed and took their time to tell me in a very nice friendly professional manner things that I must have an things that I may want into the future for my turtle. They were very well knowledgable and not in a rush and seem to really know their stuff I was truly impressed. They didn’t push products on me or certain brand type they gave me down to earth honest opinions also based on their own pets at home and products they have used and tried. Their level of friendliness mixed Perfectly with professionalism and detailed knowledge of all questions I asked them made me feel at ease knowing my new little turtle would have the perfect home and food. I would also like to add one of the products I bought a small part broken no fault of the store and here’s what really REALLY impressed me about Big Al’s Aquarium Store when I returned the store to get a replacement for the broken one. They were so nice and the return even though I had lost my receipt they found my purchase on their computer quickly and even apologized many many times for something that wasn’t even their fault because it was manufactured in another country. So for all the above reasons from the employees to the great products and awesome return policy...... This business owners and staff from my experience have sure earned this BIG 5 STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommendation from me!!! Our pets are an Extension of our family from Nature. For all the joy pets give us, Give them the Very Best in return. Get in Your car and go check out BIG AL’s AQUARIUM SUPERCENTRE Your pet will thank you!!???????????? David Saunders

Simon Rechico Moisan

Staff is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They will gladly help you with anything you need. Probably one of the best stores in Ottawa for anything related to aquariums, vivariums and all that.

Helen Bothwell

Cool place. Lots to see. Very helpful staff

Helen Bothwell

Cool place. Lots to see. Very helpful staff

Cindie Pearce

This is a great store with knowledgeable staff. They are always polite and helpful! Best pet store for aquarium supplies in the city! Always shop here! Love their selection!

Sivasathivel Kandasamy

Don't buy aquarium stands here... they are of poor quality and have no warranties

The Joker

Great service and knowledgeable staff

Paul R

this store is amazing the selection is fantastic and it is easily the best aquarium in Ottawa. Recommend dropping by even just for entertainment - great for kids!!!

Jonathan

I would love to spend money here, but the employees treat you like an inconvenience and the manager/owner/whoever he is will literally give you attitude while you pay. To be completely fair, two of the younger employees in the fish room have been extremely helpful multiple times. You just roll the dice every time you show up. Seems like a toxic workplace.

Joanne Evans Daley

Great staff, good stock.

BENJAMIN FOTIOU

It's a good place to go to for supplies and crickets, but like some of the other reviews say, the fish die very quickly for some reason. For fish, go to Petsmart.

Michael Laflamme

Best aquarium and fish livestock store around

Cora Stanton

Best place to go for all fish stuff. They have everything and very knowledgeable staff to help. Great selection of fresh water and salt water fish, plants and everything you need for the tank. They even have stands!

Keith Buchanan

Staff was great! The selection is incredible and reasonable prices. Love visiting this place with my daughter.

Francine Jackson

Went there to buy a specific tank and stand they had on sale only to get home and they put BOTH the wrong stand and aquarium into my truck... Came up with a plan because I live far away so started setting up the stand only to find out it was broken... So made the far trip again.... brought back all the parts and pieces and they did not have the aquarium I originally bought in stock so they sold me what I was told was a reef ready aquarium.... turns out the floor model they had was hidden well inside you you couldn’t see inside... I get it home and the whole overflow is blue and the bottom of the tank is blue... not great for a reef tank.... the staff could not answer any of my questions about the tank and convinced me it had all my needs.... well upon inspection when I got home it had missing parts and pieces... and was no where near anything that was useable for a reef tank.... They lied and sold me a tank that will NO where meet what I wanted.... and this is now the SECOND tank and stand that they sold me broken..... The staff members I dealt with were VERY unknowledgable and gave me A LOT of false information.... and basically I was lied to in the store.... ended up with 2 damaged tanks and stands and their best offer to compensate HOURS of driving (because of THEIR mistakes and selling me broken stuff) was that I could return the tank....well that is not an offer at all because I had 30 days to return everything anyway.... so it was nothing that they were offering me to compensate me for THEIR lies and mistakes and selling me faulty equipment....broken, missing parts none of that was my fault but yet I had to spend 12 hours of driving....3 trips to the store) and I still don’t have what I want.... because they lied and sold me a tank that could not be used as a reef tank I missed ALL the Boxing Day sales where I could have got what I BOUGHT the very first trip... had the staff loaded my ACTUAL order that I paid for none of this would have happened and they had ZERO compassion for selling me 2 broken tanks and having their staff lie to me... over and over again.... I don’t think I would ever go back there again in my life... they only COST me money instead of saving me anything.... and sold me a tank that would cost me more in upgrades to fix it (if even possible) because of all the missing parts and the fact it could not be used as a reef tank at all..... I’ve asked to even speak with the owner so I could explain ALL the problems and no one would put me in touch with them.... probably because they knew they would be in trouble for lying and selling me broken (and what even looked like a used set- that’s why I believe that the parts and pieces were missing- someone else probably returned it) There are many other stores where you can get better service and not end up buying 2 broken aquariums and being offered nothing to compensate me or anything for all problems that had NOTHING to do with me..... I would give them zero stars if I could.... and if the owner of the store EVER reads this I would LOVE to fill you in on all the stuff that happened in your store because this is not even half the story and it’s bad enough!

Vilija B

Always hitting this pet store before any other. Expert advice, amazing selection.

jess cyr

more food choices for reptiles then other pet stores

Farid

Awesome aquarium product's

Farid

Awesome aquarium product's

Scott Charlebois

Such an amazing place. Service was excellent....ao friendly and knowledgeable. Great selection of fish and almost like a tourist attraction with the huge selection of exotic and fascinating fish.

JD K

Hit and miss on the staff being helpful or knowledgeable but their fish are legitimately healthy.

Kris

Huge selection, helpful and friendly staff!

C Beckstead

Friendly staff good deals

Samantha Bildwin

Always my go to

Sebastien D

Great selection of fish and aquarium accessories.

Nicole Fulford

Great staff, very knowledgeable. You can get almost anything you need here. One stop shop.

John Wesson

The staff are very knowledgeable and very helpful. I don't like the return policy of only allowing a in store credit. See Neel , always enjoying life and a huge help .

gabriel106

Always fun, Perfect service, good information ! I love Big AL's ❤

JM B

The best

Benoit faucher (Skindover)

Always had a great service Expect for today were an employe was more into her cell phone then to anwser a question Told me she hade no clue of what i was looking for ...Turned around and BAM was right there in front me !!!!! might as well helped my self Wont let the bad apple ruin the bucket Its still a nice place to shop with diverse fish and a cool live shark Good prices !!!Just dont adk anything to that emo daddy issue girl ????????

p2bn

Great variety of fishes

Neal Ambridge

Always a great visit with helpful and friendly staff. It's fun for just a visit and quick for hobbyists

William King

Great service

Eric St-Georges

The service and knowledgeable staff is unlike any other place I know. Always looking forward to a visit here!

Vera Pasic

Friendly knowledgable staff

Jason Li

The staff, variety of fish and deals made the trip from Montreal worth it

peweh edyth

Interesting place

Jyothi Santos

my aquarium 75G broke and all my fish had to be placed in a bucket until I called big Als and they gave them shelter in their aquarium to find new home. Excellent service

Bart Dickinson

Comprehensive equipment and aqualife collection.

angrysoldier100

When I lived in Ottawa this was my go to store. They allowed my border collie and my greyhound in the store with me.

Heather Cancilla

Very nice staff but very expensive

Candise Mezei

Staff are always completely helpful good prices

Country Hall

Great place to shop with knowledgeable staffs.

Ian K Plunkett

I wiuld move in if i could. I live fish stires and especially ones where the staff evidently know and care about the subject

Veronique Chartrand

(Translated) Varieties of fish and excellent service. (Original) Variétés de poissons et excellent service.

Simon Lalande

Some of the staff is super helpful and some not. I’m a beginner salt water tank owner and I am keen on doing things right. The first time I got excellent service but the last three times I went or called I was either rushed out of the store because they didn’t have enough time to answer my question or the times I called I was told they were to busy with curb side pick-up to answer my two questions. Disappointing. I understand that these are pandemic times and that they are running on limited staff but honestly it’s no reason to be down right rude and unhelpful.

Jesse Larocque

Usually really love going to this place, was in with a friend helping them get going on a budget and we both felt harassed by a staff member to upgrade and go bigger. Didn't ask about space, budget etc. just kept pushing to go bigger. Made us both feel super uncomfortable and unfortunately for now it will no longer will be my first stop when going shopping or getting friends into the hobby. Not only that but while we decided to sign up for a points card the other staff member got all rude cause' her shift was done. (another employee offered to do it for us super nice, and she was even rude to him.... I get it, long day but if you work customer service maybe work on not getting bother by little things and sassing off ("uh fine, but i'm going home after I'm almost done ugh, while rolling eyes ") to your customers and other employees it really is not a nice environment to be in when like that.

Abe Assaf

Horrible place! Bad customer service. They try to push you out near closing time. Worst return policy, no return at all! More expansive than other aquarium stores by almost a factor of two

sarah embury

Fantastic store! Purchasing fish was confusing since we didn't get to talk to a single staff member, but plan on returning! Amazing selection on all your aquatic needs

Michael Cameron

Employees are knowledgeable and helpful. Prices are good here too.

Rob Ferguson

Best pricing and selection on fish

Emmett Bouchard

The only place i really enjoy getting aquarium supplies and fish. Very knowledgeable and always helpful. Been in the hobby since the age of 15 and am now 75. have dealt with a great number of dealers. These people are the very best.

Cedric

I go there every week, the staff is very friendly and they do everything they can to help you. I'm leaving a 4 star because stocking is expensive but understandable as they don't have much competition.

Matthew Beausoleil

Expensive but best fish store around

Claire Gibbs

Good service

leanne Martin

The name says it all. Amazing selection. Awesome fish and everything you need.

John Sankey

Selection is second to none in every fresh water fish and plant category, their salt tanks (fish, anemone corals etc.) are stunning, staff are really expert in everything they carry. Even if you're not buying, it's a super free aquarium to visit!

Ari Bf

(Translated) Super fish I love own many varieties ❤???? you rock Big als (Original) Super poisson j'adore propres beaucoup de variétés ❤???? you rock Big als

Rekisha Henry

Amazing experience love love love all of the tanks and the shark is amazing

Patseglal

Another store I didn't know existed. If you like fish (as pets ) go there. I've never seen so many different species of fish before... They have a shark!

Hugh Howie

From where it was to where it is now is night and day. Its a busy place especially during rain storms and cold days. The new displays are fantastic and the corals are thriving in their new environment in the salt water section. What was once on the brink is now fantastic. Boasting the best display tanks in the city its a fantastic place to go to get the young ones excited about aquatic creatures. Keep up the great work.

Michel Longtin

With helpful staff, large selection, and ability to order just about anything else including amazing varieties of exotic fish, corals, and aquatic plants Big Al's is definitly a one stop shop for anu aquarium needs. They also stock a veriety of reptiles and other pets such as turtlesand hermit crabs.

Khoder Abdul Hussein

I have a deviated septum( result of MMA training) and my breathing is very bad even without the mask. I had a surgery scheduled that’s been delayed due to Covid-19. My daughter is under 5. I have a mask for my daughter if they ask but she hates wearing it. Errol (the person at the front door) wouldn’t let us in without one which isn’t even the law for both of us. Very rude and unprofessional about it too! Been coming here for years. I’ve bought two full aquarium sets here and close to $1000 in African Cichlids. I was coming to buy another 75 gallon aquarium set. Last time I come back unless I get an apology. No sense of customer service. I try to help local and smaller businesses but not when they treat you worse than big box stores.

Braydon Maxam

Excellent store. I’ve made up my mind I’ll never go anywhere else again.

Michi Mclean

Very helpful staff. . Found everything I needed. Very clean and orderly storefront.

Daniel Beauregard

Great people and great store. Recommended to everyone

Macro FoxPaw

Huge selection of fish, staff seems knowledgeable and helpful.

Marjolaine Joanisse

Clean tanks, fishes in good condition and staff very helpful

H T

Best place and service ever! Every employee in this shop is very kind and helpful. I'm there often and been going for almost 5 years. Never got a complaint. Keep up the good work.

Brent Lachaine

One of the worst displays of animal husbandry I have ever seen. Terribly sick looking reptiles and some species that are definitely against the Ottawa bylaws to sell and keep in the city. The fact that they are aloud to even stock and abuse these animals is horrible. I hope you guys get shut down...

Magdalen

I was put on hold for a long time on the phone and when I went to the store the attendant was very rude and not helpful

Derik Zacharias

Love this place the staff are very resourceful and always willing to help you out. I won't go anywhere else.

Holly Linden

There is an employee at this location who is just awful. His rude attitude and terrible client service made us want to never return. He is condescending and speaks to you as if you are stupid. He volunteers no information to your conversation and generally seems to hate his job. This employee has lost you business and will continue to do so. The assistant manager said our negative comments are consistent with feedback received about this employee. The general manager said she's only had positive feedback about him. I think I see the other problem here. This store can be an amazing experience if you get the right person helping you.

Mathieu Tessier

Great place for all you fish and reptile needs. Super knowledgeable and helpful staff. Very friendly too!

Adrianna Cote

Knowledgable staff(mostly).Stock is lacking in some variety, and prices have increased since last year

SatanicBeauty 25

This place is a joke. Worst customer service ever. Petsmart might not be as cheap or fresh but at least they know how to manage clients. Either they are too busy flirting with big chested women here or they are simply inattentive. Waited 20 minutes for assistance for live insects and still not a soul to assist. This place is also filthy. I'd reccomend avoiding this place at all costs. Oh and the manager? Biggest joke ever. I have come here a handful of times in the past year and every single time, this place fails on all levels. It boggles how they manage to stay in business.

Ash !

Great place for fish enthusiasts and beginners. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly.

Stephanie B

I love shopping here! I often go to simply look at the fish. The staff are amazing here also. Karen is by far the most personable person I have ever met in customer service. Errol is great for discussing new tank setups to get you started and any questions and concerns you have- he knows his stuff! And Kevin in the fish room always works hard, ensuring every customer gets a welcoming/fun experience, and is really knowledgeable of the various species of fish!

Anne-Marie Ranger

Great staff, very helpful. Loads of selection. Whether it's your first tank or have had one all your life, these guys will meet, no, exceed your needs.

Justin T

Knowledgeable staff, good selection of livestock. Aquarium accessories (led hoods and glass tops) overpriced vs competitors and online sales, but everyone needs to make a living I guess. Usually stop by once a month looking for deals.

Katie Fuller

They feed the shark as entertainment once a week... Not to mention the tank is extremely small and an animal like that belongs in the wild. Will not support a company that exploits animals for profit.

Noah Jackson

I go here for all my fish needs. Fish are healthy and they know tons. Very helpful

Ian Gallant

I have always had a great buying experience here. Good value helpful staff, easy returns. But today was the greatest, watching the manager dunk on some anti-mask human hemorrhoid. That dude needs a raise. Well done sir.

Natasha B

Nice shop and a great array of fish and other aquarium critters. I wasn't expecting to see lizards but that was a fun surprise for me and my nephew who loved them. They also had this cool little baby shark that he keeps begging me to bring him back to see. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, they make it easy to make an informed decision on what you choose to purchase, even if you first came there with no knowledge of marine life. They have lots of aquarium equipment to choose from as well.

Johnathan Dietzel

Big Al's is hands down the BEST seafood place in Ottawa! Why had I not tried this before? Had the escargot by frying up a dozen snails I picked up for under $20!! A huge variety to choose from on the menu or if you just want to take some home to cook yourself. Everyone talks about Pelican or the Fish Market but Big Al's is the spot. Being able to walk in, browse the tanks to choose your meal while they're still alive makes for quite the experience for the whole family (and you know it's fresh!). Who would have thought? 5 stars all around!

Paul Sequeira

Great place to buy anything you're looking for when it comes to fish, aquariums, etc. The staff is very knowledgeable, and always happy to help. Also, can't beat their prices! Keep up the great service!!

Steve Parnell

Great selection of aquarium equipment, supplies, fish and plants. Knowledgeable staff to answer your questions. Bought 3 new great looking plants that had just arrived and some new fish. My tank is looking great!!

Nadine Lavigne

Always good friendly services

Nancy

(Translated) Good fast service, lots of choice of fish. (Original) Bon service rapide, beaucoup de choix de poissons.

J H

Make sure you are speaking with a staff member who actually know's what they are talking about.

Julie Desjardins

Cool

Christina

Love this store. Quality items and the staff are super knowledgable. I learn something new from them almost every time I go in. This is my go-to spot for anything aquarium related.

Shane Mcdonald

Great selection, great products, staff can be very helpful and knowledgable or just downright rude. Often speak with others who are practically intimidated to ask for help. Worth taking the chance for the quality products and better half of the staff.

Cedric G

It is nice to be able to go back several times to ask questions. Some of the people have good memories so they have had time to reflect on what kind of system you are building and the advice is adjusted.

Joanne McLean

Great service. Very helpful.

Mark Lacroix

Very busy. Good to see these days.

Athena Gris

Staff are great, big selection of fish and reptiles

Marc Mckenzie

Very nice people, great service!

Mori

Great place, knowledgeable staff, always busy.

Warp Asylum

Great service and very knowledgeable staff

S B

If you like dealing with rude and obnoxious staff this is the place to go. You can't be rude to customers for no apparent reason if you want them to spend money at your shop. I'd rather go to petsmart at that point..

Faith Wood

Staff were very friendly and quick! Had a great selection of tanks, fish, plants and tank decoration as well as equipment!

Sara Bentley

Very large fish store got great selection.of products of both reptiles, salt and fresh water products, etc... The fish are healthy for the most part and A good selection of fish too. Descent prices, sadly they've got alot of aptasia in the salt water tanks and possibly worms etc things we can't see with the naked eye possibly, and the chromis I got there were ridden with disease sadly... The coral selection is just sad and terrible!! They've got absolutely nothing going for them in that department, and they're also VERY over priced for the BTAs and corals to begin with... The inverts are good selection though and good prices.

Guy Valentine

Everything you need for aquaria and reptiles.

Nicole Castiglia

We had issues with algae for 7 months. One trip to Big Als and informative advice from Joshua, problem solved

Mike Simpson

Went there to buy some fish. Was talking to an older guy by the name of Mike about fish, when a curly haired employee interrupted our conversation and spoke to me in a very condescending way. I asked Mike who was in charge as I was going to make a complaint against the curly haired guy. Mike explained to me the curly haired guy is usually nice. but he had lost his favorite fish that morning so he was upset. It really touched me that curly cared that much about his fish. But he should still respect customers. Mike was very helpful to me and explained what I was doing wrong and what I had to do. Curly...not so much help but I understand.

Justin Gagnon

Cool store but can't get anyone to help. Waited for almost 30 mins and asked for help and there are 4 people standing around that couldn't help

Wade Whalen

Great knowledgeable staff. Always friendly and great stock of pets and supplies.

Pablo Diaz

Smell's like death, shark just about dead.

p. shawdow

Wonderful service.

Vincent Lemieux

Vast variety of stock, knowledgable staff.

Lorraine Neaves

Knowledgeable staff. Big selection of fish and accessories. Prices reasonable. Lots of parking.

Brett Carson

Hayden's the man

Boulos Zarka

Thank you to all the knowledgeable staff

Trevor Curry

Great place to find information on all different types of fish , snakes , turtles whatever they have they can give you most information. Friendly staff decent prices just a good overall experience for new or current pet owners.

Bill Wong

Better fish selection than PS.

Martin Beard

All in all a very fun store. Great selection of fish, plants and dry goods. Friendly staff and well knowledgeable.

Cindy Merkley

Lots of selection. Very helpful staff

Bert Flanagan

Great staff, lots of product with Knowledgeable staff, Ed in the fishroom, Karen in the product side, ????

jonathan reid

Great lfs. Great Coral selection. Friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Ed Sharpe

Excellent

Chanel Lanthier

Very impressive service. Way to go, I started my new saltwater tank correctly due to them!

Mike Rondeau

Great service and lots of items to choose from with good pricing

Mandy Foster

Great selection, friendly staff

The Hebegebe

Good place for equipment. Sometimes A little pricey on livestock. Would strongly reccomend to quarantine all purchases. One bonus, they do have a good variety of fish that others local vendors may not carry or get.

straightfifty420

Do not buy anything from here without a quarantine tank, a habit of keeping all of your receipts, and lots of ich, and anti fungal medications. Also dewormers. Im likely to have to entirely reset my tank from the plague I got from this store. Very sick fish though may not look it!!

Nathanael Dumoulin

Staff if knowledgeable, and I mean seeing a shark and a giant puffer fish. That's a pretty good reason in itself to go see the store!

Maria Clow

Well worth the drive from anywhere

XXXX YYYY

Staff friendly and knowledgable. A lot of the tanks looked dirty and some had dead fish in them .I hated to see a beautiful shark and puffer fish ln such a small tank cruel in my opinion. Would not go there again.

M.A. Laurin

(Translated) Excellent service. (Original) Excellent service.

Jade Pepper

I was looking for a 50-75 gallon aquarium in Ottawa and was recommended Big Al's. I called and the customer service was great and they helped quite a bit. When I arrived at the store for curbside pickup, the man who helped was very friendly and even measured the aquarium beforehand and helped make sure it would fit in my car. He helped put the tank in the trunk, and gave amazing customer service. I will 100% be returning to Big Al's in the future for more pet supplies. 10/10.

Timothy Roy

Fantastic selection of aquarium gear and aquascaping materials. Fish selection is good too, but in our experience fish are often sick. Staff are knowledgeable, but not always friendly. Limited selection of aquatic plants.

Melanie Hicks

This is the most unprofessional establishment I've ever been in. Horrible conditions on the fish/animals, it was extremely hard to see. The employees are incredibly rude and everyone has differing opinions, don't bother asking for help, you'll be more confused then when you started. I left feeling genuinely uncomfortable and I would not ever return or advise anyone to go there. One male employee specifically spoke down to me, was blatantly rude and challenged me on everything I had to say. I told him what another employee told me, and he then accused me of buying fish to basically kill them, when I obviously would never say anything like that. I am a fish lover and have been in the hobby for almost 4 years. I just told him the instructions the other worker told me. He proceeded to "void" any possibility of return if the fish did die. This was extremely rude and took me by such surprise. Being accused and talked down to by this horrible employee was enough to make me never return. This store is nothing but unprofessional and provided such a terrible experience. Also insanely overpriced, and the return policy in general is BS. They didn't even give me a receipt, and I didn't notice at the time because I wanted to get out as fast as I could. 0/10 experience. This is the first review I have ever written as I usually would not, but this was exceptionally bad. Stick to Pet Smart. At least they'll treat you like people, not fish (and by that I mean absolutely horrible).

Stephane Boisjoli

Friendly good service as always.

Jamie Sheardown

Sometimes very busy but otherwise a good store.

Rosaura Rodriguez

Your aquatic pet store. They have everything. Great quality.

Stephannie Beaudette

Loads of stuff. But one of the girls there seems to talk out of her butt... more than once Ive had her say something that Ive known had to be wrong... I would ask another employee and sure enough right in front of her would explain the truth... seems to me shes only looking to make a sale and not tell actual truth...

R. Starling

Lots of stuff, excellent aquarium displays, friendly and knowledgeable staff

Shari De Jong

Lots of supplies for all kinds of tanks. The staff are hit and miss. I have received great advice at times however, other times I can't even find anyone to talk to.

Cory Taylor

Great live fish, reptile, and aquarium supply store. The staff are always friendly and helpful and their selection is second to none, in Ottawa. Even if you're not shopping, it makes for a free visit to a reasonably large aquarium. They constantly restock their selections of saltwater fish, corals, invertebrates, freshwater livestock, plants, reptiles and arachnids!

بشار جبر

its good

Matthew Little

Freahest sushi I've ever had. Staff was a little nervous though, don't know why.

Thomas Hood

Friendly knowledgeable staff, excellent selection and prices.

Stacey M

Incredible service and knowledge staff. I broke my canister filter. Completely my fault. They took the time to figure out how to fix it. Ordered the new part and let me buy and take the part from a new open box so I don't have to wait for my part to come in. Made my day a whole lot better.

Robert Cummings

Very knowledable and friendly staff. Large selection of freshwater and salt water fish, crustaceans, and plants. Also a selection of reptiles and amphibians.

Nicky Carpenter

Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Good variety of fish, coral and tanks available.

Bd K

Been a few times the husband wife who seem to be in charge are rude. Younger staff is much nicer. Had to fight with them to make a return for defective product their website clearly stated was returnable and I had receipt. Ended up replacing but told me not to think about returning product again at their store. Problem solved not buying there again.

Sebastien Brazeau

Love this store. Great selection. Helpfull staff.

M huncho

The Owner (older man with glasses) was extremely angry with us for coming with 4 people. Before we were even sinside he was telling us off for coming together. All four of us wanted to buy fish and plants but he was so rude we decided to leave. Even his staff apologized for his actions as we left. Cant believe someone would be so rude to people trying to support his business. As a group we have made several large purchases from him.

Eddie Lo

Great store

Angela Miseferi

Used to be my favorite store for aquatic supplies, now the staff are just lazy and the store is dirty and the tanks are not well taken care of. Not impressed at all

Robert Monette

Its my go to shop for fish. These people are well experienced and knowledged. They also adde a new reptile section, very knowledged staff aswell. Only thing i believe is missing is lack of variety. Also beautiful shark on display.

Philippe Coderre

(Translated) Super tips !!! (Original) Super conseils!!!

Darlene Bierman

Staff are always very helpful and answer any questions you have

gracie chapman

Very poor experience. Was hard to find a staff member to help us get fish. Boxes and packing covered the floor and it was difficult to move around. When we finally got our fish and went to the front to pay we had to wait 10 minutes in line, and then we were over charged by $10. If your go to Big Al's go to their other locations, this one is a disorganized disaster.

GBabyGencher94

Best we have in Ottawa for selection.

Mark Brougham

Aquarium super store for all your aquarium needs

M.S. Dressler

Other than they don't seem to ever answer their phone anymore I love this place. I use to be able to call up with any type of question I had and they would help me, however I have noticed this changed. Last time I called to get info on a water issue I was having, the male basically blew me off and said he can't help me. Otherwise this would have been a 5 star rating. They seem passionate about their jobs and it's not a lot of high school kids who know absolutely nothing about what they are selling. Other than customer assistance has gone down in the last year I'll still choose this place over the big brand places.

Olivia O'Halloran

Helpful and knowledgeable staff!

Goli Morgan

Friendly service and great advice

Stephan Lupien

(Translated) beautiful place (Original) belle endroit

Nick Doyle

Really gone down hill. Lots of dead fish in the tanks and their bettas don't look very healthy. It was also really hard to get a store associate to give me a hand. I asked about 3 people and each time I was told they'd come back and they never did. Lots of store associates just doing nothing but talking/walking back and forth. Won't go again.

J-G Sauve

Knowledgeable staff and a huge selection of species

Earth Pig

Very poor service and that is an understatement drive over an hour to get two hard to find fish get them come home both are sick and one missing a gil plate. I guess when you tell someone you want the two healthiest male and female that means the crappiest males and thats if you can even get service. Dont bother complaining to the manager either, was just as bad as trying to get service in the store.I hope they replaced there staff with the ones from the kanata store manager included but either way never going to that store again... best store in Ottawa hands down for fish is critter jungle

Miss Samantha

Very disappointed with the service. I have rescued a baby turtle and wanted to get everything I needed to take care of him so I went to Big Al's. I was told that i just needed a small tank, filter and UVB light which I did buy for a total of $105. I was told that the turtle wasn't going to grow much, appox an inch a year. I was also told that he would not eat much and hibernate for the winter months. After just over a month I had been noticing that the filter was getting clogged up every 3 days which made the tank extremely dirty and was very hard to maintain the tank over the weeks. I returned to Big Al's in hopes that I could exchange the filter for a larger one. Upon giving the details of my turtle's habitat the staff the got there "turtle specialist" who began to inform me that the tank was too small that a turtle can double in size within a year, we needed a heat light as well as the UVB light and the turtle would not hibernate if it wasn't outside. All the initial information I got was wrong and they would not let me return or exchange the pump or tank for larger ones. I ended up buying another 20 Gallon tank and second largest filter pump at an additional cost of $100. I feel that Big Al's should have taken back to wrongly sold items.

Andrew Casselman

It's been a long time since I kept fish. So long as the internet didn't exist in the way it does now. So when I bought a new type of plant and forgot to ask about it, called the store and was provided with much more info than my simple question. As far as I'm concerned, the guy who helped me went out of his way to make sure I knew how to deal with what I had just purchased.

Andrew Casselman

It's been a long time since I kept fish. So long as the internet didn't exist in the way it does now. So when I bought a new type of plant and forgot to ask about it, called the store and was provided with much more info than my simple question. As far as I'm concerned, the guy who helped me went out of his way to make sure I knew how to deal with what I had just purchased.

Serena Ladd

Very nice and knowledgeable staff. I drive all the way from the west end to shop at this location because they have a good selection of supplies. Plus I like looking at all their fish and watching their cute shark in the back tank.

Wayne Dion

Incredible selection awesome store.

Derek Wilson

Great service well knowledgeable staff helped me with all my questions about my new reef tank! Thanks :)

St.lawrence Slayerz

Al's always has the right products and very helpful staff to assist you with any questions you may have. I've been a long time customer for this very reason. AWESOME STORE.

Kayla Dutfield

Bought my betta here they were very nice and I loved going through the store. Well stocked and their aquarium room is awesome

K. Murray

AMAZING place for aquarium fanatics. You need it, they have it. Such an awesome variety of fish and aquarium hobby needs...AND they have a shark!

Yash Khale

Great store with a lot of options. ALTHOUGH, the store manager or whoever that older guy with glasses is, is extremely RUDE and lacks soft skills. Horrible experience. I felt really awkward to shop even though I wanted to buy a few things. Other associates are really nice. They answer your questions and help you out with whatever you need. But one bad fish shall spoil the whole pond. No soft skills whatsoever! People come to your store to spend money on their hobbies. Be more welcoming. A lot more options in Ottawa and Gatineau. Sorry but you ruined my experience.

timmy budge

So many kinds of fish n sea creatures! I wanna go back n see the shark feeding frenzy on Tuesday nights at 7pm

Marilyn Gilby

A lot of dead fish in the tanks when we were there. Against better judgement we bought 9 fish and had no way to quarantine them. Within 48 hours we lost most of the fish in our 55gal tank (about 30 fish plus the 9). The store in Kanata was pretty good until it closed but we will never go back to this one. C J is a better option.

Jerry Roa

u can find everything for aquariums.

Kayla Monaghan

This place is really hit or miss depending on the day. There are some days where the staff are helpful and kind, and others where it seems like the staff don't get along and you can feel the tension. I have overhead on a few occasions staff speaking negatively to each other.

Gerald Joyner

Very helpful .

marisol simard

(Translated) Very good (Original) Super bien

Jon

I always love To go there either by my self or with my family. They have a lot of different fish breeds and all I need for my fish. They have good knowledge about all the fish. They know how to serve their clients. I would recommend this place. In the Ottawa-Gatineau region its the store that have the biggest inventory of fish for sell or all we need for our aquarium: aquarium, filters, pumps, décoration, grave, live plants, etc.

Derek Burkinshaw

Great selection of fish. Check out the shark feeding Thursdays at 7.

Annie Landry

Awesome staff; friendly, helpful and super knowledgeable. Have been coming here for years for aquarium supplies and livestock!

Eric

Good service and amazing fish products choice.

Lucas Desjardins

Only giving two stars because of the one employee's who has always helped me but this time, I got treated completely different by a different person and finally experienced what everyone is talking about. I called today to ask about a enclosure and not a cheap one at that, and if you had it in stock I was going to buy it BUT... you're employee answered the phone and asked ME to call HER back in 30min-1hr. Yeah no, I moved on and found one elsewhere you're staff really need to be trained on how to deal with customers properly and not rudely answer the phone like I was bugging her. I won't be back into big Al's in Ottawa, I can find my stuff elsewhere.

joel desjardins

little expensive ok staff on saltwater

Liz White

Great place to shop for all your aquarium needs, but be careful when reviewing your receipt. I was overcharged two separate times for items. Had no problems getting refunded either time, but if I hadn't have checked I would have been out of $$$$$

Nic 444

They have a good selection & friendly staff. The place to go for aquarium supplies.

Marie Angeline

This store and specifically this location is very unprofessional and in clear violation of human rights laws. They do not care nor do they provide an alternate means to purchase reptile food for those that are truly medically exempt. They are mean, aggressive and belittling. Myself and my cousin were both refused service on a day that no other store had the proper food and could have led to our reptiles demise. They are very clearly in the wrong. We would have gladly placed our order online for curbside pickup but were unable to and told to come in. We only have come here maybe 4 times and each time was met with the same unprofessional and condescending attitude. It's a shame this business is even allowed to operate. They do not adequately care for their wildlife. This place just fills a long list of cons and should be avoided at all costs. Plenty of other low cost places to get quality reptile food, this place is not the place to go.

Tim Richardson

Expensive and fish quality is terrible

Matthew Clairmont

Got everything I needed for my turtle but do your own research. They aren't pushy but their are some defenite gaps in their knowledge

Robin Dewey

My son has wanted a turtle for a couple years. I realize that is a lot of work to take care of one. We searched everywhere to find one and decided to go to Big Al's in Ottawa. I am so happy we went. The service was amazing and we left with everything we needed to raise our turtle. The lady that helped us was very knowledgeable and super excited about her job. Everyone made sure we knew what the committment was with a turtle. That made me happy. I made sure they knew this was not a spur of the moment purchase, but the fact that the wanted to qualify us for this purchase was amazing. I will make the drive to go there again. Well done guys!!!!

Diane Breton

It's an amazing place

Katie Kauffeldt

Love this place! Everyone is so knowledgeable and eager to help. They spend time with you and help you figure out what your issues may be and how to resolve them. They take their time and truely love what they do!

marivic macquarrie

Its a good store

Shane hogan

The staff are great even carry my stuff to car cuz I walk with cane help me find exactly what I wanted

L H

I got my turtle here a few years ago and was very pleased with the advice they gave me. I like stopping by and just looking around at all the fish!

Melanie Sterling

I love going into Al's! Since learning about them I never use any other store for my fish needs. I have a 55 gallon. They are so helpful.

Gazoan Ahmed

Nice variety aquarium products. Livestock fish are not the greatest. A lot of died fish in tanks.

Laura Proulx

I found every staff member to be pretty knowledgeable for my type of aquarium, and they had a decent selection of fish.

A Rod

STOP bringing your children. With limited store capacity they say to limit 1 person per household, yet they let in a parent with a gaggle of kids, making the line up terribly long for people who actually need to buy fish supplies. Please don’t bring your kids to come look at the fish, wait until covid is done and bring them to an aquarium so customers who may have emergencies can get in and get out quickly. Big Als, please enforce the 1 person per household rule.

David Dykstra

Whether you are putting together your first tank or experienced with aquariums, big Al's is fantastic. Marlin always knows what's up and has helped us trouble shoot and has given us many suggestions

Juhli Lyncaster

Service was non-existent and the staff were all either grumpy and curt or standing around talking to each other. It was not a pleasant experience.

Carrie Leung

Helpful staff. Lots to choose from.

Irvin Lapierre

The place has great deals on right now, until Dec 31. They always have a wide variety of fish that you won't find at pet stores, as well as aquarium supplies for salt water and fresh. They also stock reptiles and supplies.

Terry Terry

These stores are poorly managed. Many of the employees are knowledgeable but receive no direction from management. The Ottawa West store website is still up even though the store closed 2 months ago. The fish I bought there had some disease that spread to my other fish. Too bad as Ottawa needs a good aquarium store.

Bryan Currier

I wish this place would get shut down. The past few times I want in to Big Als Ottawa I was shocked. I can’t believe the dead marine fish and inverts, many look like they have been dead for days. It’s 100% unacceptable.

Yuri Dembin

Excellent selection of fish when you want to buy an aquarium from them the salesman says they are sold out. So I recommend to the owners if they care stock up a little bit on stock.

Julie Whittaker

My husband and I went into the Ottawa store on October 10th without the slightest clue of what we were doing. All we knew is we wanted to begin the process of a saltwater aquarium. We were helped by the most patient, helpful aquatic expert ever. Kevin was his name and he is a wealth of information. We left the store with absolutely everything we needed and so pleased with the service we received. Thank you Kevin. You are a huge asset to Big Al's store.

Sixty Below

Do not buy anything from the store. They are a total rip-off. I have bought light bulbs that did not last even half the time that they were supposed to. I most recently bought a black fly culture to help feed my praying mantises and it was active the first day. I paid $20 for this culture and naturally I got rid of the receipt because there was some activity for a little while. When the Mathis has hatched from the sack I put a couple holes in the culture and nothing came out. And because I did not keep my receipt because I did not feel it necessary after I open the culture they will no longer give me my money back. They tell me that they will only trade for another culture in a week's time. This does me no good because in about a week's time my praying mantises will have gone too small size crickets. They even told me that they knew the culture was no good. Yet they went and sold it to me. You will not only find that you will get ripped off in the store but you will also find that the manager is totally ignorant. Stay away if you know what's good for you

AlwaysFlawless Makeup

Earlier this evening, I visited Al's looking for a saltwater tank for two lobsters I bought (long story haha). The gentleman working in the fish-shop area was really honest with me about cost and what would go into getting a saltwater tank and I ultimately decided against the idea. That said, I was so impressed with the honesty and knowledgeability of the staff that I decided to buy a 30 gallon freshwater tank as a surprise to my fiancé for our anniversary. The shopping experience was really great due to the staff I encountered and I feel confident in the large purchase that I made. They even carried my purchases to my car! My fiancé and I are looking forward to returning this weekend to buy fish!! Thanks Al's, you've gained a loyal customer today :)

John Andrews

Had what I needed. Great staff. Didn't wait long.

Martine St-Jean

(Translated) Many choices and very good service. (Original) Beaucoup de choix et très bon service.

Serge Patenaude

Had a bad experience today.Oriental guy was very condescending because I dared walk inside The store 2 feet past the door and waited.So I’m told to wait outside but when I got there and Waited outside for a few minutes nobody came to the door and it’s minus 10 degrees.If He was so worried about covid he should be wearing a mask.There was also another employee Without a mask.I was wearing a mask.I know he will discredit this but I don’t give a damn.I will Take my business elsewhere.There are two Petsmart locations off Innes road and for those that Don’t mind driving a bit there is a store in Gatineau called La Niche et Moi that can show this oriental Guy a thing or two about being professional with customers and they have a pretty good selection Of livestock.And the plus is...wait for it...no attitude.In these pandemic times they cannot afford To mistreat customers because they will remember after the pandemic is over.

Cedric Peters

Really like the place. They are getting a new shark in the display tank too.

Marcus Rene

Am always blown away when I walk in there, with all them beautiful tanks. I like how the staff members are very knowledgeable and willing to help out. Nice range of fish to buy, let's just say that you want to start a brand you tank, just walk in there and you will find everything that you will need to start your own aquarium tank. I really recommend this place.

Debbie Grainger

The absolute best pet fish care store I've ever been to. Great customer service too!

Fawaz

One of a kind in Ottawa. Knowledgeable and friendly staff who are genuinely interested in your growth as an aquarist.

Lisa Brisebois

huge selection of fish and reptiles and amphibians, something for everyone

Julie Beauchamp

Great variety. I have shopped at big Al's for at least 30 years. Even when they closed Ottawa west location I still travel to east from Bayshore area. Well worth the trip.

Robyn R

Awesome selection!

Jennifer Crews

Great customer service highly recommend

Dan Sofalvi

Amazing service, friendly and professional. Find all your fish and pet needs here as well as so much more! Thanks again we will be back soon. Cheers -Dan

Adam Bryant

Amazing staff. Lots of knowledge. Very friendly. Awesome place for all your aquarium needs.

Adam Fitzgerald

Usually they're pretty good there however today I had a less than optimal experience today. I was asked if I needed help looking for something so I said j needed medium sized sinking pellets for goldfish. He picked out one for me, I inspected the bottle to see "sinking" to not be found on the product so I asked again to be sure when I was checking out. Only to be told yes they were and that all goldfish pellets are sinking. Got home popped a few in the tank and they all float... wasted my time and money.

Jay Lawrence

Positive changes @ Big Al's in Gloucester - the variety is way up, the display tanks are fantastic, and the staff are friendly and helpful. I got some excellent info from resident planted tank guru Mark. The marine selection is really good now. Very happy to all the improvements. My go-to local fish store.

Stephanie Merritt

Body place for fish and ingo in Ottawa fair price as well

MyPoutchie

Always helpful people.. great choice for fish owners

DivvyBoo

I. Am. In love. Totally recommend it over any other reptile/fish centric store I've been to and here's why. They have almost every type of fish tank, fish and several lizards and EXTREMELY well kept. And yes some lizards are dirty/smelly. They're animals that happens. I saw several people on the floor cleaning, feeding and/or restocking. Service was so friendly and easy to talk to. You don't feel dumb for asking questions like some smaller reptile specific stores. And (before I go completely off the rails) the inventory. AMAZING. There was SO much to look through, nothing felt cramped and everything was well organized. If you need a tank, they have it in another 8 sizes for sure. I'm totally making this my place to go for reptile supplies (butterworms 12 for 5$ vs some places which are 10 for 20$) even with the 1hr bus ride its completely perfect. (Plus the goldfish were soooo cute!!! Here's some pics x3)

Ron Powell

They are always helpful and curtious. They know what they are talking about as well.

Issoufou Abba Moussa

Various aquatic species, all aquariums and accessories, water conditioner and feeding..

karen Grant

Love the service, mega selection of fish and there is a live shark there

Tina Fournier

Great services, very friendly