Big Al's Aquarium Supercentres - Vaughan

I always find what I'm looking for.and a few surprises. It's a great store with knowledgeable staff on hand.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff. This is the only place I buy fish, and the associated products.

I've been fishing keeping for years and this hobby can be challenging at times. I've been having a small issue with my tanks and I believe it was the store manager at Vaughan big al's helped me figure things out. Great store. Very knowledgeable staff. Couldn't do it without them. Thank you

Not a good experience. I had bought 3 fishes which one was sick once I brought her home and could see it in my tank.since I was living far north I could not return it.it died on day 5 and I took it to them on day 7 because I go to town only on weekends. They deny to give me a replacement. They told me you should have called us.seriously? Is it part of warranty to do so? I will never go there again because they can not stand behind they products.everything you buy is good until it is not.this fish which I bought was a sichlid worth less than $10 dollar, imagine you buy a expensive fish or expensive equipment for tank. Once it is in bag it is yours regardless of what happens. When you go in and ask about a trouble with product or support, that nice faces change and you see a different attitude. When you are buying and spending money, every body is nice. Until you ask for support, then you see real faces. This style of doing bussiness is wrong. If your bussiness is dependent on a $10 fish and you prefer to loose customers for $10, If I was you, I would close it and do something else.
That is why I always purchase from Amazon and I am sure if any thing wrong u have no issue. Unfortunately they don't sell fishes

On the last visit I made, I realized that there is little staff to attend, the few people there do not have time to answer questions, they are always running and cannot give themselves the necessary time to explain, just as advice to have more staff to Even if it is to clear up the doubts that one has as a client, when I went to buy in March I did not have that problem!

Another successful fish store that has great service and products.

Not the cheapest but impressive selection.

Still one of the biggest fish stores in Canada.

I'm come to this place at least once a week know lostof the people there. They've just started upping their game with salt water though I've noticed their prices are more expensive than the steels location.

Planted aquarium meterial like lava rocks, live plants complete aquarium accessories. Fish food medicine, complete set-up.aquarium lovers must visit this u will all items @ one place nice supporting staff.

You can find me here every two weeks or so! They are home to me and my husband:) Shout-out to Anthony the employee!

I went in just before close to get some feeder Goldfish and Rosy Reds. I found some outdoor pond plants and decided on that as well. The team member who helped me, tall, slim, light haired male, was a pleasure. He asked all the right questions which guided my purchase. He asked if the fish were for a pond and selected the brighter, lively fish. He made me a priority while he picked out the fish and the plant. Such a nice experience during what seemed like a busy night of shoppers.

The casher, a shorter, brunette female, was friendly and quick with the purchase.

I'm glad I decided to go out tonight to get some pond fish and plants. Thanks!

Only bought from them.

I gave them all my business and one of the Marine fish I bought gave all the others ich. Tried treating them all and one died already.

EDIT: Another one died today. Very upset, my tank is suffering now. I’ve been dozing medicine but clearly it hasn’t been working. Make sure to QT you’re fish from here even when they say they are “treated for parasites”.

Not a lot of plants in stock currently, went looking for java moss or guppy grass, wasn't in stock. Staff was super nice

Never again. After many failed attempts at liking this place I’m never going to it again. I’ve bought so many fish from them and all I’ve ever received was dying fish. Do your research before don’t trust what the employees say. Them telling me aggressive fish are good with each other? That picky eaters will eat anything I give them? That a juvenile tang will be happy living in a 60g tank (WTH) ? The employees are beyond rude, only good person who helped me with my questions was the manager of the fish room everyone else either wasn’t able to help or just did not want to. Save yourselves the trip and don’t go to this location ever. Besides the horrendous customer care with this location their care for the animals is also sad, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking for that case…

Staff are very friendly and helpful in answering all my questions, as a beginner, to keeping an aquarium.

Normally get great service except for yesterday. They set up a line queue in the fish area where you would have to fill out your paper and wait for someone to help you out. However it did not seem to be in use, was standing there for a while but staff seem to have total disregard for it and other guest were jumping ahead. I know it gets busy at times and all the better they should be using the system they set in place. But If they aren't going to follow it might as well take it out. What a waste of time.

Really friendly staff here who helped me find fish that fit for my tank at home. There was also a lot of good selection for freshwater fish! Would definitely return in the future

They don’t update their website! I checked their website regularly for a specific fish. Their website indicated the fish was in stock so I drove 30 mins to get it. Not happy! They don’t carry that fish for long time and no one update the website. The staff even told me not to trust their website!

Always helpful staff. Lots of new stock coming in on a regular basis. One star from perfect due to it sometimes being difficult to get service now that the clipboards are not being used to preselect your stock

I don't purchase anything right now. Selection weaker, prices higher. I understand everyone should recover after such a collapse, but it is not affordable anymore

I always find what I'm looking for.and a few surprises. It's a great store with knowledgeable staff on hand.

I was blown away by the amazing stuff they have like wow! It's so huge inside with all of the water world you need

My favourite Big Al’s location. Staff is always very friendly and all experts. Fair prices (with price match) and good store layout. Fish section is nice too, with new fish weekly.

Beautiful store, friendly and knowledgeable staff and a large selection of marine and fresh water fish.
This was my first experience at this location since I am from out of town, and I was pleased with the service I received.
Unfortunately they don’t respond to concerns made on their sites “contact us” page or on social media.
Their phone number also was unavailable.
I recently purchased a few Marine fish and one died during transport, the fish must not have been healthy to die during a 50 minute transport. I’ve never lost a fish on my way home before. Plus the fish was transported in a cooler to keep at temperature since these fish are super sensitive to temperature swings.
Marine fish are expensive and I hope big Al’s Vaughn will help replace a fish that was unhealthy and regrettably died.
Please exercise caution when purchasing marine fish here, a quarantine tank is strongly recommended since health and disease cannot be guaranteed.

I've visited this place few time cause of its location. Customer service in this place is almost non-existent. They don't greet you at all, usually you have to look for an associate yo help you and even then it's not a pleasant experience. Fish keeping is a hobby for most people and you want to have a good experience when you visit your local fish store.

Very friendly/helpful staff and clean place, if you have any problems call the store they are very helpful and will help solve the problem if possible. Only place I buy my fish from highly recommend them

I have visited seven Big Al's stores in Ontario and this one is the best by far. Tanks were super clean, fish were of good quality and healthy, priced were reasonable and staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Everything that you want in a fish store.

I stopped at your store to get some supplies and to look at your fish room

Josh was helping me I will most definitely come back to your store he was so helpful knowledgeable very friendly and answered every one of my questions thoroughly and did not rush to move on to another customer

I had a very good experience shopping at your store thank you Josh You're great and I will be coming back again

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU FOR SHARING AND ASKING ME THESE QUESTIONS!
I WOULD LIKE TO SHOP'S AT BIG AL'S. YOU CAN TOO IF YOU COULD. OF COURSE AFTER THE PANDAMICS.
SO THAT YOU CAN PICK WHAT YOU LIKES!
RIGHT.
THANK YOU ️TAKE CARE GOD BLESSED EVERYONE

This location is really customer friendly, staff are nice, lots of stock, beautiful clean aquariums, and speedy service

Helpful staff, very knowledgeable. The guys were great in setting us up with a new tank. Due to narrow aisles, more attention needs to be given to people not wearing the masks properly and exposing others to infection risk.

Amazing place full of amazing fish and friendly employees. Best quality fish and clean environment. It's a good place to spend an afternoon.

Fast efficient service with knowledgeable friendly staff.
Treat children with an interest in aquariums and its inhabitants with the same respect and courtesy as everyone else.
I’m impressed!

Great selection of fish. Great service at the front. Store is bigger than it seems from the outside! Definitely call in before you go to confirm as some dishes are quarantined prior to selling (illness or new fish)

Discriminating place, there is not exemptions towards people who cannot wear a mask, the chinese manager or whatever that is was highly rude and harassing, they denied service to those with health conditions, that's called discrimination. He said his customers and employees were complaining about us not wearing a mask when he was lying, some employees offer us help they have known us for years, I hope places likes this go bankrupt, never again buying in this place even if things ever get better, I rather give my money to amazon.

Disappointing experience at this store! See below the email I just sent to their head office about our visit!

"Hello,
My name is Eliza and I wanted to let you know about my experience at your Vaughan location last night.
As a bit of background, I normally shop at your North York location, which we love to visit because the staff there are great with my son who has behavioural challenges. I have previously written to you about how great our experience there has been, which makes this even more disappointed for me to see.
While I normally shop at the North York location, I stopped on my way home at the Vaughan location because we needed fish food. I assumed you would close, but I got an email saying you were open so I stopped. As a mother, what I saw there is shocking regarding current events. While the staff were nice enough, I feel bad for them. About health precautions, I heard the staff saying that they didn’t feel safe and weren’t sure why they were even open. I have to agree with them. They don’t have any protective gear and saw customers getting very close to staff. I didn’t see any hand sanitizer stations as mentioned in the email, and there seems to be no leadership going on. I don’t understand. I know someone probably needs to care for the fish, but nobody has to be buying fish or aquariums right now. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortunately based on my experience with your stores I don’t believe this is the fault of the staff but rather highers up. After what I saw at the Vaughan location and the conversation I heard, I assume it must be the same for all of your stores. As much as this is my son’s favourite store to visit now, but I’m not sure if I want to continue to support a company that clearly puts money before the health and safety of their employees, and by connection their customers. Please consider the safety of your staff and community, and close like other stores. "

I'm very upset by their team at Vaughan they decided to place the store specials for red albino chilli and we get is some ordinary ones
They misleads every time and makes u come to their store and u end up buying the wrong fish.
Plus the staff was not helpful.
I would strongly recommend not to go this Vaughan big Al's location
Misleading their store specials
The fishes are very pricey
And their staff was not helpful.

I go to this location often usually their service is decent. Today's visit ruined my day I ask the fish manager to feed a fish he said wait 2 minutes he will feed the fish while I was waiting he completely ignored me and started to serve the next customer he was not friendly atall you can't expect same service from them all the time the service is depending on their mood at that time. They are not consistent. I might still go there this is the closest big al to my home. The manager should not ignore the customer like this.

My wife and I love this place. We have been purchasing equipment for our aquarium over the last few years and they have been great!

Nice place.but stuff are not so friendly specialy if your kind a new customer and you want to asked lots of things.

Terrible customer service skills, was told one thing on the phone and something else in person, lost a loyal customer over a 20% stocking charge return on a $75 item, that's $15. The store manager just shrugs with no basic business fundamentals I.e. The cost of customer acquisition and retention, will be driving to scarb or going online if I ever need anything from Al's again.

I use to get all my aquarium products here including my fish. Al is a master of the craft and if you want fish related goods make sure you go here.they also do shark feeding once a week pretty cool thing to go check out.

By far one of the best big Al's around. If you ever go you must ask for Dimo. He is one of the best people I have ever met at a fish store. His knowledge.professionalism and helpfulness is unmatched.

Had a great experience dealing with Sheldon on preping our fish tant. Finally got a few fishes to start.

Great store with friendly staff! A special shout out to Daniel for helping us out. Such a wonderful young man.

All of the staff staff I talked to there were superhelpful. I talked to a few different staff about picking out fertilizers and plants for a live tank and was given great recommendations that have done very well so far in my tank. The only downsides I found were the prices. Compared to the few other Big Al's locations I've been to, this one was the most expensive. Most of the plants were 10-20 dollars a piece. Otherwise, awesome!

They had everything I needed to set up a small aquarium for my kids. The fish are still alive after a couple weeks so I have no reason to complain. Also, the offered a five day warranty for my fish, however it wasn't necessary.

I've been there several times and everytime there's a lack of cust. Service. Nobody greets or attempts to help you to look for anything. Convenience it's right off the hwy.

I went in today, and sold them my healthy 5 inch bala shark. The manager in the fish area seemed more worried about something else. I know that they dont need to do small talk but it would have been nice to be acknowledged.

Big Al's Aquarium Supercentres have lost a customer for life! I was given bad information with regards to a breed of fish and their behavior. Once I returned home the fish over the course of two days were very aggressive and continued to attack one another and additional fish in the tank. I advised the sales personnel of my concerns and asked for an exchange. I was told I would receive a $5 credit on my $40 purchase on already overpriced fish. Here is the rub… I bought the fish on Tuesday and brought them back on a Thursday of the same week. I was willing to accept some loss, however, $5 dollars was a slap in the face. So, they can keep their fish and never get another penny from me. I went to Finatics Aquarium on Dixie Road the staff was very knowledgeable, the selection was outstanding, and the prices were great.

Steve was instrumental in helping me set up my 70 gal tank filled with colourful African cichlids. The store was clean and organized with a friendly atmosphere, best location I have visited. Reasonable prices for beautiful fish and great advice for someone who was just looking for manageable pets for small children. Great experience thank you.

I have a question as a regular customer. Why would a store take a business approach of taking there premium corals off the floor as potential sales (revenue) to place in display tanks? I am aware that it’s nice to have a few display tanks for customers to view however; I would venture to say if I were a stakeholder I would prefer to have the sales in my pocket rather than carrying those costs to just display product with no intention of sale. Perhaps a better approach would be to take those smaller corals with a lesser dollar value and utilize them as display type items hrrrm yep sounds a bit more intelligent, or continue you this approach and loose sales and customer base as I know I have already started shopping elsewhere.

I would in many cases agree with what you are saying other than the fact I’m very familiar with this location and frag corals ha ha ha. Yeah that’s never happened at this location and I have been going there for years and have never once seen this process done. The prior fish room manager (Randy) understood his clientele and was always stocking large corals in the tanks and very few times did I ever not see them sell. Fragging is definitely a good means of stretching revenue however; only if very educated on the fragging process otherwise what was initially thought as a potential gain is a complete loss. This also does not include the additional margins you’ll have to place on the item to recoup carrying costs and overheads (power, water, chemicals) the P&L would most definitely show a loss in this case.
I stand by my comment as I see others who use to frequent to this location that are now seen at other locations making the same comments. In fact there are some of the same comments made within the last three months of reviews.
We cant all be wrong

This place is not as well stocked as their centre near Yonge and Teeles. The staff at other locations more friendly and were eager to plese.

Not too sure how to rate Big Al's. Bought fish twice and both times I added sick fish to my aquarium. Bought $40 worth meds to fix $15 worth of fish. Kinda disappointed