Big Al's Aquarium Supercentres

Loved all the fish, so many aquariums and stock. Staff assisted us with a 90 gal tank and stand.

The tanks are always clean! The workers are friendly! The 1 gentleman even fed the big tank of fish for me!

I’ve always had a great experience at this location, staff are super helpful and knowledgeable.

Awesome staff and a great selection of rare fish, freshwater and saltwater. Definitely a place to recommend to your fish loving friends and family.

Amazing staff, great selection, clean premises, lots of tanks and supplies, really the best go to spot for aquarium needs.

Update: same great place.

Great selection for what ever your looking for. Friendly staff, easy to talk to. Been shopping there and in the Hamilton store for over twenty years

Really awkward guy helped my daughter and I and when requesting a tetra fish I was told I needed to speak with someone else. Who just gave me the fish lol, no one was rude or anything just super awkward

Nit impressed with the store as I was totally given the wrong item. I was taking care of a friend's fish tanks and the girl who answered the phone set aside a product that was suppose to help with brown algae in the newly set up tanks.
I was given the wring product all together which pi**** me off as these were no my tanks. This could if been so bad just thinking about what could have happened.
I returned the product the following day and was given the proper product in exchange.
I was told by a employee that the young ladies answering the phones should NOT be recommending any products to customers.
I'm grateful I got the right product and lost 1 Platti a few days later, thats a whole lot better than loosing her hole tank. A mistake that could of been a lot worse.

For the price you're paying you would think the staff would be a little more friendly and helpful.not impressed with all 3 working today.the last made an effort to be friendly however by that time I was just done

Can't beat the value of there house brand products. Trust me I have looked around and they are pretty much half. If you need water conditioner, bio support or bio clean go to Big Al's it will save you huge money!

As a newbie aquarium owner, this place checks all of my boxes, always gives good advice and replenishes their stock frequently

Always large selection wet for light came out with stuff I didn't go in for bought a real cool lighting for tank

I always like going here. We bought some supplies for a snail we were getting. The staff interactions were ok but no one seemed upbeat or really went out of thier way to help us. We asked questions and they provided minimal information.

Came in for some advice and their team was amazing much better then a local competitor. Their staff are very knowledgeable and don’t mind answering all the questions you might have. Prices are fair and reasonable.

I went in 2x and Andrew helped me, I believe the manager.
Andrew was extremely helpful and I couldn't be happier!
Thank you!

Huge selection of fish, lots of cool tank accessories and friendly staff. Nikki helped us with every question we had, gave us great ideas and even was able to answer axolotl questions. I’m a axolotl owner so it was nice to find someone who has knowledge on them. Over all great selection and will DEFINITELY be back!

Was the best experience ever very knowledgeable people there and very very helpful will be going back

Helpful staff, they helped me get ny daughters aquarium set up and educated me on the best fish to pair up together!

One of the best aquatic pet stores I've ever been in! Sometimes the staff doesn't always know some simple info about the fish in shop, but I get it, lots of fish and it's hard to know info on all of them especially when you're a new employee and only need 5yrs of fish keeping "experience" to work there lol

I visited big Al's in Barrie yesterday to purchase some Guppies and Molly's, only to come home after work and find them ALL dead in the tank, they didn't even last 24 hours, what in the actual hell? Tank was cycling for 2 days before adding fish, temperature and pH levels where absolutely perfect, and yet I have 4 dead fish in less than 24 hours, UNREAL.

As I mentioned before I was there yesterday November 2,2021, and judging by recent comments from people, you can clearly tell that those people are close with the owners and employees or friends of, because what I witnessed yesterday was a large majority of their fish tanks are overstocked with too many fish and plenty of tanks with dead fish in them, and plenty of tanks that are filthy.

Not all staff members are knowledgeable in regards to what they do or where they work unfortunately, i had 4 to 5 items I was looking for on Big Al's website/Barrie location, to which I was told "I am not sure" and "I don't think we have it here". Nice!

Water hoses, when not rolled up and put away can become a tripping hazard, just a friendly reminder. Chipped and broken concrete on a floor with a "Wet Floor Sign" over it, does not remove a tripping hazard also, again just a friendly reminder.

I would really like to visit this location again, but not right away.

Great place to buy a pet fish and any accessories. Staff is friendly and very helpful. Purchased my 5 years old first Betta and she just loved it!

New to having an aquarium and this placed seemed to have everything you need. If you are a newbie you will have to seek out help and advice from salespeople.

Very knowledgeable staff. Grabbed some algae eaters for my aquarium due to an algae explosion on the glass of the aquarium. I have live plants so probably because of grow lights. Only way to fix is to introduce more algae eaters and staff were helpful in helping us solve our issue.

Love this place. Great staff and very informative and helpful. Very clean and great selection of fish!

Had an amazing interaction with Nathaniel today. Encountered his stellar service over the years, I've been a frequent shopper for a long while now. Although the staff here is always amazing, I hope that you are aware that despite our challenging times, Nathaniel always has a positive, helpful and uplifting approach to customer service. So pleased to see him still at this location. He is always a joy to deal with. Thanks to all of you during this time of trial, and thank you Nathaniel for always being there with a smile, even if it's behind a mask.

I spend over $4000 at big als the past 6 weeks setting up my tank. Every time I go there most of
The staff is friendly except the old gentleman with the glasses. He was so rude the last time I was there. My water was going green and I was trying to ask him questions and he would cut me short and just sell me clear water solution that has zero relevance to my allege problem. Doing extensive research it turns out that a UV light system was all I needed and he couldn’t even mention that as an option. He told me how much he hates of people complaining against him. Perhaps you should do some self reflection on yourself first how you treat people based on the negative reviews I read. People keep saying how rude the place is. I am a Bussiness owner myself and I know how reviews are important for a local Bussiness but when I see that over 20 people feel the same as a Bussiness owner you try to get rid of the problem. The funny thing is I know the owners as they are a friend of a family. They need to know how their staff is managing their Bussiness and fix it. Over all I love the place but when someone comes to you for help and questions how to improve their tank be their for them and don’t brush them off with a rude attitude abs ask them to read the package for instructions. What you sold me was wrong anyways!

Big Al's is fantastic. Sure, if you go to a big box competitor you may save fifty cents, but you're not going to get the help and guidance these guys provide. They do everything they can to help and offer free water testing. Best quality, variety and service. You can trust these guys!

Great service and the best part extremely quick online ordering. A lot of stores could learn from Big Al’s with their online ordering process. Great job Big Al’s.

Went to Big Al's 5 days ago to purchase fish for my kids. I made it clear that I didn't know much about fish and wanted something low maintenance. I picked out my fish and asked what I needed to get. They pointed me in the direction of the little kids kits. After three days I needed to replace the water. They were so dirty. Those are too small clearly which I didn't know. I don't even know why they sell them. My son's fish died. So I called to see about a replacement. The girl said "didn't they tell you those were temporary tanks? ". I said umm no. She transferred me to the fish area. They said to bring the fish in. When I said I flushed it they were very rude. So rude in fact I'd rather go buy a new fish elsewhere then even get a free replacement here.

Great and friendly employee's, huge selection of products and livestock. Has everything you need! You can earn points towards product purchases/discounts. Garenteed to have LOADS of new or different livestock available!

Definitely raises the bar in other competitive companies A must go to store. Highly Recommended to everyone!
Hard to walk out without a purchase.

Also is a happy and satisfying place to work!

Fantastic service, knowledgeable and friendly! Helped solve fish food issue, tank cleaning inquiries and light bulb replacement.

Great place clean knowledgeable and kind. Good selection.
****Ken is the man with the plan. Need help advice he's truly amazing guy! Look forward to see him when I'm around.

Always great service.never feel like I am being "over sold" or "up sold" on products.listen to your needs and provide proper product

Best place for tropical fish and accessories in the area. They have a curbside pickup website now, for Covid purposes.

We've had A LOT of issues with this place. It isn't all bad, there's some staff in the back who are great, but there's been some major issues. One time, yrs ago, we had run errands all day in Barrie, I was in several parking lots all over Barrie and all the parking lots were clear of ice. We saved Big Al's til last of course because we had planned on getting fish. When I stepped out of the car, as I put my foot down, I slipped on a huge patch of ice (it wasn't even really a patch, the entire parking lots for them was ice.) I grabbed onto the car door to try to prevent my fall, but I fell. I was in a lot of pain, went to the doctor and was diagnosed with multiple torn muscles and whiplash. I told Big Al's and they ignored me. I received NO response, no apology, nothing! Recently, with the pandemic, we've calling several times a day, no answer, ever, so my husband drove all of the way there, a half hr drive 1 way & waited outside for 20 mins as they got the 1 fish he asked for. He asked for a siamese fighter and said he'd like a regular priced fish, like 7.99, not a 20 dollar fancier fish, so they said they'd get the fish ready. The bill was for a $20 fish.

Disappointing experience after spending a few thousand dollars over the years. The staff didn't know the names of the corals they were selling, and prices were not accurate as a result.

Most of the staff and owner are not friendly, there are a couple good employees.

They really do not appreciate their customers at all, there are so many better places to spend your money.

I've been going to Big Al's for a long time. Different locations all over Southern Ontario. Now I'm up in Simcoe County so Barrie is my go to location. I have nothing bad to say about any location. Very knowledgeable, good selections of fish and accessories. For all my aquarium needs it's Big Al's for me.

Was there to pick up a particular filter setup and got exactly what I needed and at a good price

Just returned from purchasing a betta fish with my daughter. The COVID protocols are enforced well and they offer various options for purchase/pickup. I had emailed earlier in the week regarding a specific colour and they emailed photos of different fish. We arrived tonight and they brought 3 different ones to the door. We left with a fish and a heater. I've shopped there previously and the staff are knowledgeable, the store/tanks are clean and the customer service is excellent.

Great service. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Always so helpful and kind. Great products and decent pricing.

10/10 for equipment
I now have a population of Bladder Snails and Water Fleas due to some anubis I got from big al's, and though they are beneficial, I hate looking at them. My betta came with some minor fin rot I was still too new to identify, so the loss of finnage is on me.
So far, the Nerite snails I bought are the happiest thing to look at in the tank.
I have made sure not to overfeed, but the death of one of my plants from Big Al's caused a population explosion. I'm deciding whether to accept my life or make a trap.

Even though crazy busy still made time to help out.and carry out the stuff to my car.very pleasant staff

Very upsetting there turtles are in very bad condition and not well taken care of one has its tail missing and bleeding and all there shells are vent up meaning nla bad diet very upsetting

Fiancee got fired because Mark thought he tried to hard to get along with the other workers and e joy his job. No warning or anything. He had a job yesterday and now he doesn't. He got a phone call while going to the grocery store. Im going to have to drop out of college to work full time to be able to MAYBE make rent, feed us, do laundry (we pay per load), pay phone/cable/wifi and feed our cats (rent alone is a little over 1300$ monthly and I hardly get 900$ per pay).

DO NOT APPLY HERE IF YOURE A GENUINELY HAPPY PERSON. THEY WILL NOT KEEP YOU.

But if you're angry and hate your life. Well maybe you'll have a chance. You'll be a good storage bin for Mark and his constant personal life information. I don't even work there and I know his ex had a sex change. That's how much personal info he shares.

The store is nice, well stocked, and the staff are the friendliest ive ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

I cant say the same for their so called "manager", I beleive his name was Mark.

I was in a few days ago just to pickup some food and see what fish they had in stock with my 7 hear old son, and not only was the manager on his phone the entire time, but when I asked to speak to the manager I watched him just sit there on his phone for a good 5 minutes before he even moved. When I fi ally got to speak with him it was like talking to a machine.

I couldnt get a word in at all and he was talking over almost every word I said. The entire conversation was one sided and you could tell he was just trying to finish up with me so he could get back to doing what he was doing. Funny enough, I stuck arou d the store for a bit and noticed that in the period of about 20 minutes, he was just standing by one of the tanks texting back and forth with somebody, and was back and forth between a stool in the back corner far away from all the customers likely so he could avoid us.

He was dismissive, unfriendly, and from what I saw, downright lazy. He seems like an okay guy, but really isnt managment material if you ask me.
The assisntant manager was running around doing all the work with the employees while he just sat in a corner.

I have come here for my turtles amenities. Honestly, this place is sooo nice! It has great prices, and exceptional deals. I used to go to Petsmart before this, but when I came here for the first time, I was very shocked because Big Al's has more choices for reptiles and fishes than in petsmart. Definitely reccomend Big Al's to others.

Great staff purchased a tank stand light and lid and they kindly without being asked helped and loaded everything into my car even with the active snow.

Beautiful store they had a lot of very different types of fish. Our son loved seeing all the different coloured fish. Most importantly the store was well kept the tanks were clean and all the fish looked healthy.

I bought a betta fish at this location yesterday afternoon and was told that a tank with a filter was the best option, I then woke up this morning to a dead fish that was stuck to the filter intake and my 5 year old sister was completely traumatized, as I read more about this I realized I should never have listened to the workers here as they gave me very false information, I then went back today and they were reluctant to provide store credit or a refund towards a new tank and fish, I got a new betta fish and tank with no filter and the fish seems to be doing well so far, but the customer service was absolutely terrible, when I asked the front end workers about getting a new fish they just blatantly said “we don’t deal with that here go to the back. ” I was then laughed at by the gentleman in the back when asking questions about these type of fish and how to provide the best care for them. The girls at the cash were standing there on their phones and ignored us until we said something to them, and I payed a lot of money to have this fish. Just because I am a teenager as well I don’t believe they had the right to disrespect me how they did as it is their job to provide polite customer service, they were just plain rude and we bought over $140 of products from them. I also work in customer service myself and would not have a job if I treated customers this way. Would not buy anymore products here as they continuously provide false information that can be very harmful to your pets.