Big Al's Aquarium Supercentres - Whitby

Recently had a great experience at Big Al's when looking for a new pump for a turtle aquarium. We also had questions about a pump from another aquarium that wasn't working properly. They fixed our noisy pump and then suggested a good quality pump for other aquarium which will save us so much money in the long run. Thank you to Andrew and the amazing team for all of your help!

I love Big Al's but this location is so weird. They don't have a shark, or reptiles, or birds, or small animals, or much inventory. They have feeder insects, which is better than the Barrie location, but they are always limited quantity and undersized. If you want feeder insects, you need to fill out a form lol.

Staff are friendly but a bit weird too, there is usually a store greeter, and some of the people seem to just be lingering around and will follow you around the store.

Overall it's better than nothing, but it's more worthwhile to drive to the Scarborough location or find another exotic pet store if you're looking for 1 stop pet shopping for all your critters.

Loved this place.wide variety of fish, turtles and fishbtanks with decorative items for tanks.they also sell all kingds of aquarium abd fish food needs.one stop shop for anyone who wants to dedticate their time to pet fish, turtles etc.amazed with kinds of options available to choose from.some of the options were real expensive but you would definitely find something that suits your budget.overall recommend this to kids and families.

Horrible experience with this store and also the prices are killer, every single thing I have ever bought from big als is sold at petsmart and for a fraction of the cost. Plus when your tank gets ich from new fish you just purchased and all they do is deny deny deny even tho I went to the tank that I purchased the fish from and showed them spots of ich on unsold fish.they obviously didn't like it but had to give me back my money. Won't shop here again.even glow fish are 2 dollars cheaper a fish at petsmart. Even aqaurium sat is 4 dollars cheaper a small carton. Visit petsmart first.

We had the place to ourselves because we went Friday morning do all the kiddies were in school. It was so fun! Top shelf fun for the minis and great exercise for moi.

I had to visit big al's whitby about 3 weeks ago because my betta fish suddenly became sick with dropsy.i spent over $300 on aquarium supplies to set up a quarentine tank.i truly don't understand why this man at the counter was so convinced that i didn't know what i was doing.he said to me: "you can't cure dropsy.you shouldn't spend any money". Well, here i am 3 weeks later and my fish is back to normal, perfectly healthy and active like he was before.for whatever reason, the employees here are convinced that they are the only people in the building with any knowledge of fishkeeping, and will talk down to you in a very nasty way.i understand that a lot of customers just come in to look at the fish, and i'm sure a lot of them will only ever have goldfish bowls but you can't just assume every single customer is dumb as rocks.i'm very relieved to say i won't ever return to this store again, but if for whatever reason i do, i would love to tell this man to his face: "i know more than you and i'm a better aquarist than you. " because i do, and i am.i also want to point out that the sign out front saying "now hiring FRIENDLY people" is super ironic, because all of the employees are nothing but rude.

Amazing customer service and the animals are very well taken care of.
Bought a large pleco (about 10") they were super gentle with him, even put him in a styrofoam box for me for the car ride home.

When in to buy some fish food, showed an younger employee there that the seal was broken, he showed on of the older guys who works there (think his name is Michael), the older guy told the younger guy that “don’t worry about it, put it back”. I highly recommend checking the seal on their products before purchasing. Also the livestock associates needs to spend more time checking tanks for dead fish rather than chatting amongst themselves. They need to hire better livestock associates.

Has a super awesome visit and was given incredible out of this world service by an employee Richard. He was super knowledgeable and was incredibly patient and helpful. Super refreshing to see someone wanting to help and genuinely like his job!

Good choice. No sales or markdowns.
Chris the sales person is great guy. Good product knowledge, very patient and friendly.

Not a bad word can be said about the place. Big Al's has sold me aquariums, fish, food, accessories, it has the best stuff and great staff. Very helpful.

Great selection. Super friendly and knowledgeable staff. Big Al's is the place for any and all of your aquarium/terrarium needs.

Amazing people that work there, my boyfriend and I went to get an aquarium and they set us up with everything we needed. I'll definitely be going there from now on!

Limited selection currently. Understand things are slow now and probably not wanting to keep a ton of stock.
Always healthy fish.
Knowledgeable and helpful staff.

Always a pleasure to visit. Still constantly the most knowledgeable staff, healthiest fish and reptiles and most looked after environments of any pet store I have visited. I have fresh water tanks, turtles, a beardy and a chameleon. Been going to the whitby location for many years until I moved way out of the area and switched to Kitchener.

I went in looking for a proper tank set up for my newly acquired Betta fish and the employees were very helpful in helping me find a tank and heater set up along with general care tips and what to expect when owning a fish. I will definitely be going back for any of my fish related needs in the future. 10/10

Roy did an excellent job helping me put together a new saltwater tank set up. He ensured I had everything I needed and educated me along the way to ensure I had not only all the hardware needed, but the knowledge as well. Big Al's is by far my favorite place to go to for any aquarium needs.

I'm usually a big fan of this location. This time, it was a wreck. Dead fish in many of the tanks and the staff were too busy chatting amongst themselves to notice or do anything about it. Even the Betta tanks right in front of them had many dead fish and none were being cleaned out. Mind you this was right as Ontario went into Phase 1 of reopening and maybe these were new staff - but utterly disappointed in the store nonetheless. Suffice to say I didn't buy anything that day and likely won't be back for a while.

Great location. Great staff.
They've been supplying the feed for my ball python (frozen rats) and tarantulas (crickets and hornworms) for almost a decade.
Lol They have fish too.

My wife and I spent 45 minutes waiting to be helped. I ended up interrupting a worker asking where I could find what I was looking for, and than waited about 20 minutes in line.

I went in today for a look around as its been so long since we've been able to do that, and I put a few larger fish on hold til Wednesday. Can't wait to add the new fish to my tank. Thanks again.

This is my favourite place to visit. Their selection of products and fish is endless, staff are friendly l, knowledgeable and helpful. Fish are hardy and in good health. Great place to shop!

Great shop, although some of the staff always seems depressed and too busy to answer questions. I assume it’s because of all the new fish keepers asking “odd” questions but I’d be turned away from the hobby with an attitude like that if I hadn’t been in the hobby as long as I have.

Great place to shop. Sarah helped me and she truely is a gem, shes very knowledgeable in all the departments keep up the great work young lady!

Definitely prefer Scarborough location. Visited before Christmas and they would sell any fish on my list " because they were saving them for boxing day". What? Anyways, bought a Pleco that died a day later. I've been keeping fish for years. I have a 16 year old Pleco in a different tank! Much rather drive to Scarborough location.

I attempted to call and order for there Boxing Week sales today. I live an hour and a bit away so was going to pay for my tank and accessories today and pick it up on Saturday when there open again. Was placed on hold for 20 minutes then was told that they won’t honour there sale price if I pick it up Saturday even though I’m paying for it today! Absolute sham don’t bother going near this place. Not to mention when you go in here the staff is less than helpful, You’ve lost a long time customer!

Not very customer oriented. Hsving to fill out order sheets is frustrating. Staff acted like they had better things to do other than answer my questions. Wont be back

Pretty good selection of live stock and huge selection of accessories. Prices are at a premium for everything but it is a specialty store so its expected. There aren't very many other options for aquarium needs anymore. The bad about this location is the staff are always grouped together and do not proactively help anyone. I saw them sell you 20 fish at once to someone, which is strongly not recommended all at once. The fish tank often have dead fish that need to be removed. The warranty for livestock is pretty useless.they give you only 50% of the purchase price on credit for dead fish, so you have to waste your time and money if a fish dies.just something to be aware of. That being said, I haven't had a dead fish from them in a while, mainly because I choose the fish I'm buying.

Aquarium related stuff all at one place. Great fish variety, artificial and real water plants and much more.

I have always had a fantastic experience here! I've been coming, I think, since I've been old enough to walk. Gotten all of my fish here and just recently started a saltwater aquarium with their help!

The fish here never look that healthy. Many dead fish floating in tanks. The neon tetras always seem to have deformed tails. The Bettas I bought here only lived for about a year.

It's really a mini aquarium, they have tons of selections of fishes, also shrimps, turtles and snails. They also have some reptiles too. It's a great place to bring your kids for a visit.

Whitby Big Al's has all the aquarium supplies. Friendly and helpful staffs to answer all my questions.

All the fish are taken care of and they have a great selection. Most are well kept. Except for the bettas it seems.there are way too many of them. Half dying. Some already dead. Disgusting water conditions. Bowls with the water less then the cups they usually sell them in. Aswell as having the crayfish all in the same tank. They were all fighting eachother. They had no hiding spots. This place looks like a mill. Won't be coming back. The female bettas are all stunted in growth due to all being in the same tank. This needs to change. The big Al's in Ottawa is amazing i suggest others check it out.

Great service, the employee's are very helpful. I went in today to buy an emerald crab, even though they where out of stock the employee's told me when a shipment is coming in so I can get it.

Also I would like to add that I bought 2 fish here about a year ago and they are doing great.

Disgusted with how they treat their animals. Poor lizards with no water, others with water that has green algae and hasnt been changed since God knows when. Tanks with dead fish that havent been removed. Super surprised, as it used to be a good store, I wont be supporting them any more, and would never buy fish here again. 0

Running an aquarium business with very helpful and knowledgeable staff is a wish that only 2 people can pull off, the gene from the magic lamp and the Big Al's aquarium. Visit this store. You wont get disappointed.

Thank goodness there is one not too far from where I live. My go to place for all of my aquarium needs. Friendly and helpful staff.

Horrible experience. Been going there for years, and the staffs attitude has completely changed. “Take your fish and go” type.
Didn’t ask questions about our tank, got our fish home and they died within hours. Wouldn’t even give us our money back. Or new fish.

The pros downstairs are underrated in their wealth of knowledge and how freely they offer it to us noobs. Gave my kid a colouring book and let her feed the koi. They don't have to do that. It's not Ripley's. Class act.

Love going here. I love looking at all the fish! Only down side is it makes me want to buy every type of fish they offer lol

All staff are friendly and knolagable about everything in the store and always ready to help out when you need anything. Will always go here to get what I need for my fish.