Big Al’s

I’ve now had my third bad experience here so it’s time for a review. The only cool things about this store is the set up and the selection. The customer service is probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. Particularly at the back of the store. Walking through the aisles, no one greets you or asks if you need any help. When you do need help, you have to walk up to a pack of employees talking at the desk and wait for one to turn around and ask «What do you want?». Then they all look at each other like they want to blow their brains out with a shotgun when you tell them you want to buy a fish. I will never be back here.

You can’t beat the selection of fish and related items that this fish store offers. They have the largest fish selection I’ve seen and everything you could possibly need to get up and running with a new aquarium. The service I find varies depending on who is working. Sometimes the staff are great and very helpful with finding what you need without even having to ask. A few times there have been some staff who couldn’t be bothered to help you or seem like it is a big chore to help you. For the most part though is decent.
They have a rewards program that accumulates points for future discounts after many purchases. (Wednesdays is double points day).

great selection of fish but seriously those sharks don’t belong in any size tank. I’ve been going here for years and lately the staff are not as friendly nor knowledgeable. they will sell you anything and never ask about your tank for compatibility issues they sell chemical solutions for all problems instead of helping you find the root of issues you might have.
if the owners cared about livestock they wouldn’t own those sharks

This was my favorite store as a kid. My dad had a huge aquarium and I loved coming to Big Al’s to look at all the fish and to pick some out.
As an adult now, I recently decided to get a betta. I bought all my supplies AND my betta from PetSmart. Read up online about all the details, etc. I’ve had my fish for several months in a 5 gallon with live plants purchased from PetSmart and another aquarium store (Aquarium Central, highly recommend!). Never had ANY issues. Water parameters were always good, my fish was healthy and great.
I went into Big Al’s this past weekend thinking I would buy my boy a couple shrimp friends (bonus algae eaters) and a new plant.
Unfortunately, Fishe (yes, his name…) decided to turn his shrimp friends into an expensive lunch, but c’est la vie… Anyways, now this morning there is a white spot on his cheek. Likely early signs of either ich or a parasite — BOTH of which can only be contracted by the introduction of the disease itself. I’m not sure if it was the shrimp, the plant, or (most likely) the water that the shrimp were in, but I’m VERY confident it was caused by one of the three.
I would never expect this from a «big shot» aquarium store like Big Al’s.
Apart from this, this store is kind of like walking into a pet store and seeing puppies in cages. Why are there stingrays in an aquarium that is barely the width of the stringray itself? Why are sharks in that small an aquarium (because yes, it’s «big» but not for sharks!)?
And they are asking $ 50 for a halfmoon betta? My boy was $ 10 from PetSmart and he’s a dragonscale halfmoon… You can buy BEAUTIFUL fish online for less than $ 50 and have them shipped to you from Thailand! Not to mention that for a, again, «big shot» store, they still stick with the old adage that it’s okay to keep your bettas in tiny cups (right next to each other too, so let’s stress them out by getting them to flare all day).
They were even selling a ½ gallon «tank» called «Betta Battle»… That allowed you to split it for two bettas so they can «battle». Uh, what? That’s ¼ gallon per betta… and you’re fighting them all day? I can’t even go into how immensely stupid that is or how inappropriate it is for an aquarium store to sell it.
Ridiculous, to say the least. I’ll be moving on to better fish stores and hopefully will be able to get my betta back to his original healthy self.

Love coming here, buy all our fish here. Staff a friendly, and most are knowledgable.

Dead fish, overcrowded tanks, stingrays belong in an ocean! tanks unmarked as to type of fish and price, bad customer service, waiting for over half an hour in the fish section for help! Hate your store.

Great store. I love coming here to kill a few hours or just to browse. I’m looking at my reviews and noticing a trend on pet places… makes me feel like a crazy cat lady. I’m not (only one cat for me thanks lol) we honestly just like animals and finding new projects to work on. Yesterday we decided to make a vivarium (half water half substrate) and put a few of our rainforest friends in there together! Wow. It looks beautiful! I must say for people who like the idea of aquariums, but like cold blooded friends as well it’s a good idea. It can get costly, but big als has you covered. From foggers (so cool at night time!) to lights to water purifiers to rocks you name it, they have it! They even have a selection of newts and frogs and other cute animals to throw in there. Really fun evening and now my tank looks killer!

I am going to go ahead and bump Big Al’s up to a 5 star review. Reason being: they saved my giant pleco, Gunther. Here’s the story:
I have a turtle, and he is super messy! He also needs special lighting; this all helps to support the growth of algae. So a couple years ago, I decided to get a pleco for Turtle’s tank to help with the algae. Everything was hunky dory; just fine… until a few weeks ago.
All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, Turtle started tormenting poor Gunther. He would constantly nip at him. Thinking he was either hungry or bored, I started giving him more food in the morning before I left for work, and also started taking him out of his tank for longer/​more often.
Nonetheless, Turtle continued to torment poor Gunther, and I was starting to get pretty upset about it (yeah, yeah… it’s just a fish. You and my BF can joke and laugh about how ridiculous I was being about this silly fish some other time…). Having heard rumours that Big Al’s might take my fish for me, I decided to give them a call.
I explained the situation, and they agreed they would take Gunther for me (after expressing quite a few times that I was not to expect a credit — even after I said that I didn’t care about a credit, I just felt terrible for my poor fish). So I packed up my fish, and made my way to Big Al’s. I am not going to lie, but I felt awful about having to do this since I am a firm believer that pets — any pet — are a lifetime (their lifetime) commitment. Nevertheless, this fish was massive, so it was more than just switching him over to one of our other 2 fish tanks as they were simply too small for him. I had tried to give him away to a friend, but quickly put a stop to that when she told me that she «hoped» Gunther would be big enough that her other aggressive fish wouldn’t kill him like he had all the others.
Anyway, the staff at Big Al’s took my fish for me, and I am confident that he is enjoying his new life without that big menacing bully after him constantly. Big thank you to the staff at Big Al’s for giving me that piece of mind!

I would avoid Big Als at all costs. You may of had a great experience with them when you ordered and received your product, but watch out if anything goes wrong… They sent me an open box product that was missing parts and instead of offering an exchange did everything they could to pass the blame, first on to me and then on to UPS. They refused to take care of the situation, luckily the vendor of the product stepped up to the plate and took care of me.
They love taking your money, but don’t love taking care of their customers if their is an issue. They are in it for the quick buck.
I will be sticking with my local fish stores or
from here on out.

I used to love big al’s until recently.
in the past when i lived in calgary i would go for all my fish needs. one of the best things i liked about big al’s was that they would trad in your fish for a store credit. this was awesome because as your fish grow and your unable to house them you had a way to re home them and also get new fish for your self.
big al’s edmonton is cheep tho, they give you no value to your old fish and then turn around and sell them for 4x the amount they give you, i understand the cost to house them or what not but when you have a rare breed that will sell fast they what housing is there? i have traded in a few fish to this location and have come back days later to find that they have already sold.

This is not my first experience at BIG AL‘S. Usually it is a pleasant experience that I want to tell people about. Today one of the cashiers actually snapped a customer who made a mistake with product signage. I will say the girl in the fish area did‘t explain that sign was not for plants

come one come all. This place is great not just for getting supplies but for a nice stroll to look at all their fish. KIDS Love it adults love it. friendly staff too.

Love the selection of supplies and fish/​aquatic life. Staff is very knowledgeable about any questions you have. Only complaint is its a little pricey for some items. Other than that, great store.

Big Al’s has the biggest selection of fish in the city. Recently they started adding reptiles and frogs, too. We bought an African Rainbow Land Crab from here years ago and he lived to the ripe old age of 7 years old. The staff remembered us and always enjoyed hearing about how he was doing. They were very helpful when one of our fish tanks developed a huge crack and we showed up late one night, frantic and needing a new tank.
The only downside is that their parking lot is smallish and shared with several other busy businesses. On the weekends finding a place to park can be difficult.

This place has so much hype, now I love animals so I was pumped to show up here. I love sharks, I’m been diving with them, well the sharks at Big Al’s suck, the feeding frenzy not worth it. The selection of fish kinda sucks as well. Theres alot of staff there so no problem getting help. Also the aquarium accerssories are dirt cheap. Overall Big Als is a meh

It’s the «Age of Aquarium.» Big Al’s is my primary destination for tropical fish and aquarium supplies. I love the selection and the knowledgeable staff, though they are on the pricey side. I am impressed at the diversity of tropical, cold-​fresh water and marine fishes available here. I’ve never seen unhealthy fishes here either, and I’ve shopped here a lot. Some of the fish I’ve purchased here (tiny ones — tetras) are over four years old. Good quality and selection.

Big Al’s is a huge store dedicated to everything fish related.
When you walk in you will be thrown back by the lanes of aquariums. Unless you are a fish expert you probably won’t know what half of them are. I don’t really care for fish but when you see some that aren’t your regular goldfish you actually begin to appreciate them a little bit. They sell many exotic fish here. They also have all the accessories you will need to keep your fish alive longer then 2 days.

Big Al’s was recommended to me by a former co-​worker. She said that this store is unlike any other. She was right. The first time I came in, I felt like a tourist visiting an aquarium in a foreign exotic country. Rows and rows of tanks with beautiful fish and living plants! I am totally dense about the fish, and was unfamiliar with 90% of fish tanks’ occupants at Big Al’s. But that does not mean that I was unable to appreciate their beauty and variety. As far as I understand, Big Al’s sells mostly salt water fish that are exotic, and that explains the high prices. I do have a fresh water fish tank at home with several guppies and one big fat goldfish as occupants, but when the time comes for me to change the aquarium, I will definitely make it a salt water one. Salt water fish are just so vibrant and amazing, and the plants are colourful!
For now, I shop for fish food, water filters and conditioners, and tank ornaments at Big Al’s. Their selection is far better than at any other pet store. They also carry a large amount of fish tank stands which are expensive but you only buy them once, right?

Big Al’s has the biggest selection of fish and aquarium hardware. This is my first choice of place to go if I’m looking for stuff for my tanks. The prices for tanks, equipment, filters, stands and lights can’t be beat. They also have the largest selection of fish but they are higher priced than at other stores. But you’re paying for quality and how well the fish are taken care of. It’s like the Wal-​Mart of fish stores — in a good way. There’s an awesome 2,000-gallon shark tank in the bank, a 600-​gallon fresh water planted show tank and a huge salt-​water full reef on display. There are at least five or ten employees there that are extremely knowledgeable about fish and aquarium hardware. The manager Michael knows more than anyone and is the president of the Aquarium Club in Edmonton.