What online aquarium store do you use the most?

[Jeremy S]

Just wanted to see what online aquarium stores you use the most.

[slipknottin]

for livestock or for dry goods?

[Jeremy S]

For dry goods. ;)

[JamisonBWolsh]

Vote Big als online! Best place ONLINE for fish supplies...CHEAPER than anyone else...if it isnt (doubtfull) they will beat the price by 5%.



How can you shop anywhere else?

[gcvt]

I also spend most of my money at Big Al's. Not only are their prices hard to beat, but so is their customer service. Great prices are no good if someone's customer service is lacking, IMO.

[wethead]

For an actual fish room supply house, give this site a read...rich
www.jehmco.com

[goldfish freak]

I use Mail Order Pets, here in Canada mostly, good prices.

[Jeremy S]

Aquatic Eco-systems (http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/index.icl?referer=&eflag=2) is also a nice aquatic store.

[Finzzup]

I've never heard of Big Al's -- what is the URL?

[gcvt]

Originally posted by Finzzup
I've never heard of Big Al's -- what is the URL?

http://www.bigalsonline.com

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by wethead
For an actual fish room supply house, give this site a read...rich
www.jehmco.com

Hey thanxs for the link I'm ordering like 10 of the hydro sponge fillters I own one its great but only found them retail for like 15-30 each ouch:(

[krowland]

Big Al's most of the time and sometimes www.thatfishplace.com

[Skippy]

Big Als Online...

Mostly also for teh fact taht my neighbors see the shipping labels and think... Bi Gals Online? I didnt know he was into that!

For livestock I usually hit Aquabid.com for what i buy online.

Same for plants, except i've seen some good plant auctions on Ebay (If you see a guy with the ebay nick of Riccia, I can recommend him, great plants and good to deal with)

[wynn]

I've always preferred Pet Solutions, mostly because they seem to be the quickest at getting the orders sent out. Big Al's seems to be the slowest, IME.

[aknif]

My 2 cents... I shop all these places as well as Petsmart and Petco. Usually, someone is running a free shipping offer and that plays a big part. If something is $5 cheaper here or there, but costs you $8 to ship it, that doesn't make sense.

If I need a can of fish food or a length of airline tubing, I just run to the Petsmart 5 minutes away and get it and be done with it... but if my list grows and I need lots of stuff, or a big ticket item, like my recent Emperor 400 purchase, I wait till my kids go to bed, and I spend some good quality time with my computer! :D

I do Froogle searches as well as Google searches, get a pad and paper and write down the prices for everything from various sites.... and factor in if anyone is doing free shipping. Whichever site will end up the cheapest on my total order gets my business that time! :-)

Yes, I also clip coupons, read the weekly circulars in the paper and make lists for 3 different stores for what's on sale that week! My friends think i'm nuts, they say "...it takes too much time!" or "...why do you do that when you guys don't NEED to?" My answer is twofold; First, I get some sick pleasure out of screwing grocery stores out of every red cent I can... and second, when we're retired by the time we're 55 and traveling the world, i'll be sure to send you a postcard at your office!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! ;)

[jonathan03]

I used that fish place lots of times before (but years ago). Their web site must have been down. I was trying to get there for the last few days and it seemed to be dead. I'm glad to hear that they are still around. I can sleep tonight ;-) haha j/k

[chrisinha]

Big Al's have good prices but their shipping fees are just too much. In the end the item's price is the same or even higher than the prices at LFS.

[johnnyxxl]

if thats the case lfs haveing the same prices as big als in your area you are blessed the shops here are so much higher than them even with shipping I have bought so much from bigals lately I just couldn't believe the deals and the service plus the freebies they included were kind of nice.

[Kabong]

For West coast Canada the only way to go is J&L Aquatics (http://www.jlaquatics.com/)
They have better prices then Big Al most the time anyway!

[Karnaaj]

There is no lfs in the country that can match Big Al's prices. I saved $70 on my Fluval 404 and don't forget paying sales tax pretty much adds up to what shipping would cost anyway. Besides Big Al's shipping is no more than anybody else's and their customer service can't be beat.

[Spikor]

I also spend most of my money at Big Al's. Not only are their prices hard to beat, but so is their customer service. Great prices are no good if someone's customer service is lacking, IMO.


i had a bit of trouble with Big Als customer service. very slow response time and even lower delivery time (time from order til it gotout the door). so i'm not overyly thrilled butthe prices are tough to beat.

[Must4ng s4lly]

I Love www.thatfishplace.com or www.drsfostersmith.com. I always check prices and they are competive. Big als so often just does not have what I need. Also shop the 6 LFS in our area and Petsmart...

[Jason01]

I have used Big Als, and Drs. Foster & Smith. The prices between the two seem pretty comparable, but unless something is much less at Big Als, Drs. will get my business. The reason? Shipping. It takes Big Als ~2 weeks to get me my order. Drs. Foster & Smith? ~3-4 days. I guess that it helps that Drs. is in the US, and Big Als is not, but taking 1 week to send my order, and another week to get it here?

[Spikor]

For West coast Canada the only way to go is J&L Aquatics (http://www.jlaquatics.com/)
They have better prices then Big Al most the time anyway!


you may have a good time there, but they are MUCH more expensive than BigAls...
I just checked them out. they charge $37.99 for a Penguin 170 (obsolete) external power filter. That's a PETCO price! Bigals sells the new version, the 200 for i believe $19.99. That's pretty much half price.

[Spikor]

I have used Big Als, and Drs. Foster & Smith. The prices between the two seem pretty comparable, but unless something is much less at Big Als, Drs. will get my business. The reason? Shipping. It takes Big Als ~2 weeks to get me my order. Drs. Foster & Smith? ~3-4 days. I guess that it helps that Drs. is in the US, and Big Als is not, but taking 1 week to send my order, and another week to get it here?


I'd be curious to see what you CAN'T get at BigAls! but anyway, I like your plan here. I think I am going to the DRS from now on too...pay the extra 2-3 dollars to get the items within a week. sigh...

**** canucks!! jkoc!!!! ;)

[mogurnda]

Premium Aquatics has always been fast, and their customer service is incredibly responsive.

[calimako]

i agree with spikor and wynn..
big als shipping is way slow. maybe because i am in california, but once it took couple weeks to receive my items. true, the prices are tough to beat, but for dry goods i need right away, i rather pay the small extra $$ and hop over to the lfs. thatpetplace and dr foster & smith seem to have much faster shipping than big als..

[Yuri De Lima]

The poll definitely has got the answer on this one, people(that are patient) will wait 2 weeks for their order to get to them so that they can pay less.


BigAlsOnline takes it. :thm: :dance: :dance2: :hi:

[Yuri De Lima]

I have used Big Als, and Drs. Foster & Smith. The prices between the two seem pretty comparable, but unless something is much less at Big Als, Drs. will get my business. The reason? Shipping. It takes Big Als ~2 weeks to get me my order. Drs. Foster & Smith? ~3-4 days. I guess that it helps that Drs. is in the US, and Big Als is not, but taking 1 week to send my order, and another week to get it here?


I thought they had opened a BigAls store in Florida, don't they ship from their too? or only from their warehouse?

[gabrielandco.]

dr. f and s for me and other times fish place....sometimes one carries products the others don't. then again, i haven't heard of the others here.

my lfs? get something there? in my dreams....

[hondaman]

Heres a thought for you... for dry stock I do the easy thing. Where I live I have both a PetsMart and a Petco within 10 minutes driving time.

Anytime I need to buy ANYTHING I go to their website, build my cart, print the page, and take it in. I usually save over 25% on my total purchase plus I get what I need immediately.

As I said.... just a thought for you.

[slipknottin]

Only some petsmarts match their internet prices...

[hondaman]

wow didnt know that. All the ones around me do. Even Petco, who usually sells for less than PetsMart matches the pricing i bring in.

[cyberbeer65]

My Petsmart not only matches their own web prices,but they also match Big Al's web prices,I have saved a ton of money that way.

[Sly_Marbo]

DR. F&S for me. They are only a 3 hour drive from were I live. I get the orders nice and speedy, even though it is usually overnight...

[misopeenut]

which place is the best to buy plants?

[matthewburk]

which place is the best to buy plants?

I've tried a few, www.aquariumplants.com is the best IMO.

[Sly_Marbo]

I like this site, they have a thing called a habitat package check it out. They usually have a minimum of 10 plants because their prices are so low. $.98 for some:)
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php

[Eve]

I've almost always just shopped at Petsmart. When I went to smaller pet shops they didn't have some of the things I needed such as Aqua clear filter inserts. Also the ones they did have seemed to be more expensive. I have also shopped at Meijers, but not often.

[fishpoor]

For me Plants at aquabid or in season, club auctions are the best

[Pretender]

It's hard to vote for one. I now look at Big Al's first, but have recently ordered from Drs. F&S because Big Al's didn't have what I was looking for. I have used AquariumGuys a few times in the past before I discovered Big Al's. Big Al's has better prices, but again, I've found things at AquariumGuys that Al doesn't have.