Atlantic Aquarium & Pet Supplies
📍 Location and contact
📷 Photos from Atlantic Aquarium & Pet Supplies
ℹ️ Information
We’re an aquatic pet store providing quality Freshwater & Saltwater fish, Corals, Plants, Small Animals, Reptiles and supplies for a variety of pets.
With a wide selection of goods and extensive knowledge, our pet professionals are happy to help with all of your pet needs.
Atlantic Aquarium & Pet Supplies is a charming destination for pet and aquarium enthusiasts. With a great atmosphere, it is evident that the owner has a genuine passion for animal care. The store features a wonderful selection of fish and other exotic pets, complemented by beautifully displayed tanks that help create an inviting shopping experience.
The staff is known for being friendly and knowledgeable, providing guidance and information to visitors, whether you're a seasoned hobbyist or just starting out. Customers appreciate the cleanliness of the store and the well-maintained aquariums, where the fish appear healthy and vibrant.
Additionally, visitors often mention their positive interactions with the staff, who are eager to assist with any questions about aquarium setups or pet care. The store also offers unique features like Fego the macaw, who adds a delightful touch to the environment.
If you're in Halifax, this store is a must-visit for anyone looking for quality aquarium supplies and expert advice!
🕒 Opening hours
- SUNDAY: 12H-17H
- MONDAY: 12H-20H
- TUESDAY: 12H-20H
- WEDNESDAY: 12H-20H
- THURSDAY: 12H-20H
- FRIDAY: 12H-20H
- SATURDAY: 12H-20H
🎟️ Buy your ticket
🗣️ Atlantic Aquarium & Pet Supplies: Reviews
Positive experience: Great Atmosphere, Concerning Exotic Care. I really want to love this pet store. The atmosphere has genuine heart — you can feel the owner's passion for it, and the staff is generally helpful and friendly. Meeting Fego the macaw is always a nice pleasure! However, as someone who owns exotic pets, including chinchillas, I want to share some concerning observations from our recent visit. The store had a chinchilla for sale (which is wonderful — these adorable animals aren't widespread on the East Coast), but the care standards were concerning: - The water bottle was severely contaminated with bacteria/algae. When I mentioned this, the staff response was an indifferent “Yep, I know”. - The chinchilla was being fed rabbit pellets (inappropriate for them) and fresh lettuce (which can actually harm their sensitive digestive systems). Staff: “Ah, it's okay for them”. - Staff couldn't provide basic information like age or sex. No guidance about proper care, diet, or the fact that chinchillas are social animals who do better in pairs (the chinchilla was alone because they had sold its companion the day before). It is crucial to guide people through the process of getting animals with essential specifics. Even from a “soulless consumerism” standpoint, for a ~$500 animal, basic health standards should be maintained. Bottom Line: I'm not trying to be harsh — I'm genuinely excited that someone locally is working with chinchillas! I just hope the store will start doing proper animal care training. Clean water and species-appropriate food are basic starting points. With some improvements in care standards & providing more training to staff in terms of knowledge on the pets, this could easily be a 5-star establishment. [Not related to issue/rating] And, of course, it would be nice to see more exotic pets & exotic-related supplies except for mostly reptiles & fish ^_^
Fantastic experience: great fishes and collections!
Fantastic experience: So happy to find this store! It's very clean and well laid out. Beautiful display tanks. The owner was very helpful with finding information about specific fish. I will be stopping in every time I'm in Halifax.
Negative experience: Very good selection, they had some really cool stuff there. Disappointed that when we asked a question the staff member did not seem very knowledgeable (literally said he knew nothing about the fish) and was quite rude and dismissive. Will be sticking with Aquarica in Bedford from now on.
Hey Sara,
Owner responding presently, as I believe it was likely myself you had this experience with in regards to a response about Phoenix rasbora’s when asked “why don’t yours have spots” when I responded, “I honestly have no idea, I don’t know enough about them”.
Each of us as staff focus on different areas of the store, and have different expertise, and my experience is heavily centralized in saltwater fish and corals; there are several fish in freshwater I am not familiar with, and I’m very honest about this. While I may not have all the answers, I cannot provide misinformation to customers when I am unaware of an answer; in the event I or staff are unaware, it is often best to advise resources online. If for any reason my response came across harsh, or dismissive, by no means was this my intention, and evidently I will take ownership of this, as I will need to work on delivery of that information going forward. Best regards.
Positive experience: Nice fish and good prices. Customer service is lacking, no greeting from staff and it felt like I was intruding on their space trying to get help.
Fantastic experience: If you’re into fish you must check out this little hidden treasure…very knowledgeable and great selection
Fantastic experience: This place is a great place to get all things you need for your aquarium and pet supplies. Go ahead and drop in
Fantastic experience: I have started on a tedious jellyfish tank journey, and even though they don't sell jellies or specialized tanks the owner and the staff were kind enough to show me how to make salt water, use my refractometer and discuss general salt water tank cycling. I was able to purchase pre made salt water (FYI bring your own bucket) and also provide RO water(also bring a bucket don't be a newb like me lol). It's nice to know that I can get advice and help even if I didn't source my tank and jellies from them. Also it's a very cool spot with lots to look at. Also happy I can source some of the things I need locally as well.
Positive experience: Lots of live stock (salt water and fresh) and fish are healthy. Aquariums clean. Staff will help you out if you're having issues with your aquarium. They will even tell you to just go on Amazon if they don't have something in stock and what you need. I've ordered both online and have been in store. No complaints with either service. The only thing is that they don't carry a ton of tanks or equipment but if there's not a lot of margin in those I don't blame them for not carrying them.
Fantastic experience: These guys are the best! I come here for all my fish needs
Fantastic experience: business is fast to respond to messages and questions, great selection and clean & healthy stock!
Negative experience: I’ve visited this store on five separate occasions, hoping each time for a better experience, but unfortunately, I’ve left disappointed every time. While the store has a great selection of fish and an amazing saltwater supply, the customer service is consistently lacking. On one visit, I requested three fish from three different tanks. One of the tanks was larger, so I could understand the difficulty, but the other two were not. The fish I wanted were the only ones I had been waiting for them to have in stock, so being told, “I don’t think I can catch them,” was extremely frustrating. It was especially upsetting since the tanks were practically empty. I was very confused by the statement, as it was the only reply I received, and I was shocked that there wasn’t even an attempt made to catch them. I ended up going to back to Aquarica, where they happily ordered the fish for me instead and have always been more than willing. As the fish i was wanting where not in display tanks and had labeled prices for them. One staff member in particular seems to pick and choose who they assist, which left me feeling ignored and undervalued as a customer. While I can understand why display tanks aren’t for sale, the lack of accommodation and willingness to help from the staff outweighs the store’s positive aspects. I wanted to give this store the benefit of the doubt, but after multiple visits, it’s clear that the service does not match the potential of their stock.
Hello,
We apologize for the negative experiences you have had at our store and apologize for the inconvenience, however I am familiar with the experience in question and we would like to address a couple of the issues for clarification however as an omission of facts is also an omission of truth.
Staff always try their best to service customers on their sequence of entering the store; while we understand this occasionally leads to wait times, we are unfortunately a single staffed store.
We will however note, while it may not be clear; we do not have any “LARGE” retail aquariums for freshwater; the fish you asked for were from the the stack of (6) 100 gallon aquariums and we accommodated this request, and the others were from our “LARGE” planted display which we only explained would be far too difficult to catch the fish from. Also worth noting, the 285 gallon aquarium is also display only, and staff are under no circumstance allowed to sell from our display aquariums.
The only circumstance staff would not accommodate catching a fish or state it would be too hard, would be in such circumstance you are requesting fish from a display aquarium which is also not readily accessible without destroying our aquascape for as in this situation, (3) $4.99 cherry barbs that were readily accessible in retail aquariums, at a smaller size.
While the owner may occasionally make the allowance especially if stocks are low between shipments if he is personally working in shop, staff do not have this same authority. Our displays and fish in our displays are personal pets, no different than a cat or dog, and are an integral part of our store and allowing our customers to see what they can create.
- Best wishes, Owner, Kyle
Fantastic experience: Kyle and his staff are so nice and helpful. Any questions I have get answered, Clean store, clean tanks, good selections of fish, they also have some great deals on corals.
Negative experience: A lot of very cool fishes, parrot, and other animals…and reasonably priced. My partner and I were all set to get some fishes, but the clerk was hanging outside of the store, smoking with his friends. And though we were standing at the front of the store to get his attention, he continued to smoke. Walking out of the store in a cloud of smoke was also unpleasant. Won’t be going there again! UPDATE: in response to mgmt reply below, I do agree that staff need to take breaks when they can. But at no time did staff approach us about going outside for a quick break let alone ask if we needed assistance with anything. Also, staff did NOT go off to the side of the door to smoke as was suggested by mgmt. My partner, my three kids, and I all walked through a cloud of smoke as we exited the store. Staff didn’t acknowledge us customers. This, at the very least, should be of concern for mgmt!
Hello,
We apologize for any inconvenience or annoyance for your experience, however as a very busy, single staffed shop where staff have completed a 10 hour shift without additional staff to assist, and without any designated breaks; we stand with and permit our staff to take breaks when and where they may need them, as would be permitted and common place in any other workplace. You would not work for 8 hours without 1 1/2 hours in breaks, however, our staff do this on a regular basis and with a smile.
Should our staff choose to exit the store for, they should be doing such away from the front door nearest to the left walkway which is the designated smoking area. As long as staff have conveyed to customers they are stepping out momentarily, they are permitted to take quick breaks as needed.
Warmest regards - Management.
Negative experience: We visited Saturday the 28th around supper time. Store was clean. The employee has a couple friends visiting. Fish were awesome, priced really well. Picked out a few for my aquarium, went to find the employee. He was outside smoking with his friends. He had left us alone in the store. My kids were fascinated by the ferrets inside the store, I was fascinated by the employee on the outside of the store. After 5 minutes of standing there, we left without our fish. (Would have been about a $100 sale).
Hello,
We apologize for any inconvenience or annoyance for your experience, however as a very busy, single staffed shop where staff have completed a 10 hour shift without additional staff to assist, and without any designated breaks; we stand with and permit our staff to take breaks when and where they may need them, as would be permitted and common place in any other workplace. You would not work for 8 hours without 1 1/2 hours in breaks, however, our staff do this on a regular basis and with a smile.
Should our staff choose to exit the store for, they should be doing such away from the front door nearest to the left walkway which is the designated smoking area. As long as staff have conveyed to customers they are stepping out momentarily, they are permitted to take quick breaks as needed.
Warmest regards - Management.
Negative experience: I visited this store as a new fish keeper, hoping for guidance. Unfortunately, my experience was disappointing. Since no one greeted us, we hesitated to go past the cash area to where the fish were, as we hadn’t been to the store before. However, with no one around to assist, we went ahead. We saw a staff member sitting on the floor having a casual conversation, though we weren’t sure if it was with a colleague or a customer, so we didn’t want to interrupt. After waiting without any acknowledgment, we decided to leave. After a much more positive experience at another local fish store (Aquarica), I felt it was important to share this experience for others, especially individuals new to the hobby.
Hello,
Can you kindly send us an email with details regarding the time and date you visited, and time of incident? We apologize if staff may have missed you, however generally if staff are on the floor that would suggest they may have been working specially on an aquarium, sump, or other piece of equipment while speaking to another hobbyists that was visiting the store. We are an inclusive store, and welcome hobbyists of all experience levels, and are happy to walk you through any questions from start to finish, and have lots of great resources also available in our website for reference regarding the nitrogen cycle, and other introductory questions. If you could reach out to us, we would be happy to look into this closer, and remedy the issue.
Fantastic experience: I loved it here! Nice environment, very clean, and it seems like the fish/animals are very well taken care of. I loved the parrot!
Fantastic experience: WOW!! What a cool place!! A couple of things I wanted to mention. The store itself is beautiful, well kept, very clean, and organized which I really appreciate. They have BEAUTIFUL tanks set up throughout and you can tell the animals and fish are truly well cared for. All tanks, animal & reptile cages/tanks provided adequate space for their inhabitants (unlike chain stores, it can be quite sad). This is important because it assures the quality of what you're buying, especially when it comes to live animals/fish. Staff was very friendly and accommodating when I requested to pick my order up instead of having it shipped, she was able to work it all out and we paid the difference! Really happy we went for a visit. Definitely my new favourite fish store!
Fantastic experience: this place is absolutely so welcoming. an have such a wide variety of fish. and very well kept. i would 100 percent recommend this store to anyone who is looking for salt or freash water fish. also have the cutest farrets.
Fantastic experience: Kyle runs an amazing fish store, he answered all my phone calls/emails and questions before I placed my order. I ordered 2 Festivum cichlids and 4 Congo tetras via Martimes bus. Shipment was received on the same day. Packaging and the fish were in excellent condition. Look forward to ordering more fish.
Fantastic experience: Love the store went with my friend once and loved it the parrot is a great addition to the store highly recommended.
Negative experience: Came here on Sept 17, Tuesday shortly after 12 & they did not open. I tried again today & the open sign wasn’t lit up nor were the doors open. There wasn’t any signs indicating late openings. Lost my business ♀️
We’re sorry to hear you missed us on Sept 17th as we can assure you staff were both present earlier than usual (9am when we usually open at 12pm) and also had the store open longer than usual (9pm, usual close at 8pm) thus making for a 12 hour shift. We would love to hear more on this matter, as the owner themselves were in for this shift.
Today, however we will absolutely admit fault, and take ownership as we were 100% late due to road construction and arrived in the shop at (12:05pm), and do send our sincerest apologies in this regard.
Best wishes.
Fantastic experience: Staff very polite and knowledgeable.Very clean store. Aquariums spotless and fish looked healthy. Great sellection. Will definitely be back
Fantastic experience: Omg the guy that owns this place is amazing!!! They know so much about really everything and really seen to actually care!:) Oh also, they have some super cool tattoos and piercings!
Fantastic experience: Owner Kyle is really warm-hearted and knowlegable! Love the macaw there! Wonderdul place for fish and exotic pets owners!
Fantastic experience: The owner of this business is the most kind and considerate person I’ve ever met. The interior and layout of this pet shop is top notch and makes you want to leave with something every-time.
Fantastic experience: The service at this aquarium store is exceptional. The staff are very patient and provide thorough guidance, offering a wealth of experience and knowledge about fish keeping. The prices are reasonable as well. Highly recommended!
Fantastic experience: I just got my first aquarium and had lots of questions. Kyle was very helpful and knowledgeable. Great store and customer service!
Fantastic experience: Kyle and their staff are always very kind and informative with any questions we have. And who doesn’t love a talking bird in the back room?
Fantastic experience: I made an order through their website to be shipped to me via maritime bus. The whole process was very easy and the order was shipped out very quickly. The box arrived well packed and at a great temperature for the variety of fish I ordered. The owner even reached out after the scheduled pick up to make sure everything was good and I was happy with the quality of fish. I would 100% recommend either ordering fish or reptiles from here or if your lucky enough to be local then stop by and check out the impressive selection.
Fantastic experience: Wonderful customer service, lovely people. Mary answered all of my questions over the phone and was a pleasure to deal with!
Fantastic experience: Exceptional service and delightful to deal with. Extremely knowledgable and helpful. We will certainly be back in the near future.
Fantastic experience: Great local aquarium store with lots of selection, clean beautiful tanks and knowledgeable friendly staff. I love the parrot!!
Negative experience: 3 guys in there- standing chatting - one- who def works there eating a sub behind counter...No one greets me upon my arrival- no one acknowledges my existence while they carry on with private conversations - 4 separate topics- none of them related to business. I finally turned and left - at which point, buddy-perplexed, calls out sorry? Baffling approach to business.
Hey Kerin,
While we appreciate the feedback, you appear to be quite misinformed, having walked in mid conversation as staff were speaking with and assisting a paying customer who had several inquiries regarding purchases they made, as well as inquiring about the massive flood which has delayed our stores expected shipments.
While we apologize for the inconvenience and wait, being that we’re are a single staffed, small business, you could have very well inquired with our staff (single staffed) and they would have been more than happy to assist. It is also worth noting, the whole experience was recorded by our store surveillance cameras which we are more than happy to provide, and not only did staff greet you to be ignored, your attitude in dealing with staff was duly noted as abrasive, as it was in fact the 2 said customers that our staff were assisting that were embarrassed and apologized, ‘baffled’ by your attitude. Sending our best wishes!
Fantastic experience: We came by today to learn more about starting our first fish tank and Jake was super helpful in explaining what we’d need so we can come back and pick out our fishy friend next week!
Fantastic experience: Awsome store and staff is super helpful. Highly recommend
Fantastic experience: My friend loves this store highly recommended
Fantastic experience: Absolutely love this place! The variety of fish was fantastic, from colourful tropical species to hardy freshwater favorites. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, providing helpful advice and ensuring I found the perfect fit for my tank. The store was clean, well-organized, and the fish looked healthy and happy. Overall, a top-notch place for all things aquatic!
Fantastic experience: The store is awesome and love the fish
Fantastic experience: The staff were great and answered all of my questions about setting up a new aquarium.
Fantastic experience: Excellent fish. Jake knows what he is talking about. A must try, especially for beginners.
Fantastic experience: My friend's son loves this store, and races about it all the time.
Fantastic experience: My grandson loves his fish and aquariums and this is the perfect place to populate his tank. Christmas time is a great opportunity to help him do that.
Fantastic experience: Great suggestions! And a wide variety of choices
Positive experience: Great store with a wide variety of freshwater plants and livestock for both fresh and salt water. Jake has been very helpful in entertaining any questions that I have about raising fish.
Fantastic experience: always a great selection an customer service highly recommend
Fantastic experience: Quiet knowledgeable añd helpful..Great experience shopping over here ..Thanks Kyle for the support
Fantastic experience: Overall experience was great! Jake was extremely helpful, and they have great selection. I did a large online order of freshwater plants, and everything came in healthy. Excellent service. Thanks :)
Fantastic experience: Kyle was amazing. I got the perfect fish I wanted. This is definitely my go to store. ❤️
Fantastic experience: I was truly impressed by the fantastic selection of fish and the friendly, knowledgeable staff. The store is clean and well-maintained, creating a welcoming atmosphere for both beginners and experienced hobbyists. They have a wide variety of fish species, beautiful tanks, and all the supplies you could need. The staff went above and beyond to answer my questions and provide expert advice. It's a gem of a store for any fish enthusiast.
Fantastic experience: Great experience every time I go to the store. They are always very informative. They got great collections of plants as well! And the coolest Macaw!!
Fantastic experience: I gave this fish store a 5 star rating because they are always so helpful and great I always had a hard time finding fish that I wanted but know that I know about Atlantic aquariums I will always be coming back thanks so much
Fantastic experience: Great selection. Animals well cared for. Helpful owner and staff.
Fantastic experience: Fantastic service and lovely coral, tanks are clean and well maintained
Fantastic experience: Great options and great friendly service!
Fantastic experience: Very helpful, great service and very well put together store!
Fantastic experience: Very nice set up, and awesome selection of fish
Fantastic experience: Great fish store! Tanks are clean and excellent selection! Friendly and helpful staff!
Fantastic experience: Very happy with the packaging/shipping this store does! I was worried as it has gotten much colder now, shipping fish when its cold can sometimes not turn out great but the box was still warm when I opened it. Probably the best packed box of fish I have ever gotten. Also as one of the only stores that actually quarantines fish I cannot reccommend enough! Will definitely be ordering from here again!
Fantastic experience: I really like this store and the staff
Fantastic experience: Very knowledgeable staff. They put care into ordering the fish stock. Love the fun facts printed and posted by the tanks
Fantastic experience: Jake is an absolutely fabulous manager you made a great decision giving him this position. He helped out with every question I had and even gave me a “fish survival guide” on everything I needed to know. He thoroughly ensures customers leave with correct information. Will definitely be back to buy more aquarium plants and maybe more fish in the future when we get a bigger tank :) Thanks so much for all the help. Btw the bird rocks, other reviewer you suck :( be nice to him!!!!!!
Fantastic experience: This place has a phenomenal selection of fresh and saltwater stock and supplies
Fantastic experience: Great visit, loved the fish we got and they had a great plant selection, the macaw was a bonus and is such a pleasure to have in the store. Overall it was a good experience with great customer service! Will be going again
Fantastic experience: Excellent selection of fish and the guppies we purchased were very bright and healthy. Employee was friendly and helpful. Will visit here again!
Negative experience: Limited selection. I'm a fish guru and really wasn't impressed
Fantastic experience: Very clean shop, with a wide selection of animals and supplies to browse. Lots of corals to choose from with both SPS and LPS, and prices were fair and comparable if not cheaper than other shops in the area. Fego, the blue and gold macaw was a hilight of our visit and even greeted us with a “hello” and “goodbye”.
Negative experience: I also got fish from here in November and got velvet. Luckily I lost only one other fish compared to others that lost a lot more. When I got my fish, there were no quarantine protocol signs around the store. I haven't been back since, but I'm sure if they're up it's for damage control. The young gentlemen who bagged my fish did not mention proper quarantining procedures nor the use of copper in their system. Any other store that runs copper would tell you not to put their water in your tank, which makes me think they weren't running copper before this outbreak. If they know so much about proper quarantining, they should have been doing it themselves instead of selling fishing right out of the box from their supplier. Also, if the owner thinks the negative comments are unwarranted, he should reply to them instead of someone else that has no idea what happened when others purchased their fish.
Fantastic experience: Great selection of saltwater fish and corals. Owner walked me through proper quarantine processes and stressed the importance of quarantining all new fish additions. Instructions for acclimation and quarantine were concisely printed and posted across the shop for us to review and even appeared on our receipt incase we did not remember parts of our discussion.
Fantastic experience: The negative reviews are unwarranted. We bought salt water fish about a month ago from a newly arrived order. We were told by staff to make sure we quarantine our fish before adding them to our main tank. (Which all stores advice from new orders). We did the mandatory quarantine period, but sadly the fish developed red velvet. We notified Atlantic Aquarium and Reef, and they were extremely apologetic and offered to replace the fish at cost, which we felt was more than fair. No other store in the area has ever offered to do that for us. We will definitely continue to buy from them. I can't say enough about the cleanliness of the store!
Fantastic experience: Awesome service! They went above and beyond to meet our aquatic and pet needs. Our kids love visiting the store. They only issue we have is, we can't ever seem to leave without adding another pet to add to our growing family.
Negative experience: You can't even see the fish in the top tank they are so high. The middle tanks didn't have any fish in them and the one that did had dead fish. There wasn't much of a coral selection compared the other store in Dartmouth and they were pricey compare to other stores . The bird is totally annoying too.. A first and last visit for me
Negative experience: Purchased fish the week of Black Friday and a few days later my tank was full of Velvet.. I lost 5 other fish so far and have 3 others in quarantine tanks.. let's just say i'm not impressed! I know others that also got velvet after purchasing fish from here that week so this is a buyer beware.. The owner even admitting there was velvet in his display system and was still selling fish which is not cool. Thought I was getting a good Black Friday deal and in the end I lost over $1,000 of fish. So far!
Leave your opinion about Atlantic Aquarium & Pet Supplies:
