# Best livestock stores in Toronto



## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

Hey allbeen out of the game for a while now and am back in, could last any longer lol so all the stores I used to frequent are closed or have moved I've been to see you marine and north American fish breeders also big ALS are there any others like see you marine I really like that place 
thanks 
Sean


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## tropicalfishlover1220 (Jan 12, 2009)

yaay another saltie!

fragalot is a nice place for corals and aquariumpros.ca is superb for finding good priced livestock/equipment from local reefers.


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## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

Are these online or where are they located the shipping is always way more than expected on mail order unless you go in as a group it's not worth it plus I like to really inspect what I buy to ensure the quality when your paying the money you do plus I'd rather not kill anything. I got really good at saving things last crack I did at this hobby but u don't know if I'm still at that level being out of it for about 5 years but thanks I will definetly check them out


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

In the West end there's Oakville Reef Gallery, Reef Raft and Aquatic Kingdom - I've only been to the latter two, and I'm not terribly compelled to return when I have Sea U Marine, NAFB and Menagerie closer by.

Oh yeah, if you're looking for anything nano, go to Menagerie - Harold gets some neat gobies, and MAC certified fish in all the time.


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## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

went to menagerie yesterday and wow that place should close there saltwater section that's just cruel everyfish there was dead onthe bottom or on the way out and the tanks are all beyond dirty also the prices are outragious they must be trying to make up the overhead of the stuff they kill I will never go back there the rest of you should do the same maybe they will either Learn to respect these animals or get out and save the saltwater to thepeople that actually care about our ocean friends
but thanks for trying worth a shot


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

seanmarine said:


> went to menagerie yesterday and wow that place should close there saltwater section that's just cruel everyfish there was dead onthe bottom or on the way out and the tanks are all beyond dirty also the prices are outragious they must be trying to make up the overhead of the stuff they kill I will never go back there the rest of you should do the same maybe they will either Learn to respect these animals or get out and save the saltwater to thepeople that actually care about our ocean friends
> but thanks for trying worth a shot


Really? That's interesting...It's been a few years since I've dropped by but I always hear great things about menagerie.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I think Harold was saying something about a shipment that didn't do too well. I'll have to say that the marine tanks don't look phenomenal or anything, but rest assured Harold knows his stuff.


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## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

Alright I'll take your word on it but it looks like neglect to me no worries though it just looked like an old pjs pet centre when I got there I won't go back bit thanks for the suggestion


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## menagerie (Mar 18, 2006)

no need to stick up for us Eric...

seanmarine

You are absolutely right about the condition of the marine section. It has been a bit neglected over the last couple weeks due to a huge amount of freshwater focus. It really needs a daily 3 or 4 hours to make sure all is ok.

As for dirty... a little bit of algae does not a filthy section make. If that was the case then 90% of the marine fish sections in the business locally would be in the same category. Did you _actually_ speak to either one of us in the fish room or anyone else to express your concerns or ask what's up or just to say "wow this place looks like crap, what's up?!!" or "Where's the manager I want to tell him my opinions and concerns" We can take the criticism, negative or otherwise. We aren't a**holes. There is no hidden corporation here, we are just people trying to do 20 hours work in 9 hours. No real excuse but that's it.

Yes there are two fish in the system tanks that really shouldn't be in there but not "every" fish. Really? Unfortunately there are a few more that are taking up space our many quarantine tanks in the basement due to our misguided support for a supposedly good quality local supplier. Boy did we learn our lesson on that one. We actually don't lose very many fish. We put all new arrivals in quarantine and won't sell any fish until we guarantee it is eating.

I love how we are vilified after just one visit. It happened a lot a few months before our freshwater reno when people would say "wow, what a horrible fish room they have nothing" "why did I waste a trip down there".

We are definitely not the cheapest nor do we try to be. Our drygoods in the marine area, especially, can be pretty high. We are actually going phase out all of the higher end stuff like good quality skimmers, etc etc and focus on consumables like foods, supplements etc. We can't compete against the bigger stores or marine specialist stores. We really don't go after the wider city for our marine customers. Most are local downtown people.

As for coral prices you are absolutely right we are not cheap. I don't know where other stores get their stock but I do know a lot of it comes directly from the ocean. 99% of ours comes from hobbyists or mariculture and is not ripped from the wild. As you said "save the saltwater to the people that actually care about our ocean friends". That one made me laugh. Fish prices are pretty comparable to most sometimes we are even cheaper. You won't see Mandarin gobies by the dozen or purple sea slugs or anything else that doesn't survive. I guess we could make a ton of money if we started selling them... hmmmm, We feel pretty good about where our corals come from. Over the next couple of months we will be stocking a majority of MAC certified fish only and a focus on Nano reef fish. They definitely won't be cheap but we will sure feel good about where they come from and selling them.

You want cheap go to Big Al's or NAFB. You want to feel good ask them where their livestock came from. If you are concerned about our "ocean friends" then ask where they come from before you buy. Go to one of the bigger marine stores the day after a shipment. What, you say, it just arrived from Indonesia and it's for sale already?

We make tons of mistakes, we try to fix them. We are just as concerned about the animals we sell as you are and will often not sell animals/fish to people who we believe cannot provide for them. We aren't out to start a chain of stores or rip people off or become millionaires. We won't lie to you and we'll definitely give you our honest opinion.

Best livestock store in the GTASea U Marine. Ken has awesome selection and very fair prices and is just a really good guy. I wish I could do what he does in Marine and what we do in freshwater.

no excuses... feel free to come back and actually talk to someone at the store. Online forums can be powerful shapers of people's opinions both positive and negative. It's easy to be anonymous behind a user name.
...and if you don't come back.... sorry for wasting your time.

mine's Harold.... I'm at the store Monday to Friday 10:30 to 7:00

wow... PJ's Pet Centre.... low blow... we've been around longer than them.


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## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

Hey Harold 

Alright i respect your position i used to work for pjs when scarborough town had those tiny cube tanks for there marine section and the few 55gals or so that what i thought of when i was at your store sorry but maybe i just caught you at a bad time. I also worked for big als in the service department and understand completely where your coming from they are big chain style with there stock and i don't think its right either the staff are great there though. I will give you guys another chance definitely I'm not going for cheap just quality which i didn't see the other day. and i really just posted the comments to get a response with action of a clean up and i know how strong these forums are that's where i got the recommendation to go to you so at some point you obviously made impressions on a bunch of people or you wouldn't still be carrying the saltwater like most places these days it is a lot of work but its supposed to be fun not work i just ask you take a bit of pride in your section and sorry if you were overwhelmed by your freshwater reno which did look good i must add. 

anyways all in all i will be back and i will talk to you in person at some point i don't intend on hiding behind a user name 

you guys have been in business forever and I've only ever heard good things about you that's why i was so surprised and maybe jumped the gun on you 

thanks for your concern and i appreciate that you could see my point and have it under control 

sean


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*menagarie*

hey there , i have been going to menagarie for a few months ,now but in there defense harold and his staff are great , they are always willing to answer any questions , even last week when i was there they were busy as hek with a huge fish order i could see that things were tense but they took the time to answer questions . even had a prob with a fish i purchased and when i came back they replaced it for me with no hassles 
tom


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## Darkside (Sep 14, 2009)

tom g said:


> hey there , i have been going to menagarie for a few months ,now but in there defense harold and his staff are great , they are always willing to answer any questions , even last week when i was there they were busy as hek with a huge fish order i could see that things were tense but they took the time to answer questions . even had a prob with a fish i purchased and when i came back they replaced it for me with no hassles
> tom


Oh I don't know about that... I got a guppy hitchhiker in my bag of Australian blue eyes. lol


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

menagerie said:


> no need to stick up for us Eric...
> 
> seanmarine
> 
> ...


Hi Harold,

We've never met but I must say that was well said. I have been to your store and I was impressed with everything. Some of the prices were a little more but I did buy some things because I was comfortable there and I do try to support local stores. Well as local as downtown is to Oakville. LOL A bit off topic but I did enjoy your bird section very much. You had quite a few birds that were definitely cute.

As for the fish section, I did like the fresh water section. I bought a few of your pleco's and the were very healthy.

There are a few things that I'm disappointed in though. One is that you are so far away, well for me anyways. Two, your store is a little small but I understand as you are downtown. I guess number two is me being selfish as I really like your store, so I wanted more!

I have to say that I was very impressed when I came there and asked about African cichlids. I was given an extremely honest answer, go to Finatics.

Please keep up the good work and I will definitely be back!! Maybe next time we will meet.

Wil


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I'll say the price itself isn't the most important factor to consider. If you get quality live stock for a little more premium, I'd say it's well worth it. There's nothing like to bring in some nice fish that looked good, but to spread disease or die shortly after. 

seanmarine - I thought you were related to sea-u-marine


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## seanmarine (Jan 26, 2010)

Not related at all lol I've only been there a couple times reminds me slot of the old store at woodbine and fourteenth reefquarium ran by a Kenny as well always had some hard to get stuff and heathly stock. 

I only started this thread to get some new places to check out and it's turned into a debate about menagerie while I get the impression there good from everyone shouldn't you be good all the time I'm not really saying anything about the price because you can't put a price on quality. The maintence had declined to not acceptable and that shouldn't happen when your business revolves around the health and well being of your live stock 

This is a hobby yes but o know from everyone I've talked to that has a salt tank really cares about lives of these animals otherwise we would all be stocking our tanks from the second the salt hit the water like most newbies do.


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