Fish stores Calgary

[ReefRealEstate]

Originally Posted by Ryan

I just did the Calgary tour for the first time in years and I must say a lot has changed.

Started off at Golds. Lots of cool fish but nothing I was looking for. Was probably just an off week. However there was a good diversity of fish. Haven't been in the store in years yet the guys still recognised me and asked where I had been. Tough to beat that.

Next stop was Big Al's. Lots has changed in there. When did they add dog and Cat!?! Selection was low but there was some clowns there I really wanted. My wife was with me and she veto'd that decision. I should have bought them as they were 1/2 the price from anywhere else in town.

Onto Pisces where the service was great. I am assuming I had the guy in charge there. He was nice enough to walk me through some of the acronyms I have never heard of on the fish labels and we talked about which transhippers were bringing in the best fish and from where. I also seen my first Lightning Maroon in person and I gawked over the large Blue Carpet they had while he bagged up my small clean up crew. Prices are a little high but I will be back again.

After a tour at Balzac Mall it was onto Wai's, this place used to be a little run down and over priced but I was surprised how nice it looked with the new (to me) tanks and lighting. Fish looked great and I drooled over the red saddle Anthias. They were on the top of my want list before I got out, if I upgrade I'll get a few for sure. Lots of cool stuff but I walked out with only a fish. The only thing I could complain about was the price of the discs of zoas. I know it's a little pricey there but all the fish and coral looked great.

The guys down at Ocean Creation recognised me as soon as I walked in. Again that's a good feeling after not stepping foot in there for years. They let the cat out of the bag though when the Mrs asked why they remembered me, his response "Him and his friend always spent lots of money here when they came in". So she finally caught onto my lieing about prices. Their stock was low but again probably caught them on a bad week. Some cool adult clowns but I walked out empty handed.

Back to the east side I stopped at Concept hoping to get some dry rock and frags. I wasn't at all impressed by this store. Dirty tanks, dead fish, bad smell, and expensive!! Not the Concept I knew when they were over by Big Al's. I doubt I will be back again. The Rhomboid Wrasse was the highlight of the store otherwise there is much left to be improved upon.

Reef Wonderland was closed down. Glad it was a short drive but the store was empty. Not sure when this happened. However I was still feeling I didn't get enough fish so a quick search on Google Maps and I plotted a course that just so happened to take me by Wai's again. Dennis set me up with 2 more fish for a good price and I walked out smiling. I will say it was awesome to catch up with the guys at Golds and Ocean Creation but for this trip Wai's was the number one stop.

I have been to Concept and have seen some issues with the tanks but they were in transition of changing them over - they are very busy with builds and I think the store has suffered a bit from that but now that Wayne is there also I'm sure that will help things out. I hope they can get the tanks up to pristine status in order to reflect the quality of builds that they do. I would give them another look as things have improved greatly.

As far as Wai's, I have always felt as if I was bothering him when I went into the store even though I have never tried to discount my purchases and I had purchased a lot from him over the years. Would be nice if he didn't smoke at the desk and in the store all the time especially when I bring my son in. Has been a long time since I have been in there maybe he has quit. Being fairly knowledgeable on species interaction I have often ask him about how one fish gets along with another and he always, always says they will be fine together as he doesn't actually care about your tank as long as he gets the sale. I have asked about the species knowing all well that they would not get along or cause issues for corals etc but again "yeah they'll be fine".... I have had some issues with some purchases from there in the past too, good luck in getting any kind of a refund or trade (without a massive battle). After that I was shunned basically every time I went in the store so I just stopped going, never felt welcome. Some stuff was amazing in there too bad you can't find an all round store. Very pricey, zero customer service, doesn't quarantine anything and will sell you a fish that got there that day or the day before.

I may go back again just to see if anything has changed - will give an update. It would help him greatly to get someone in there with a true passion and customer service/just happy to see you.

[lyall12]

I'd suggest Wai's is worth a revisit. I've been there a few times in the past 8 months (with kids in tow). Never once saw him smoking nor smelled it. I do catch him eating now and then, side effect of being only employee in the store.

He has redone the store and cleaned it up a lot this year. Feels much nicer to go into.

As far as customer service. He always seems happy enough to me.

[Baker]

Originally Posted by ReefRealEstate

I have been to Concept and have seen some issues with the tanks but they were in transition of changing them over - they are very busy with builds and I think the store has suffered a bit from that but now that Wayne is there also I'm sure that will help things out. I hope they can get the tanks up to pristine status in order to reflect the quality of builds that they do. I would give them another look as things have improved greatly.

As far as Wai's, I have always felt as if I was bothering him when I went into the store even though I have never tried to discount my purchases and I had purchased a lot from him over the years. Would be nice if he didn't smoke at the desk and in the store all the time especially when I bring my son in. Has been a long time since I have been in there maybe he has quit. Being fairly knowledgeable on species interaction I have often ask him about how one fish gets along with another and he always, always says they will be fine together as he doesn't actually care about your tank as long as he gets the sale. I have asked about the species knowing all well that they would not get along or cause issues for corals etc but again "yeah they'll be fine".... I have had some issues with some purchases from there in the past too, good luck in getting any kind of a refund or trade (without a massive battle). After that I was shunned basically every time I went in the store so I just stopped going, never felt welcome. Some stuff was amazing in there too bad you can't find an all round store. Very pricey, zero customer service, doesn't quarantine anything and will sell you a fish that got there that day or the day before.

I may go back again just to see if anything has changed - will give an update. It would help him greatly to get someone in there with a true passion and customer service/just happy to see you.

So you just signed up to Canreef within the last 18 days and haven't been into Wai's in years and feel that it's appropriate to give a review on it. I've been in the hobby 3 years now and haven't seen Danny smoke at the desk it's a great store and Danny is a great guy. He does have a passion for it but you would be a little tired of being there after 30+ years.

[ReefRealEstate]

Fair enough. That's why I had mentioned that I would go back to check it out again, plus give the impression that I had back then with the hopes that things have changed. I may have only been on here for the past while but have be chatting with a lot of people in the last few months to a year before getting back into the hobby. Some people have mentioned to me that things are the same and have still heard similar views of the service experience there. I have nothing against the store it self only my experience there in the past. I had hoped to spark some different opinions on this and thanks for your input. If everything has improved thats great, we can use as many good quality stores as possible. I always give people second and third chances but the reality was these were my experiences back then and I hope you are right that things have changed. I will definitely go check it out again as he did have amazing stock. Thanks! Love to here more.

[MitchM]

I've been a customer of Wai's for more than 15 years and have never seen him smoking.
Nice try though.

I always have a nice visit with him while I'm there.

.

[kooky]

I have not been in Wai's for over a year but the last time I was there I witnessed him smoking inside sitting in front of his computer, he might have quit now but I can confirmed that he did smoke at one point in time. As to the service, Wai's has the best corals/fish hands down, his tanks are always full and his corals are beautiful but his demeanor does not make you feel welcome he is more into his computer then his customers.

[ReefRealEstate]

I completely Agree the livestock he has is great. Just be aware of how long it has been then. Yeah seems odd that every time I have gone there he was smoking also usually while your paying at the till. Either way this is supposed to just give people a heads up about places. That's all. I am not making things up. Just reality and facts about what I have seen and how I feel when there. Cheers folks.

[albert_dao]

Eh? Danny used to smoke at his desk... I always thought it was part of the charm of the store. He was like the reefing version of Uncle Benny, lol...