Victoriana

Live video by Ustream

Marine stores - Toronto

The comments contained in the description are not necesarrily mine, I've just compiled them from other peoples experiences. If you have other stores to add, or comments, email them to me.
Thanks to Paul_the _Blackberry_Guy for the map Pics!
Chrismo

Overview Map
of ALL stores.


Downtown:

Menagerie Pet Shop (A on map)
549 Parliament Street
ph: 416-921-4966
[This place has character. Smallish marine section but nice corals, fish Harold runs the fish dept. and is one of the founding members of MAST. Extremely knowledgable, has some pretty wicked connections in the industry.


Scarborough:

Aquapets
Markham (Kennedy & Steeles)
Used to be in mississauga
Tel: 905-281-0151?

Big Al's (B on map)
1295 Kennedy Rd
(Just north of Lawrence)
ph: (416) 757-3281
Big - lots of marine fish some corals If you need attention or advice avoid going on weekends unless you want to see the hot counter girl.

North American Fish Breeder (C on map)
2260 Kingston Road,
Phone: (416)267-7252
[Kingston Rd and Danforth Ave. On the North side just down from Heavy Duty Motorcycles and across from the beer store. Best prices in toronto I think. If you havent been there in 2005, then you should visit again. Johnny's been building tanks for about 25 years. Livestock prices are good, the basement (with many tanks) is finished! Selection - Usually more fish than corals. but that is changing. He seems much more focused on saltwater lately, and is getting some great stuff. Builds good tanks cheap]

Reefquarium
8380 Kennedy Rd
Markham (100meters south of Kennedy Road and Hwy 7)
[Kenny is the owner, has Decent prices, decent stock]

Blue Ocean (E on map)
on Kennedy and Hwy#7
south of #7 in the Peachtree plaza.
[Slowly expanding saltwater selection decent prices]

PJ's Pet Centers (F on map)
Scarborough Town Center

AquaScape www.aquascapedesign.ca (G on map)
1151A Victoria Park Ave at St Clair E
PH: 416-759-7759
[Never Been, looks like they design & maintain tanks too.]


Mississauga:

Reefraft (X on map) www.reefraft.ca
1650 Dundas Street East, unit 258. Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2ZE
ph: 905-290-9693 or 416-856-6643
Great store! Good prices, great display tank. They have a good selection of corals and some fish, and carry some dry goods, There always seems to be unusual specimens in there so take a look, but they are aware of anyhting rare, and will charge accordingly. New much improved storefront in sept 2005. Best store in missisauga, possibly in all of toronto.

Where's the Reef? (Y on map)
755 Queensway Ave, Mississauga, ON
(905)306-7772
New Store! Just opened in 2006. They have nice cheap Live rock right now. By February they should have Corals and Fish. That Area is like the Reef District now!

Big Al's (H on map)
850 Dundas St East (one block west of Dixie, next to Chinese Emporium, )
ph: (905) 276-6900
Big store If you need attention or advice avoid going on weekends.

Dragon Aquarium (I on map)
888 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
ph: (905) 897-8391
Right beside Big ALs on Dundas, in the Chinese Emporium. fish and corals. Limited success with his fish. Another opinion, "Usually has stock...worth a look.

OCEANS ALIVE (J on map)
http://www.oceans-alive.com

1244 The Queensway
(East of Kipling, North side, across from swiss chalet)
(416) 251-0000
Lots of Corals, strictly marine, his show tanks look good.sometimes has limited stock. Renovations underway I think.

Aquarium Light / CoolTouch http://www.aquariumlight.com
1-866-266-5824
Just lighting supplies, reflectors ballasts, bulbs. Website is in american dollars. Good prices. Kim is nice. Closed weekends. They are more a web based company)

Reef & Rainforest Design www.reefandrainforestdesign.com
This company does Tank set-ups and maintenance, some very nice set-ups, both high end and "regular". He makes house calls!


North York:

Big Al's (N on map)
180 Steeles Avenue West,Thornhill
(in Swiss chalet Mall)
AKA: Aquarium Services Warehouse Outlets
Phone: (416) 223-2161
[ Seems Good. Corals and fish ]

CNC MARINE http://www.cncaquarium.com
55 Doncaster (Near Young and Steels),
Thornhill, Ontario L4J 1E9  
Ph: (905) 889-9201
[ They recently moved.]

PJ Pets (P on map)
3401 Dufferin Street, North York,ON
( just North of Lawrence in Yorkdale Mall )
Phone: (416)785-9991
[ Way overpriced probobly because rent in yorkdale mall is killer. Corals and fish. ]


Hamiltonish:

Big Al's (Q on map)
140 Centennial PKWY South
(next to Crabby Joes Restaurant)
Aquarium Services Warehouse Outlets
Phone: (905) 560-1000
[ Owner Mario is a great guy. Other than that they have the usual Big Al's stock. One thing that I wish they would get though are more inverts, clean up crew type stock. They usually have nothing I have had good luck with there fish. ]

Henley's/Pet city (R on map)
318 Ontario Street, St Catharines
(905) 641-1715
[ Decent shipment in of fish and critters in. Not too much in corals. Hardware is a little overpriced.]

Oakville Reef Gallery (S on map) www.oakvillereefgallery.com
579 Kerr Street
ph: 905-338-2782
Almost everyone recommends this as THE place for corals. Great Quality – good advise, Lotsa corals, some fish, Tom and Flav are good guys, both of their personal tanks are outstanding. Great selection of top end products. Prices are fair. ORG is finally getting some competition as qualtity marine stores are opening up. It's worth the drive to Oakville!

PJ's Pets (T on map)
in Pickering Town center
[they were busy selling seahorses to a guy who was buying a tank. His girlfriend/wife said "aren't those cute" And the rep sold them to them on the spot. The guy left the store with the tank, pump, substrate salt mix and seahorses..... tell me they lived overnight.]

Reeflexion http://www.reeflexion.ca
Located in Scott's house in St. Catherines -
selling frags. Zoanthids Macro etc.


Brampton

Aquarium Depot www.aquariumdepot.com
(M
on map)
7955 TORBRAM ROAD, UNIT 20,
PH: 905-790-1108
Dee had more frags than I had seen in any one place at any one time in all my life

Big Al's (V on map)
Queen & Kennedy (905) 474-1174
The kid in charge of saltwater was very kind and helpful but their tanks look awful. Most of the few corals they have are either dead or dying (the kid admitted it and also admitted that they need better care). No SPS, but will order if requested by a customer.

STRICTLY FISH (W on map)
128 Guelph St. Units 1-2-3
Ph: 905-877-3474
[Never been, they claim to have 3500 gallons of saltwater, Fish and corals-WALT SMITH. maybe old fashioned. ]


Northish of Toronto...

Superior Reef Aquatics www.superioreef.com
Hw204 Development Rd.
Bonfield, Ontario, Canada
PH: 705-776-1508
Email: superioreef@mail.thot.net
Contact Person: Bob Duchense
1800 gal of corals, liverock, inverts and marines.
I've met Bob, he seems like a real nice guy.

Ocean Corals Canada www.oceancoralscanada.com
16610 Bayview Ave.
Newmarket, Ontario.
905-895-6366

Lotus Aquatics wwwebsite
Wyoming Ont. ?? Where is that?
519-845-1783
This one is very new (Oct 2005). Hobbiest run. Anyone have any comments or reviews?


Concord Pet.
Hwy 7 east of Jane
Decent prices when they have stock in. Great prices on used equipment. The main guy there.. alex i think.. is a great guy, nice talk to and to friendly.MAIL ORDER

 

London / Kitchener

Big Als Kitchener (Y on map)
509 Wilson Avenue
Kitchener, ON (519) 894-1810
Its a pretty big store and has large selection of dry goods. Lots of different types of food, supplements, powerheads, scrapers etc. However the prices are significantly higher than mail order. However it is nice to have a place close by when you want to get something that day. They tend to bring in some interesting fish, but often the livestock does not appear very healthy. I've also seen a lot of "hard to keep" type fish there, like Moorish Idols and Sea Horses. Unfortunately the corals are usually in pretty sad shape. Their main display tank has also taken a serious turn for the worse. I recently saw some fake plants in it...
On the plus side, the staff is very friendly and do try and help you out. Knowledge amongst them varies though from quite high to very little.

Incredible Aquarium (Z on map)
509 Commissoners Rd, West, London, ON
(519) 471-8300
They are by far the best of the two stores in London and one of my favorites in Southern Ontario (along with Oakville Reef Gallery). Bill and Markus are both great guys and very friendly. The store is not that big, The best thing is to stop by frequently to see what has come in that week. Recently they have a lot of very nice SPS corals and clams. Generally there fish are usually very healthy and appear very well cared for. There display tanks always look great and they are about to set up a new one. They don't have a ton of dry goods, but do carry the staples.

Planet Aquarium
50 Ontario Street South
Unit C
519-569-8064


Canadian www online

Aquaria Canada
http://www.aquaria.ca
Based in Ottawa Ontario, Aquaria Canada has many informative and interactive features,
including reef setup and maintenance, aquarium advice, marine chat forum ...
Description: Sells aquaria, supplies, a variety of marine life and offers advice about reef setup and maintenance

Aquarium Pro's www.aquariumpros.ca
Great Forums and website!

Big Al's www.bigalsonline.com
Dry Goods.

CanReef.com http://www.canreef.com

J&L Aquatics http://www.jlaquatics.com
Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Toll Free: (888) 840-1146
Good to deal with. Dry goods & a ton of livestock– live fish and coral.

MOPS http://www.mops.on.ca
163-283 Wilson St. East Ancaster Ontario
ph:888-648-6677
Dan is a great guy. Big website. Good prices. Stands behind his product. Dry goods only I think.

Reef Crew www.reefcrew.com
Sells Rotifers and Phytoplanton, (and distributes Florida Aqauculture products) He also makes deliveries for pick-up to a variety of reef stores in Ontario. Check his website for where and when. Nicely packaged products.

ReefEscape www.reefescape.ca
Great Canadian Forums

ReefSolution www.reefsolution.com
Online drygoods and some livestock. Based in Quebec, Good prices.

Saltwaterconnection www.saltwaterconnection.com
For livestock Jayson at Saltwaterconnection has been excellent.. They're in manitoba




Marine Clubs

M.A.S.T. Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto http://www.mastcanada.org
Meetings are monthly in North York (Leslie & Finch-ish, directions are on their website). The club is a geared towards the casual exchange of information between members. Topics vary, fom month to month. Their propagation workshop, and auction are anual big hits. There is a minimal yearly fee.

Kitchener Marine Club http://www.maskcanada.org/
Sounds like a very active club.


Others Kinda Farther from toronto

Seanic Aquarium www.seanic.ca Email: info@seanic.ca
Guelph 519-820-4546
The Seahorses dude. I think owners name is Aaron. He has prices that are hard to beat and excellent quality rock! Is this an on-line only store, or is it an actual "walk-in"? Basement operation.

Emperor Aquatics
1930 Tecumseh Road West, Windsor, Ontario (519) 283-3000

Big Al's in Newmarket
(905) 895-7677
on Davis Dr a bit east of Yonge.. in Price Chopper Plaza.... Where's New Market?

Big Al's in Barrie
i been there once.. it is in south end of city... in industrial area..just behind walmart ... not sure of street.. it is owned by same guy as newmarket and yonge and steeles.. no comment on it as been there just as it opened..so not fair to say..



Usefull Non-Canadian links

Reef Central www.reefcentral.com
Wow it's huge. Excellent forums, and moderators. A must see.