House of Tropicals Inc Aquarium Supplies

Takes forever for the lazy employees to bag your fish for you. You have to tell them what you want-they won't come help you. Saltwater fish are sick, they always die within a week. One employee tried to sell me a yellow tang when the tank mates were covered in ick. He swore it would be fine....of course I turned him down. Freshwater fish are pretty good, some are overpriced and pretty beaten up. One manager there is a jerk, he thinks he knows everything, especially when you try to use the 48 hour guarantee they have on the fish. He'll try everything in the book to say you killed the fish because he doesn't want to give you a refund.
John 19:36:18 4/12/2009
 

oh, man , sorry to hear that , i am also a chinese man , if that is truth , i am also angry for that chinese store manager ,
what a pity !

trust ur self , and got the experiences !

JOhn from china
John 05:19:06 3/14/2009
 

I live in Parkville and go past several fish stores on my way the staff has knowledge of fish and even told me NOT to purchase something because wouldn't last long in my tank. I give them 9.5 fins
Michael Owens Sr. 16:05:25 10/15/2008
 

I live in Parkville and go past several fish stores on my way the staff has knowledge of fish and even told me NOT to purchase something because wouldn't last long in my tank. I give them 9.5 fins
Michael Owens Sr. 16:03:33 10/15/2008
 

My husband and I own a business and I always want to support privatly owned businesses, so we bought a chinese hampster. My daughter did the research and was happy with the customer service she recived while there. We also bought a gift certificate for an up and coming birthday. The sales person said that she could bring it back if there was a problem. We called and talked to that same person who then told us to bring it back. When we got there we were treated as if we were not telling the truth. The Manager of that department was clearly irritated and made me feel as if I was not telling the truth. She yelled at me and then while I was speaking to the store Manager she yelled at me again. I was not yelling and she was allowed to yell at a customer. I left the hampster there with out a refund. At that point I should have been the one yelling. I will never buy anything from there and I will tell my family and friends not to go to House of Tropics.
Renee Spears 19:10:00 7/22/2008
 

I've been to this store several times. Sometimes you get someone with some knowledge and others they just say what they heard. I've had to correct several "fishbaggers" there before for delivering the wrong info to customers and selling them a 10 gallon aquarium with a fish that will evetuallt be 20 inches long.

They have many things that you can not find almost anywhere else, like canopies, lighting, pumps etc. The selection is good but you pay for it. It doesn't compare to many online stores taht are 40% cheaper.

The fish selection is great and does vary. Many times they are fully stocked and the prices do vary. I've seen the fish marked differently in different tanks. For the most part, the fish are very healthy and I've purchased more than 5 fish over a year's period and none have died on me yet. Love this place and would highly recommend to anyone in the area. Just buyer beware and be eductaed on hat you buy because they do not inform you on anything other than what is on the packaging.
Mo 10:21:49 6/23/2008
 

LOVE THIS PLACE STAFF IS EXCELLENT!
BRADY 19:30:06 2/05/2008
 

Not gonna go into hard core details here. This store is very much worth visiting at least once. Being a pet owner you know what prices are like out there compare em for yourself, cause I found some lower and some higher which balanced out to be right about what i had been paying elswhere and closer to home.

Would have loved to see the store operating with knowledgable staff though would have made me go back and shop again.
TwistEdFish 09:10:57 7/30/2007
 

Overall, a relatively pleasant experience. Very nice large tanks greet the customers as they walk in, and there are more displays throughout the store. Unfortunately, there is sometimes livestock on display which is not actually for sale in the store, much to the dismay of anybody attempting to recreate the store tanks. Also, livestock availability and prices fluctuate wildly. I have been there twice, and have seen prices nearly triple for certain fish.

One of the downsides of the store is their disorganization. Even the employees have trouble finding certain fish or plants on request, or are unable to tell you if it is in stock at the moment. Also, they sell dyed glass fish, which is an inhuman practice which should not be supported. And for God's sake, if you're going to dye a fish, at least make it look good! The dye looks like it's leaching out so the fish is left with sporadic spots and stripes of color along the backbone.

Fish quality also varies a lot. The saltwater tanks all looked great, and the animals seemed to have plenty of space and be happy and healthy. On the other hand, the freshwater fish looked cramped and had to put up with dirty-looking water and algae infestations. I actually saw a few fish lying dead and rotting, and even two in the store's show tanks.

Now that I've bashed House of Tropicals for a while, I do have to say that their selection is quite good and prices are nothing extravagant. All fish are fed live food to keep them healthy and content, and signs are (generally) informative. Especially helpful are the little markers for various species' aggressiveness and compatibility.

Equipment is also in plentiful supply. I'm not totally sure about the prices- I've seen much better deals online and I'm starting to think that filters may be a bit overpriced. However, if you have a pretty good idea of what's reasonable, you won't get cheated out of your money. Overall, a decent deal and a fun place to browse through.
Melina 10:10:34 2/24/2005