Aquarium Outfitters

i go here maybe once or twice a month and i am a fish and reptile fanatic. i have three of my own tanks that i manage everyday and a member of several forums. i understand that selling fish has its downfaalls like overstocking tanks. there are a few employees that know what they are talking about buut when they apologize for their boss thats bs. i buy 1 thing from that store and thats food for my turtles because i cant get it anywhere cheaper. but when i started a breeder tank for snails and guppies i asked them what they did with the snails that had spread through the tanks and they said they killed them or fed them to predators of snials in the store. so i asked if i could take some home to help get rid of them and that man had the nerve to tell me that they were a buck fifty a piece i bought them bc i hadnt found any anywhere else. long story short(ish) i found a store that gave me a bag of 100 snails for free. i wouldnt recommend this place to anyone. its animals are well kept espscially since they have a 15ft (atleast) boa that is in a small enclosure aprox. 8ft tall X 3ft front to back X 4ft wide. snake has no room at all.
N/A 21:58:15 2/10/2012
 

DON'T SHOP HERE! I have it on the word of a close friend of the asshole owner that the animals are from mill type of situations in south america. I have met people who sent out the marshal paperwork and were told the ID numbers didn't match up. Tons of dead animals all over, and the sick animals they keep in the back!! It is SO bad I don't understand why they are not shut down. "hand raised" and letting your animals reproduce as they please are NOT the same thing, these are just bad people, they don't take care of their animals, they scream at people who try to point out issues with animals and they sell sick rats for snakes to eat!

Maybe they have good fish, I do not know I am not a fish person, but are exotic fish really worth supporting the suffering of all the other animals? I will never shop there again!
Katherine 14:01:31 2/08/2012
 

I would just like to say, the posts made by the staff of the store and other "people" with high reviews in the middle of all the bad reviews are probably ALL posted by staff. I have lived in wakeforest for years and never known anyone who was happy with shopping there!
Christian 13:46:50 2/08/2012
 

This store is REALLY bad, over the years I have bought 4 animals from them, they all died. When I spent over 300$ on 2 ferrets and they died in less than 3 weeks I went to tell them I thought there may be something wrong with the ferrets, I was kind and asked to speak to the guy in the back so not to let other customers hear and stuff. The guy screamed at me and told me I had killed them because I fed them something besides marshal food. He told me if I ever came back he would call the police and have me arrested! Do not go to these people. Along with the ferrets I had a mouse AND a beta fish die! Don't waste you time or money with these people, petsmart is just down the road. Look at the website, If they will screw over their computer guy don't you think they would do the same to you?

http://ncaquariumoutfitters.com
Amber 13:42:44 2/08/2012
 

great store!! yes its not the best store in the entire world, and the smells may be a little bad, but come on! people complain so much now a days, its ridiculus! anyways We bought 2 clown fish ( great condition) affordable price, and returned 5 months later to get 2 anemones, a shrimp, star fish, corals, and snails. the price for all those items : ~80 buck! unbeatable!

customer service to us was great!

Maggie M.R 18:24:58 1/17/2012
 

i usually perfer local pet stores rather than franchises like petsmart. but in the case of this store go to petsmart. prices are jacked up high and their proud of it plus you shouldn't have to nurse any pet back to health after buying from any pet store.
mike 14:24:03 1/12/2012
 

nothing but HELPFULL!!! I love this place. fish are great and the guy I work with there is the best fish guy in town that i have found...and ive looked. dont let these bad reviews keep you going to a great store!
bo 06:40:14 1/09/2012
 

Nice store, good staff, but the prices on their livestock is insane! i was quoted 45 dollars for a 3-4 inch jaguar....way above value, but with seemingly no other local pet shops....what can you do?
chris 07:20:00 1/06/2012
 

ive probably spent 2000 dollars in the past few months at this place. none of the negative comments are true. the owner is nice, the staff makes you feel like an old friend, very knowledgable. ive been allowed returns with no problems. ive NEVER seen a dead fish or algae in this store and i go once a week to browse.
Jordan Abbott 11:16:26 1/01/2012
 

Had issues with a parakeet, they are letting me bring it back. Yea the prices are high but they hand raise their birds and they are healthy, unlike petsmart and petco. It is an old locally owned store so they don't have the money to do a fixer upper. All in all, the only reason I shop there, is because there hand fed birds.
Bailey 10:49:44 12/26/2011
 

this store smell badbut they do have a variety of good fish. the prices are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to high. to be honest this store could use a facelift and then i could understand the prices being so high.
ann 09:28:12 12/22/2011
 

I drove almost 2 hours to this store several times. Like most locally-owned stores, it was a little dirty, but they had a selection of tropical fish that is unbeatable at times, particularly lesser known cichlids and discus.

Each time I went, it seemed nastier, and after a four week absence I noticed that some of the dead fish (dead plecos in almost every tank) were the same rotted remains of fish that were dead a month ago.

Anyway, long story short, on my last visit, one employee who'd always been nice was getting my fish and the owner, who I'd never seen before basically yelled at me while I was browsing.

I was about to spend $200 bucks, about the same as usual. I went over and asked the employee if that was the owner, he said, "Yep sorry."

I told them to put the fish back and left and won't be back. Owner is a angry jerk and won't get my business again.
(It appears their domain now reflects that to boot.)
Jared 09:24:18 11/18/2011
 

Insulting prices on fish. Could be exploiting the fact that there are almost no other options for african cichlids locally, but that doesn't make it right. $30 for a fish that should sell for $15 even with LFS markup is criminal. Tanks often have dead fish floating in them. With prices that outrageous I don't know how they sell any and stay in business. They get cool fish from time to time, but you could get fish cheaper mail order even with shipping!
Chris 15:23:41 11/10/2011
 

Horrible place. I bought some small fish that I thought were very young. When I got home I noticed they were all missing scales on half their body and were completely emaciated. I called the store to let them know they had a problem. I wasn't even looking for a refund or anything. They got defensive and told me to shop elsewhere. Which I will from now on. Someplace that actually has some concern for their animals.
John 08:11:18 11/03/2011
 

This store has a lot of animals in it, but that is not necessarily a good thing. If they were all kept adequately, I would be a very happy customer, but that is not nearly the case. I am a huge reptile lover, and the care this store gives their reptiles is not even close to decent. Their bearded dragon "breeding pairs" are kept in tiny cages with barely enough room to bask and eat, and the other reptiles almost all have some sort of nip or other injury caused by underfeeding and overcrowding.

The staff try to sound knowledgeable, but since I already know a lot about many species of reptile, I could tell that they were spouting lies and had no idea what they were talking about.

This store should stick to fish, and fish only. Petsmart takes better care of their small animals and reptiles than these idiots do.
Michael 18:08:07 10/23/2011
 

Not sure what others are speaking of. I know I smell the ferrets musk every now and then when I visit....

We shop here and have never had a problem with any of the fish we bought. Or the supplies food etc. The employees have always been very polite and sincere in helping us.

As for the dyed fish. I have seen them many times with the parrot fish. I understand they are genetically dna enhanced with colors from corals. Not ink like in tattoo ink.

Martha 21:44:27 8/04/2011
 

When you walk in the smell of filth punches you right in the nose. My 2 year old son, who was so excited to go inside started crying it was so bad. This place is abhorrent. Algae-ridden display tanks, dusty, dirty products and shelves. The "staff" is busy watching videos on their smart phones behind the counter. The fish room is so dark that you can barely see to walk. My wife and I were so disappointed.
Randy 07:28:29 7/05/2011
 

BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!

Do not buy anything from these people especially something expensive like a pond pump. They will not return your money if it is not compatible with your system, although they don't tell you this when you give them the money.
Chrissy 10:40:19 6/24/2011
 

it is bad
sidney 20:11:22 1/01/2011
 

it is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cameron 20:09:50 1/01/2011
 

I have bought fish at Aquarium Outfitters for the past 9 years that I have lived in Wake Forest. I am a frequent customer because of the excellent health of the fish they keep and the experience that they can offer about the keep of these fish. I have seen the small animals in the store and I am not quite sure what the other review was about. The animals are not overcrowded and are kept in good condition. I will continue to shop here and invite anyone else that is tired of the "chains" to take a trip and try a whole new experience. Experienced fish keepers make this store a rarity.
Victoria Langer 09:23:31 9/12/2010
 

We had a horrible experience at this store. We bought a pump for our pond but realized when we got it home that it wasn't the right one (so we ordered the correct one from the people who installed our pond). I tried to return the pump to the store (in the box with receipt) and they said that they do not allow returns. My husband was not told about their policy and when he asked they said he could bring it back. To make matters worse they were rude and made it sound like it was my own fault that I didn't know what pump to get. I will never shop here again!
Corrie Wiedmann 18:38:55 7/06/2009
 

We had a horrible experience at this store. We bought a pump for our pond but realized when we got it home that it wasn't the right one (so we ordered the correct one from the people who installed our pond). I tried to return the pump to the store (in the box with receipt) and they said that they do not allow returns. My husband was not told about their policy and when he asked they said he could bring it back. To make matters worse they were rude and made it sound like it was my own fault that I didn't know what pump to get. I will never shop here again!
Corrie Wiedmann 18:38:44 7/06/2009
 

I'm here to say the fish at this store are fine, they're displayed pretty well, and usually are healthy. They do sell the injected dyed fish though, which I don't like. The reason I'm giving them such a low rating is because of the way they take care of thier other animals. This store also sells birds, bunnies, and guinea pigs. The conditions these animals are kept in is deplorable. The guinea pigs are kept with males/females together, with 9 animals in a 2x3 cage. This cage had a wire mesh bottom to it, which also harms the feet of these animals. The bunnies had a little more room, 2 per cage - still too small even for one. There wasn't even enough room for the guinea pigs to all lay down at the same time. These cages were also quite dirty. I'm disgusted by the bird cages as well - they are very overcrowded. I think this store should focus on it's fish business and not try to go the small animal route - unless it was just for supplies. They obviously don't know how to care properly for them.
Emily 14:34:58 4/19/2007