J & L Aquatics

Wooooow! If you have salt water aquarium needs this is the place to go. they have awesome service and an amazing selection of fish, supplies and more!
If you are into fish looking or cheaping out on going to the aquarium this is also a great place to go. If you do decide to purchase some creatures their prices are pretty decent in my opinion. More than anything though they have really healthy fish and healthy fish are happy fish, yay!
If you are looking to start a tank or a seasoned fish breeder, this is definitely a place you want to check out!

I’d previously purchased AquaRay items from this seller online.
Almost 2 years later, thankfully within the warranty, my MultiControl 8 unit became defective. Port 7 wasn’t working, & after switching cables & testing/​re-​testing, I knew it was a defective port. Not a huge deal, because it controlled ½ of my «moonlights».
I called J&L, & their rep said they no longer carry the item & wasn’t sure if they could handle the warranty.
I became worried & reached out to another online seller of AquaRay here in the US. They were willing to handle the warranty exchange for a 10% fee of the upgraded model.
Afterward, I’d heard back from Jeff, who was extremely helpful & arranged to have the unit swapped directly with the distributor here in the US to save on customs.
I’d initially been advised that they no longer have the old unit, & I’d be receiving the upgrade, but was then told they’d found one in the back.
Long, LONG story… J&L had every right to send me the old unit, but Jeff went above & beyond, proving their exemplary customer service commitment, & allowed me the upgraded model without waiting until the «old model» sold out.
I’ve read a couple of the poor reviews on here, & it’s obvious that they can be taken with a grain of salt.
When a Unilocal!er takes the time to write a succinct review, you can pretty much guarantee its true. Go check these guys out! You won’t be disappointed!
So, thank you Jeff & J&L Aquatics, for your outstanding customer service! Not only will I continue to shop your site online, if I ever find myself in Burnaby, I’ll stop in to see what goodies you have in stock!!!

This place is so fun to go to. I could spend 30 minutes just looking around at all the living odd things! The staff are pretty chill, which I appreciate. Just a ask me if you need help/​have questions. Pricing was super reasonable for everything we got (just supplies, nothing living)

I have been to this store for a few times. Fair to say that the price for their fish supplies and food are very competitive. I did a lot of research and believe me their price is good. They do have variety of fishes you can choose from. The reason I gave them 2 stars is because I felt I got somewhat screwed by one of the staff there. I have experience with Freshwater fish and have no knowledge with saltwalter aquarium. I recently purchased an Fluval edge and thinking it would be nice if I can have a clown fish in it. I went in and explained what I have –12 Gallon Fluval Edge tank. and was seeking recommendation on how many and what kind of fish I should get. I listened to the guy (Asian guy) and he says 4 is ok. (I bought a clown, 2 damsel, a goby) I have purchased the cleaning crab and snail package prior to this trip). 3 days later 3 fish died. only the tiny goby fish left. My tank can’t handle the bio-​load of 4 fishes. and this is what he recommended!!! The very next time I went back there and told the guy my fish died bc of overcrowding. He simply goes «oh, you shouldn’t add them all together!» WTF. You knew what I have and now saying I should not add them all together? very irresponsible! I should’ve known better! Do your research before going there, they may not be helpful. Good luck.

Have shopped here on a couple of different occasions. The staff has always been very helpful and approachable. I don’t like that the prices on livestock are not visible… they’d be 5 stars if they made this small simple change. It would probably increase their Revenues as well!

JL has great customer service… just let them know you need help. Great selection of supplies and equipment at prices usually less than others. Just wish they had freshwater fish and plants as I’m now a convert! I had to tear down my 77g saltwater tank when I moved… fair policy of store credit for all livestock I couldn’t keep!

Excellent choices in aquariums and fish etc! Great customer service! Will definitely return !

This place is awful due to the staffs!!! When I first walked in this place, I thought this store was self service or something cuz there were one staff sitting at front didn’t say anything even she knew we walked in!
I thought it was nice cuz they got all kinds of equipments and fish. however, after we walked in the back, we saw two staffs standing by the counter, chatting and ignoring customers. We try to ask a few questions, but this white chubby guy replied very coldly. After we decided to grab a few corals that maybe was worth alot to him, he was keep saying:” 100 bucks! 100 bucks! 100 bucks…”(in a discriminated way) I was like keep thinking was he looking down at me? Cuz a few $ 100 corals is cheap to me, I know this might be a lot for this guy, but I think he was just looking down at Asian people.
Then, we paid. when I start to walk out, I wanted have a glance of the tank they have at front. This same white guy was talking to some customers, and I think he knew me was standing behind him watching the tank, so he took a step back and moved left so that totally blocked view! My girlfriend and me were sure he did it on purpose! I could tell that guy hate either rich people or just Asian people!
Here is another story. When I realize I had too many worms in my tank do I decided to buy something that can eat them. So I asked the staff in the store, he recommend me to get an arrow crab and told me they are REEF SAFE. I kept the crab for over 2 weeks, but not only he’s not eating and ignoring worms, I realize he’s starting to eat my anemone bubble (poor bubble)! So I went to another shop to trade in this crab, and I was so pissed off until they told me that arrow crab does not eat worms and he’s not reef safe!!! I was like what?! Didn’t the guy from j&l say it’s okay to keep?!
So, I can now really say that staffs from j&l is unknowledgeable and so retarded that they don’t even know how to treat customers right!!! I am so not ever going back to that store again!

Ok guys…
Originally, I posted a review for my Husband and my 2-​year old son.
I have to admit– I have now become a fan myself… I brought up going here today, and we left with a few things :)
Check it out– it’s pretty awesome! (May have to get a bigger tank soon. lol)

Good prices when compared to other local mom & pop stores. OK aquarium supplies selection. Friendly staff — for the most part. The target audience is the Saltwater enthusiast, which I’m not. I like freshwater fish and that’s why I rated them 3 stars. I’m sure the Saltwater folks would be very happy here.
Lastly, they have an online store which is OK or functional, but nothing spectacular. That said, there are minimal aquatic online shopping stores in Canada, so it’s an option. I use this site to compare prices with other stores. Using this site, I also compare Canadian pricing to American pricing to see if it’s worth going to the states to buy.

This is more of a review from when I used to frequent back in ’05-’06. At that time I can say the place was meticulously clean, great quality fish, knowledgeable staff, and reasonable prices for livestock. Website usually up to date on most recent shipments as well!