Pisces Pet Emporium

I hadn’t been to Pisces in many years, before they expanded. The store is fantastic. They have everything you could possibly need for your pets… and some supplies for beer brewing. Yes beer brewing.
First the pet side of the brain. I needed a couple things for my puppy. First I wanted to price compare her food to Pet Planet. While they carry the food, its only the smaller bags so that’s no good for me. The great thing about the dog food selection is that its massive. When you walk in the door, the whole side of the store immediately to your right is just food. They carry the better brands that contain food made from real things, but they also stick the crap dog food at the back if you’re looking for that. There’s also a bunch of coolers and freezers stocked with raw food diet products, meal supplements, bones, and more.
Opposite the dog food is the expansive selection of treats, chews, toys, balls, clothing, you name it. I needed some training treats. They didn’t have the brand I was looking for, but they had such a great selection of treats that I was able to find a different treat that my pup loves just as much. She also got a little spoiled with some bully sticks and pig’s ears.
By this point you’re probably wondering what beer brewing has to do with a pet store. When you’re home brewing you need a refrigerated chamber to keep your beer kegs cold. This is typically called a kegerator, where you modify a small refrigerator to suit your needs. The other option, when you need more room than a small refrigerator is to modify a deep freeze into a keezer. This is where a pet store comes in. You don’t want your beer to freeze so you need a heat source inside the freezer that kicks in when it starts to get too cold. Terrarium heaters are perfect for this. One option is to buy a heat lamp. This is good because the light the lamps put out is infrared so it doesn’t spoil your beer. Another option, the one I went with, is a terrarium floor heater. Its a wire that heats up which you run under the mat of the terrarium. This is a little harder to execute, but I’d rather not have to deal with broken glass in a deep freeze if I happened to drop the lamp when moving things around. There’s a couple different lengths of wire for about $ 30 – 50 and all you have to do is plug them into the wall and they’re ready to go.

I figured it was time to write a review for this place since I’ve been shopping here for years now. Pisces is my go to place for my fish, and dog and food and fish tank maintenance. The quality and knowledge of the employees working in the fish room are top notch. The fish are in good health and I’ve never had and casualties with fish I have brought home from here. Each tank is on it’s own system and not shared between tanks like you see in some of the other large pet stores. I love that Pisces is kind of a specialized pet store, only one in the city like it!!! They have all of the filter material I need for my Rena filter and are priced on par with the other stores. I love being able to one stop shop for my fish and my dog and love being able to shop with my dog. The staff are very helpful and knowledgeable making easy to spend hours wandering the store spending money on my pets.

Wow this is the pent-​ultimate pet shop for you land locked people. The place is deceptively large. Supposed to be the largest independent pet shop in the world. Huge fish section once you find it. They have everything from brightly colored jungle frogs to monkeys but the monkeys are just for display. Selection of rodents. Usual cat and dog supplies. Prices are good for what we saw. Great place to explore for a half hour. Tucked in on an industrial side road. Place is busy on Saturday.

Great prices on lizard lamps, and great service. I was wondering around looking for new lamps the young lady in lizard section told me I was using wrong lamps but she could order the correct ones. Unlike when you go to home depot and employees try not to make eye contact with you. .Great job Pisces

Pisces is a great store to go to for all of your pet needs. I have fish and a dog and I can get almost everything I need here. They have a very large selection of aquarium plants and they usually go pretty fast within the week. Norm is extremely helpful and knowledgable about all things aquatic and he will always be able to help you out. They have a very large assortment of fish both freshwater and saltwater however it find that some species of more common fish are a tad overpriced in comparison to other stores. They have a huge selection of food and equipment. If you’re looking for water treatment chemicals, you can find a better deal for some products elsewhere, but they do price match if you are willing to make the effort. They have an excellent selection of dog food and treats as well!

I would say quite confidently that this is the best overall pet store in town. If you want to find everything under one roof go to Pisces. There are specialty retailers that are stronger in one area or another but Pisces has everything. I like the customer service and the prices on many things are good. They also have a good selection of pets which are well cared for. The store is a bit out of the way for me but it is so much fun to visit. Look for the super water feature, the monkeys and the tortoise.

Pisces is one of my top 3 favorite pet stores in the city. They have a huge selection of merchandise to choose from. Whether you have a cat, dog, rodent, reptile or fish & even more they’ll have what you’re looking for. They even have monkeys but they aren’t for sale lol. The customer service is also always exceptional.

I really like Pisces — I’ve been shopping there for about five years straight now — primarily for the selection, this is the only store in Calgary that carries my dog’s brand of food. Their pet rewards system is really worth signing up for (sign up for their emails and you’ll collect a TON of bonus points) and I find their prices to be a bit below the big box stores which is definitely an incentive to drive a bit out of the way to get there. (A full size bag of dog food is about $ 5.00 less than the online prices at Petsmart.)
Customer service has always been really great — until recently. I actually have the complete opposite experience than a couple previous reviewers — the past few visits literally left me feeling like I was on a used car sales lot. There are two newer female employees in particular who will, without a word of a lie, follow you around the entire store, yakking your ear off — even after politely telling them that their assistance wasn’t needed.
I’m assuming that the employees work on some sort of commission because I’m always asked when paying if anyone helped me during my visit — and these two will literally follow me right up to the counter as if they’ve actually done something apart from irritate me! When all they’ve done is offer ridiculous and unhelpful suggestions, ask borderline intrusive and personal questions, and then stalk me out to my car so they can see my dog! I don’t think it’s particularly fair that they are somehow receiving credit for that.
Yes, there are times when I might want help. But I think it’s fair to assume that most pet owners have a routine set down for their pets as far as food and treats and toys go — I just want to go in, buy dog food, and get out, you know? Customer service is a pretty simple concept: ask the customer if they need help, if they do, great! Help them! If they decline, then back off! Shopping at Pisces is starting to feel like a date with the clingy girlfriend meme!
Of course I’ll keep shopping there, but going forward I’m going to have to stick with the head down, avoid eye contact shopping method.

Pisces is the best store in the city for freshwater aquarium plants and supplies/​equipment for planted tanks but unfortunately there are many things you can’t get in Calgary. I’ve spent about ½ of my money for my tanks at Pisces, the other half from online resellers buying products they don’t have. I’m willing to pay higher prices at a local reseller if they just had the stuff.
The staff aren’t «google» but they’re still fairly knowledgeable. Their prices are similar to Big Al’s but not as low as J&L Aquatics out of Vancouver but you get to see a face when you buy something.
They have a pretty good selection of aquatic plants at all times. Their fish aisles are well organized with signs for the various types of fish which is nice. The selection of freshwater fish is quite good so you don’t have to keep checking in if you’re looking for a specific species.
Their dry good selection is pretty strong but lacks the «ultra» high end products you can source from online resellers. The selection is all «mass market» but they generally carry all of the models and products that each mass-​market manufacturer produces. Strangely they have ADA AquaSoil products with a room dedicated to ADA but a VERY bad selection of CO2 systems. It’s a shame I have to go elsewhere for this.
They carry ADA and Go! Aqua tanks which are very nice rimless tanks. These tanks command a slightly higher price compared to your average tank with a frame but they utilize higher quality glass and come in sizes that are more conducive to aquascaping rather than dimensions that are «the cheapest to manufacture.» Good stuff, I have a couple ADA/Go!Aqua tanks. Lately they’ve had some very attractive aquarium Fluval aquarium packages at good prices.
One thing I’d like to point out is if you want the quickest service from the fish department head to the left side of the fish department, take a number, and press the button. The system’s for both dry goods and livestock and it’s the quickest way to get somebody’s help when they’re busy.
Pluses:
Best aquatic dry-​good selection in the city
Clean aquatic tanks
ADA Aquasoil and Tanks
Eheim Products at competitive prices
Fluval/​Aquaclear products at «ok» prices
Attractive Fluval aquarium packages
Great aquatic plant selection
Minuses:
Frequently understaffed
Poor CO2 system selection at expensive prices
Lacking in higher-​end products (ie: Kessil lighting, ADA stands in stock, good CO2 systems and accessories, Neptune aquarium controllers)

What a wonderful place! Packed with everything you need, beautiful displays that you can bring your kid to see, and backed up by good quality as well as variety. It was the weekend but I still got helped quickly, and the staff knew their stuff in the aquarium section, unlike awful times I’ve had at Big Al’s before. The quality and service makes up for some price premiums. Will definitely recommend it. Wish we had one of these in Vancouver BC.

I don’t know what happened with the other people with customer service but wow we had an awesome experience here! I’ve never been here before and was absolutely amazed at the selection! What a huge store! The monkeys and the waterfall were unreal! I loved the selection of animals (so many!) and the cute koi fish in the bins followed you as you walked by. I had a blast, would come back when we do our Calgary trips. Good job!

Great selection of product and helpful staff, have never been disappointed.

The customer service here has gone downhill from a few years ago (around the time they moved). I walked around, practically looking at employees to show that I needed some help and they just stared right back at me or walked away. Is that how to run a retail business? I don’t think so.
They are supposedly experts but it takes someone to actually spend the time to make a difference.
I also have allergies and the very second I walk into their store I react and have difficulty breathing. I don’t get that same reaction from Petland stores.
I *was* going to make a purchase that day but instead decided to give my business (and possibly all my future business) to the Sunridge Petland who were helpful and eager to see if I needed help.

I’ve said similar things in other pet store reviews but the customer service at this store is pretty typical of Calgary. During the evenings (when there’s no managers around) the staff do their best to avoid actually talking to people or assisting with purchases. In the day time the staff is so focused on completing their tasks that they aren’t any more helpful than the evening staff. I actually had one staff member tell me a specific aquarium I was looking for was discontinued years ago because of reasons that sounded reasonable if you didn’t know anything about aquaria. (The aquarium had just been released by JBJ that spring…)
I will say this about their staff though: On my last trip in I noticed their tanks, corals, etc. were basically being overrun by aptasia (a nuisance anemone in the marine hobby). Their corals, live rock, pumps, etc. were just covered in them and they had spread along their whole wall of tanks. So being nosey like I am I questioned a clerk as to why they were letting that happen. He basically blew me off so I decided I had better speak to the manager. When speaking to him I told him that they had a bad outbreak and that as a serious hobbyist I perceived that as a lack of attention and care to their tanks. I wish I could remember his name because he was actually very receptive to hearing this from me and explained that they try to keep some around to feed certain species of fish, shrimp etc. but that they can get out of control very quickly if the conditions are right. We talked at length and I was pretty happy leaving knowing that I stated my opinion and was treated with the utmost respect by him. I had also mentioned that a couple of their anemones were fading a bit and that I thought it was probably due to poor lighting to which he agreed.
The next time I came into the store (about three weeks later) they had cleaned up all their marine aquariums except one that I presume was for instructional purposes. The anemones that seemed to be suffering were all moved to display tanks with great lighting and sure enough they were thriving. I felt like I was heard and my concerns were addressed in a manner that exceeded any expectation.
Their prices float somewhere between cheap and outrageous, depending on the item. Their selection is excellent on aquaria gear, but only if it’s in stock… (Another Calgary phenomenon) They carry high end aquarium gear and midrange gear alike but I’ve noticed that they don’t tend to stock much in the way of the cheap, not-​so-​great gear.
The store itself is crowded but interesting in the sense that they have many different types of animals for sale and for viewing. There’s a monkey habitat at the rear of the store which can be tons of fun for kids. The koi pond is fun for kids too but the fish don’t tend to react much to the food you can buy for them. Probably because we were the 1200^th group to attempt to feed them that day

I love the monkey room, the huge koi pond, the amazing fish selection, and awesome birds. The hand-​raised budgies seemed more mentally stable than in other stores. It really helps that the small rodent and bird cages don’t allow kids to reach in and mangle the animals.

COOLEST PET STORE EVER! They are very good at maintenance of cages, and staff are SO knowledgeable. Cool reptile displays! Lots of exotic species! Check this place out for sure!!!

Worst customer service ive had in years but great selection. Had a fish die and it took a lot of brain damage to have the manager tell me I couldn’t be helped without receipt after spending a hundred bucks cash on fish the other day. Keep your receipts. Your word is no good. I could care less about the $ 20 fish but the fact I’ve shopped there for years and drove across the city. Won’t be going back here.

I was in need of a few doggie supplies and I happened to be in the neighborhood of Pisces Pets. This place is huge and disorganized, so that made it hard to track down the things I was looking for. After weaving through the aisles I was able to find some great toys for my pup. I was looking for a martingale collar, they had a few, but not many sizes or choices. I was able to track down a guy working there, but he didn’t really know what I was talking about and just pointed out the area I had already found. Thanks for nothing! So I just grabbed a collar hoping it would fit. They had some cool toys and pet gadgets, the prices were standard it seemed. They didn’t have much for pets, a few kittens and puppies. They do let you go in a private room if you are interested in looking at a pet. There is a massive fish area that I didn’t even dare to go in.
Once I got home, the collar didn’t fit. So I returned a few days later and had no issue exchanging the collar for a bigger one. I wasn’t allowed a refund, which I would have preferred due to their lack of collar options. The collar I ended up with was a bit more expensive and doesn’t hold its size, thus it was a waste of money.
I wasn’t wowed by my experience with Pisces Pets. In the future it won’t be my first choice for my pet needs.

This store needs an overhaul from a Master Organizer! In the quest for a Biorb, a fashionably round tank that most fish geeks would clamour for, I visited Pisces and though they had many an aquarium, they are quite unorganized and their aquariums were squashed together. Though I was impressed they carried Biorb (which is harder to find in Canada), looking for their Biorb accessory prices was a hair-​puller as there were missing price tags. Unfortunately, the actual Biorb floor demo was a graveyard of gunky water.
That being said, they do have a monkey exhibit (only for peeky, no buy-​ey) and they have lovely koi for those serious about the hobby. The Koi rep singlehandedly redeemed the store by being a mogul of knowledge and even tho we weren’t looking to buy these gorgeous Japanese fish *laughs*. Nonetheless, impressive and I may be able to play the Jeopardy koi category a little better!

I go to all sorts of pet stores, but when I really want good advice about something to do with my dog, fish or crab, I go to Pisces.
First of all, it’s huge. Second of all I’ve never gotten bad advice from the staff there. They really know what they’re talking about, and if they don’t know they’ll ask another staff member.
They have specialty pets, products and a humongous saltwater sealife area… and lots of parking!
I find that the brand of dog food that I buy is usually cheaper at one of the chain pet stores, though.