Aqua Lab Aquaria San Jose, California

Love this place!!! People are amazing! Teachers are amazing!

Terrible experience, my item should of been shipped a week ago. I have had no response to say it has been shipped or anything and they have not replied to a single email I have sent. Avoid, I will getting in touch with my credit card company to cancel charges

Placed an online order for a twinstar light, UNS tank, and heater in January 2021. It is now August and I have had no word - sent several emails and tried calling. All I got was an automated voice message immediately informing me that there was no one available to help with my order. I don't care if lead times are long, but being ghosted with no information feels awfully scammy. I don't know if I'm going to ever see my order, or my money. I'm moving in half a month the new residents in this apartment are going to be really confused if a fish tank shows up on their doorstep, because I couldn't even get in touch with someone to change my address. Happy to revise this review if I can get either a refund or the items sometime before New Year's. Edit October 2021: Someone finally replied to my email and I managed to get my address changed. Since this review was published I'm periodically receiving emails saying they can't get my items in stock, still waiting.

I love this aquarium shop. The owner, Kent, helped me pick out all the things I need to get started on my first salt water reef tank. Every time I come back they are very helpful and expand my knowledge of the hobby. They have tons of choices to stock my tank top from coral to fish.

I placed my order over 20 days ago and have received 0 replies from the shop when I email them for a update. Website says 3-6 days for orders to ship this is clearly not the case. Terrible service would recommend to avoid

I have a very good experience shopping online at their website. I have ordered a Hanna brand colorimeter and it's consumables online for pickup (there was no markup on the price like other retailers are doing nowadays). I sent an email after a couple of days and asked when the order will be ready and Kent replied back to me a day later that the checker is ready for pickup but they are waiting for the consumable for the meter. So I went to pick up the meter and said I'll be back when the other item arrives. To my surprise they instead shipped the rest of my order after they received it although it was a pick up order, I am very happy with my experience on my order and will shop from them again if I ever need supplies they offer. I don't normally post reviews but their overall responsiveness and nice gesture of shipping rest of my order prompted me to post this review of my own volition especially after reading some of the negative reviews (as opposed to my positive experience)

Probably the worst online shopping experience I’ve ever had. Placed an order for items that were “in stock” on 5/13 that did not ship until 6/21. If your “in stock” items have lead times of over a month then be transparent and specify that on your website. I had to send 8 emails before any of my items shipped. Most of their responses were vague and gave me little to no information. It’s almost comical at this point and I wish I read these reviews before ordering. Thankfully I hadn’t ordered plants for my tank or I’d be screwed. Side note - I saw under Aqua Lab’s Facebook reviews that the owner and employees use their own personal FB accounts to reply to customers. I’d kindly suggest using the Aqua Labs account instead as it comes off a little more professional.

I placed an order to a tissue culture of blyxa novoguineensis almost 3 months ago. I have reached out to them on multiple emails, facebook messanger, and called their business and have yet to get a response. This is absolutely ridiculous! My facebook group warned me about this place, but I thought I'd give them a chance. They were right, this place is horrible.

Do not order online from this store! I wish I had checked the google reviews before doing so. Like many others it seems, I placed an order online, got some automated email saying they are busy so it may take 3-6 days to complete my order, and then nothing. No updates for 3 weeks. I tried inquiring about my order via email and no reply. Finally I just cancelled my order. So frustrating!! I understand they are a small business that grew faster than expected. In that case, either update your website to reflect the fact that the delay may be more like 3-6 months, or just temporarily suspend all online orders. Don't mess around with customers like this! Such a waste of time.

Great store. Great selection of fish. Plants could use a little more care specially the culture cups.

They were a bit late but refunded the plants that were unavailable and sent the remainding plants. Satisfied

I went to Aqua Lab Aquaria for the 1st time and my first impression is that this place is dirty and unorganized. I looked at their salt water section and pipes, equipments are all over the floor it's like someone can trip and fall. The corals are unhealthy with lots of Aiptasia, cyanobacteria and hair algae. I know it was a red flag, but i decided to buy hermit crab and some corals perhaps i can do a coral dip and get rid of the plug completely maybe it's ok. So when i was at the counter about to pay, suddenly the owner came back to the shop and said "None of the corals are for Sale" in a very rude way!. Wasted my 1 hour and the guy was unapologetic and very rude too. This was the first and last that i will be going to this place. I guess should learn my lesson to just stick to Neptune Aquatics where people there are not shady like Aqua Lab, and Neptune knows how to care for their corals and costumers. This place deserves negative star not 1 star.

I placed an order for multiple items on April 29th. It has been over 2 months and I struggle to get any form of response. I thankfully purchased through paypal and plan to cancel my order for a full refund. They have been very non-responsive and similar to another review, I have been contacting them to check up on my order, which they only respond 1/4 of the time. DO NOT BUY ONLINE, they are horrible

Ordered the simplest thing... a glass pipe. Paid upon ordering. The didn't have it. Did the tell me? No. 2 weeks later I send a mail to ask when it will come. They say they don't have it but get it in every couple of weeks. Also, they might have another brand! I say, "ok, so it's almost in?? And please send the price and a pic of "other one"... " . No reply. Days later, I get tired of waiting and just ask them to cancel my order. Ten days later, no reimbursement. I send mail asking when to expect it. No reply... where's my $ 37? Will I ever see it again?

Everything I need for aquascaping is here.

Amazing customer service. The order shipped quickly- great communication with their team. Thanks!

I ordered aquasoil from the web store and received a package within a few days with the wrong soil. I made several attempts to contact the web store and San Jose location via phone and email without response. save your money and shop elsewhere if you want to receive the right product the first time. The customer service is non-existent.

Preordered plants. Website said 2-4 week estimated delivery. It’s been 8 months now and still nothing. I emailed them, but no response. Their website says no refunds, but after waiting 8 months, this is a bit ridiculous

I ordered a replacement tank (my current one is leaking and the filter is not working). It's been 1 and a half months and this company has yet to reply back to my emails or voice-mails. They took my money but gave me no updates on my purchase other than one (saying they were making sure all the parts were with the tank - this message was over a month ago). I want my money back! I HIGHLY RECOMEND THAT YOU DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY, THEY SCAM YOU CHARGE YOUR CARD AND DONT SENT THE PRODUCT. AND THEY DO NOT REPLY BACK TO EMAILS OR PHONE CALLS.

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff with lots of equipment and supplies. The space is not huge, but the items on location are high quality. They have everything you need to build an aquarium from tanks to filters to plants and fishes. Worth visiting their store or website if you're a seasoned hobbyist or new to the hobby.

Originally I was going to leave a 1 star review and be all ranting and raving. But the customer service I got from ehren was great. I think that the online store is probably going through growing pains. I probably wont shop there for a bit but I'll definitely give them another go in the future because it seems like a good business that just is in over their heads a little in the online market.

This store is too bad. I ordered an item that has not yet updated (2 weeks after the order was made). Now I am not able to cancel the order by any way. Tried multiple ways - online thru website, calling the store (no one is picking), there chat Centre... no response, also dropped email (no response). Avoid this store for any online purchases. I wished I read all -ve reviews and trusted it. Same experience...???? Cannot established a communication with them in any form or cancel the order thru website.

Checked out the store on my lunch, saw some cool yellow tangs with prices tags. I was super excited to go back after work to grab them. Suddenly... just a few hours later... even tho price tags are everywhere... I’m told they’re not for sale. Even tho they have price tags and a few hours earlier it was not a problem. Super shady. Not to mention the entire store is in disarray and looks horrible. Super bummed for the lack of customer service and consistency. Maybe don’t leave price tags up if you don’t intend to sell them ????????‍♀️

Online customer. They have a great selection of high quality products for avid fish owners. I live in Wyoming, and received an ADA tank, something I wouldn’t ever be able to find locally. Customer service was fantastic (Shout out Ken)

I’ve ordered from this company several times over the past year, and it’s been a great experience every single time. They have better prices than my LFS, aquarium supplies and equipment that are hard to find, they ship fast even in a pandemic, and the staff has gone out of their way to answer my questions and help me out. Their customer service really stands out, probably the best I’ve experienced in the US.

Really cool shop with very helpful and knowledgeable staff. I'm starting my first planted tank and I had many many questions about plant selection and care. I only gave 4 stars because I repeatedly tried to phone the shop and no one would ever pick up. Would definitely visit again.

Dirty and disorganized, and everything is more expensive than other local fish stores. They also have cheap poor quality products mixed in with their stock that will not stand the test of time, and will not help you when it fails. Better off just taking a drive to Sf and visiting Aqua Forest, in person or online.

I ordered a tank and filter in October. I'm still waiting on my tank to be delivered. For whatever reason they sent the filter, which I cant use because I dont have the tank. At the time I was aware it was on backorder, but I was told I was moving up the list and was #1 on the list in December. Here we are almost 4 months later and I cant get an update. They wont respond to emails, and it is impossible to get through to them on the phone. This place is not equipped to do online sales.

Purchased an item a month ago.. no update.. no response to multiple emails. I want my money back. Stay clear till they figure out what they are doing.

This company has horrible communication. I ordered an ATO container. For the first full two weeks I head absolutely nothing. No shipping confirmation, no notification of delays, no setting forward of expectations. Nothing. Two weeks in I took it upon myself to reach out to them. I tried calling. Absolutely no response. Their listed phone number doesn’t lead to anyone. Just an endless loop. Email? Nope. They did not respond to two separate inquiries I made. They still never have to this day. Finally after about a half hour of searching I came upon their Google listing. I messaged them though there. Only then did I get a response of any kind. Truly bad communication. They show a total lack of consideration and a forthcoming attitude. I believe that if I had not found this esoteric way of getting ahold of them, nothing would have ever happened. It took them 3 whole weeks for them to tell me that they refuse to sell it to me because they want more money and they don’t want to order anymore of them. Huge waste of my time.