Monster Aquarium Inc - Shop in Queens New York — Attraction in New York

I usually don't take the time to write reviews but this place really truly deserved one. I went in 2 days ago to purchase some celestial pearl danios as I called in ahead of time to make sure that they specifically had those in stock - they told me they did. I purchased 6 of them, and while I believed they looked a bit different than they did online (different coloring, large dot on their tail) I thought they were perhaps infants and not fully grown, and they would change. I was silly to go back again to get a few more the next day, as I wanted for them to be comfortable in a large enough school in my tank.

Then I found out that these fish are not even celestial pearl danios (Danio margaritatus)!!! They are actually a hybrid between emerald rasboras and celestial pearls called Danio margaritatus erythromicron (according to monster aquariums very own website). I called in to let them know nicely that they were selling mislabeled fish and maybe didn't know, but that I would like some store credit for my next purchase or at least a full refund if I brought them all in. I was told I was wrong a ridiculous amount of times - that they were in fact the right fish and if I bought the wrong fish I shouldn't have come back to buy more, or that it was against their policy to accept returns on ANY fish period, even in my case.

My fish are completely healthy - no diseases or anything wrong with them, they are super excited and happy in their tank. I don't want to return them for any reason other than the fact that I spent $60 on mislabeled fish. Eventually after getting fed up and arguing with the manager I was told I could bring them in only today and get store credit which I can ONLY use the same day. What is the purpose of that when you don't even have the right fish?

Any other fish store that I could think of would take accountability for their mistake and offer something to make the customer feel better about being swindled, but not Monster Aquarium. They literally had 2 separate listings on their website for the different fish so they definitely did know they were selling the wrong fish, but they will still deny it completely to make you feel like an idiot and waste your time (they promptly deleted the listing and the images of the fish after I mentioned it to them, way to cover up your trail).

I'm overall so disappointed in the way that the people at this store treat you - like you're some imbecile that doesn't know what they're talking about. The fish are awesome and they have a good selection and equipment, don't get me wrong. Just do thorough research on what they're selling you and don't count on them being transparent/honoring their mistakes.

EDIT: In response to Monster Aquarium - I visited twice, not three times. Regardless, you are absolutely correct that trusting the store that specializes in fish to know what kind of fish they’re selling is far too much to expect and I should have done my own research to figure out what you seemingly could not.

And let’s not get it twisted! You did not offer a $50 credit until after you wasted 40 minutes arguing with me to tell me that I didn’t know what I was talking about when all you had to do was go on your very own website to see that you literally had a separate listing for the fish you sold me because they are, in fact, different fish! The so called $50 credit was also only if I brought in all the fish today, and only used that credit towards buying something the very same day. What kind of credit works like that?

It’s ridiculous to me that you speak of respect when from the get go you were dismissive, ignorant, and rude in your communications. If you believe that you can twist reality to avoid looking bad, it won’t work.

It was only after I realized that you were simply wasting my time and did not care even if the customer was right that I began cursing - until then I was incredibly understanding and respectful in my communications despite your rude behavior. Your business is extremely shady and I wouldn’t step foot in your establishment if my life...

Great fish, large variety of fish related stuff, really bad customer service. About three months ago I started my first tank and I got a 32L (8.45 gallon) aquarium kit with light, filter, and a hood from them for $80. It was slightly expensive but I thought it looked good. Remember this was my first aquarium so I had no idea about anything fish keeping. So to be safe I asked them a lot of questions about how to prepare water and feed fish etc. One of the owners was extremely frustrated with me asking him questions, so I went to another staff and asked him. The second guy was nicer and answered most of my questions. I told them I wanted to get guppies and they recommended me to cycle the water for 3 days and get 8-9 guppies on the fourth day. I did exactly what they told me to do with the water, and on the fourth day I got 8 guppies from another fish store that was closer to my house. And I used the products monster aquarium inc recommended me to use to cycle the water. But here’s the downside of the tank I got from them: the filter media it came with does not contain any bio media, it only has carbon and two layers of sponge. They told me to use the carbon and sponge in the filter and change every two months. They did not mention how important bio media is in a filter, which I learned later on in the hobby after losing 5 fish from an ammonia spike. I change water twice a week so the ammonia spike couldn’t have been on me. Also 3 days of cycling water weren’t enough at all, in fact, most people would recommend to cycle for at least 1 week before adding any fish, and I’m pretty sure they knew this since they own a fish store, yet they chose to tell me 3 days so they could have me come back to them getting more fish. The tank itself is a fraud too. It is a Chinese brand but for some reason I could not find anything about this brand online, even on a Chinese searching site. The filter itself is very loud after 1 month of use, and one of its tubes doesn’t even fit since the beginning. The tank is a cube, but inside it has very little space for me to work with. Recently I started to add live plants into the tank but it was so hard since the space for my hands to get thru was so narrow. I know many people would think that it was my fault that the fish died, but here’s the thing: if they were really thinking for their customers, they would not have recommended me to cycle the water for only 3 DAYS and get 8-9 fish on the 4th, especially I told them I was new. Anyone in the hobby would know that 3 days of cycling for 8 fish is not enough, because the beneficial bacteria needs more time to multiply. I kept having ammonia spike and nitrite spike in the past three months, and lost so many fish, and every time when I went to their store asking why my ammonia level was so high, they would always recommend me to buy more chemicals, and not BIO MEDIA. The lack of Bio media in my filter is exactly why I kept having toxic water for my fish. About two weeks ago I got sick of monster aqua inc and went to another fish store, this owner immediately pointed out it was because of the lack of bio media and recommended to buy some bio rings. Now nearly two weeks later, my ammonia is 0 and nitrite is at only 0.25, which is lower than ever. So, if you wanna get some nice fish you can go to monster inc, but don’t expect them to be honest with you if you present to them with questions. If you are a new aquarist like me and have some beginner questions, don’t consult them. They will just keeping leading you to their pit of buying more useless chemicals and more fish to replace your lost ones.

Edit: This is an honest comment regarding to my experience at ur shop, as I stated both the good and the bad. If ur honest and caring for your customer and r truly passionate about fish keeping, u would not have told me to cycle the tank for 3 days only. Also one of ur staffers looked really annoyed when I asked him questions. If u were too busy and couldn’t answer my questions, u could’ve refused politely instead of giving me false...

Honestly I'm pretty torn on writing this review as Monster Aquarium has been overall a good place to get fish and fish supplies ever since I moved to Queens. Prices are a little bit higher but the selection of fish is probably one of the best in the New York City area.

The reason I'm writing this review today was because I was absolutely disgusted by the customer service I received the other day. This was probably hands down the worst experience I've ever had with an fish store.

Unlike bigger chain stores like Petco/Petsmart, most mom-&-pop fish stores like Monster do not have a fish return policy or life guarantee. This means that once you pay, there are no returns or refunds if fish are found to be unhealthy and/or dies. Full disclosure is that I have never received sickly fish from Monster but when I do purchase fish from them I am vigilant and picky when choosing which fish to take home. This leads to the incident I had with a staff member today.

I wanted to purchase some Green Neon Tetras as I saw a tank in the back filled with Neons. I was helped by a younger woman with glasses who picked out 5 for me and I asked if I could take a look before she bagged the fish. One of the tetras was upside down (possibly dead or close to dead) so she dumped the fish back into the tank and picked out 5 new ones for me. I took a quick peek and asked her to change one of the 5 as it's fins were torn up. Without a word, she dumped all the fish back into the tank, scooped out about 25 hastily, callously threw them all into specimen container and practically ran out of the back room ignoring me. In her haste she spilled the container and she dropped 3 or 4 Neons from specimen box and they were just flopping on the floor!

She then spoke to her co-worker in Chinese that she didn't want to deal with me because I was being too picky and asked him to help me instead. The new guy apologized and picked up the fish (not sure if they were put back in the tank those poor guys) and helped me pick out my fish. I did consider just leaving then and there but I ultimately did make the purchase, shaking my head all the way out.

The lack of care from this particular worker was downright appalling and honestly just rude. I understand that sometimes customers can be rude and unreasonable but I don't believe I was either; I just wanted healthy looking fish. Fishkeeping is already unpredictable as it is so pardon me if I didn't want fish that looked like it might not survive the trip home.

It's interactions like these that leave such a bad impression that make consumers look for other options. Will I shop here again? Not entirely sure; I certainly didn't leave happy even if I got the fish I wanted.

TL;DR: Fish Selection good, employee drops fish on floor because she doesn't...