Aquarium & Reptile Depot — Local services in Citrus Heights

So after myself and several of my friends have been a customer here for years, and having connections to this store and brand name, I unfortunately have to say that neither myself, nor anyone I know will shop At Aquarium Depot any longer. It is sad to say that consumerism and furthering their bottom line is the full and number one goal for this store and name brand. Even after I wanted to ignore the rumors, that this was said to be true (threw the grape vine from my connections). Almost every time I myself would walk into this store as a loyal customer spending hundreds on fish, and large amounts on supplies. I can say with fill belief, that my currency was regretfully spent in the wrong business. Tragically my last straw was when I bought over $150.00 worth of fish this Black Friday. After lengthy discussion and deliberation with one of their aquatics sales associate. He talked us out of getting Discus Fish and into getting Angel Fish instead. He assured us several times that Angel fish would be a great and calm addition to our 180 gallon, fully established tank. With several statements of this, in fact saying many different times that they are “nice fish” and “calm fish” and “would not attack any of our other fish”. With so many assurances we took that as a green light to take them home with us. Sadly the information given to us was incorrect and several of our favorite and beloved fish passed due to severe aggression and nipping. Which the danger of was masked to us because we thought the ‘really calm’ Angel Fish would eventually settle down and cohabitate peacefully with the established tank. Once we removed the Angel Fish from the tank, all the other fish came out from hiding, even our fan shrimp and no other fish died, we even waited an appropriate amount of time to be sure. But the damage was already done. Directing back to the Aquarium depot, we brought back the two Angel fish and my friend told them our story. They had absolutely no reaction. They did not even say sorry or really acknowledge the situation in any way, did not offer any kind of condolences or reimbursement. They did not even say that they would talk to the employee that talked us into getting the Angel fish, and did not say that they would tell/teach him not to recommend fish so thoroughly if he could not vouch for their characteristics. I later called to ask if they could do anything for this situation, in that they could do a refund for the Angel fish that were returned. Which would have totaled $44.00. They said they could not, do to their policy, and could only (very grudgingly) do a 20% discount on a future purchase of fish (Which is the employee discount). This was only stated after much discussion, and not only came off insincere but very rude. The impression given was that they would only give the 20% off of purchase if we spent another several hundred on fish, that would not only also be falsely recommended as compatible for our tank, but also not guaranteed in any way. In the end, we felt like we had to be the ones to apologize to them for the murdered fish, and that we should be giving them more money for taking their time. Not only was that their general attitude, but when I requested that they could maybe teach the aquarium staff to not say or firmly recommend fish, so that other customers aquariums do not fall into the same situation: to possibly say something more along the lines of “we can’t gauge the behavior in the fish but it is common…or each individual fish is different in behavior…” the reaction was pretty much a ‘yeah were not going to do that’. Now this was not the first time this happened to us with this store, but we let the first time pass by as a one time thing of...

This is a review specifically for the freshwater fish.

Pros, there’s a vast amount of selections. No doubt it’s a fun place to visit. A must visit at least once if you’re an animal enthusiast. There’s also always a stock. If they run out visit their page on FB or instagram and they’ll post their new arrivals.

Cons “All sales are final” because of this you WILL end up wasting a lot of money if you’re only here to buy the common fish that you see in pet retailers(PetCo). PetCo has 2 weeks to a month live fish guarantee policy. Meaning you can get a refund if your fish jumps out or get’s sick within that timeframe. You would be surprised of what pet retailers can offer. I’d say 90% of the freshwater fish mostly bought here can be found in Petco as well. Ex: the common tetras like cardinal/neon tetra, common plecos, mollies, swordtails, corydoras, bettas, rasboras, minnows, danios, barbs, angelfish, cichlids and Many more. Prices are EXPENSIVE. Idk why but I saw blue rams being sold for $30 each. It’s normally only $14 here but even so PetCo offers them for only $8. Don’t get me started with their plecos. That’s only two prime examples. Quality of fish is the same in here as well as in PetCo. I’ve cared for fish for over 5 years and what i hate the most is buying fish and finding out that they’re sick from the store or they die the next day. You will encounter fish dying no matter what in the aquarium hobby so having that 2-4 weeks insurance that PetCo has can’t be beat.

Final verdict. For first timer aquarist go here and learn about the aquarium hobby. For experienced aquarists only buy the more exotic fish here, fish you can’t find in PetCo. If you can find them in PetCo then I recommend going there instead. You can order some fish in PetCo if they currently are out of stock. It can come in as early as within 3 days but also can come as late as a week. This is where A&R depot beats PetCo. Availability. If you ever come here try visiting your local Petco the same day and compare. It might be different in your area. This is only consistent to petco in my area.

I’m all for supporting your local retailer such as this shop I’ve been loyal to it for about 3 years but after seeing the prices etc. and compared it to PetCo. I’ve come to realize that it was a mistake to stick to buying fish here. Either way I have respect for this store since you are paying for the experience, consistency, knowledge/support/service they give, and...

Incense Insanity

The Good: Huge selection of livestock, decor, and LSS in aquatics. Herps was a much smaller section and I spent less time there. Most of the fish looked healthy--saw one dead fish and one dead invert, which for that level of crowds wasn't incredibly concerning, as my eye is particularly experienced as a former professional. Had some really fun species you wouldn't expect to find at a retail store. The wood and rock selection was pretty unbelievable. I don't know corals as well but there was certainly a lot of variety. Saw one lizard gaping for quite some time, but it was parked under a lamp so it could have been temperature regulation and not breathing problems. Prices are quite reasonable for high end retail. The lighting was excellent for almost all the displays and they were generally pretty clean.

The Bad/Ugly: There was a giant wad of 10+ sticks of incense burning in one corner. This was right next to a rock display and I can only assume they were trying to cover up a dying live rock smell (dead ocean inverts do stink) but folks, this is not the way. Even with the aquarium air blower intakes obviously elsewhere in the building, I was surprised they hadn't insta-killed their more sensitive fish. And the poor reptiles! Reptiles, like birds, have particularly inefficient lungs that are much more easily damaged than human lungs because they don't turn over as much fresh air at a time. I can pretty much guarantee that with that much fouling of the air every single one of their reptiles has compromised lung health if this wasn't the only time this tactic has ever been used--with that much smoke in the air even one exposure is too many.

It's been several days and showers and I am still smelling whiffs of it off my hair and my asthma is still acting up. I could never buy a reptile from here knowing what they are living with, and I would be concerned about putting any of their decor, a lot of which was in that corner, into a tank without letting whatever volatile compounds are now clinging to it get soaked and rinsed off first. Such a shame, because otherwise it would be a great...