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Please note:
These articles, written 2003-4, were intended not just for the benefit of local aquarists and visitors to Vancouver. Rather, they were written as part of the Travel section of Aquarticles, to show people from other cities and countries what the retail aquarium scene was like in Vancouver at that time. The articles will not necessarily be updated and things will inevitably change, so use caution if actually using the articles as a guide.

The Aquarium Stores of Vancouver Canada
by Howard Norfolk
Original to Aquarticles.com

Part VII:
Aquariums West
1262 Burrard Street, Vancouver.  604-669-9249
e-mail: aquariumswest@shaw.ca  
For location go to MAP

Aquariums West has been the main aquarium store in downtown Vancouver for the last 23 years (1980). It was in an old building on Davie Street for most of this time, but two years ago owner Jeannie Lister moved her shop a few blocks to its present location on busy Burrard Street. Jeannie invested in all-new fixtures and fittings at this time, and the shop is very neat and tidy.

      The building used to be a restaurant, but is now a brand new aquarium and pet shop.

Click on photos for enlargements, then go "Back"

The store is located right on the edge of the city's core. Immediately to the west is the "West End," an area of apartment buildings where a mostly younger and unattached crowd comes to rent apartments and enjoy city life, and immediately to the east is the newly developed "Yaletown," where wealthy urban sophisticates buy million dollar condominiums and again like to live in the centre of the action. Just to the north is the city centre with its tall office buildings and major shopping centres, and nearby are some major downtown hotels.

Despite their busy lives, some of these people like to keep fish! But they are not the type to have a fishroom with 60 tanks. They do not want to come home after a hectic day in the city and check on whether their catfish have spawned or whether their discus have eaten their eggs! But some of them do like to have a display planted or reef aquarium to relax with and to decorate their living space, and this is the type of aquarist that Jeannie best caters for.  

  
Many of Aquariums West's customers work in these office buildings or live in these apartments

Not that these locals are Jeannie's only customers. In fact, due to her proximity to major downtown hotels and offices she has a wider range of customers than most, and boasts of regulars from all over the World, including Japan, Germany and Australia. Aquariums West is also a destination store for any Vancouver aquarist who wants advice, aquatic plants, and Sera products.

Let's look around the store:

   I phoned Jeannie on the day of my visit but when I got there she had gone home early with a sprained ankle. Cam and Renee had ably taken over. Jeannie has five other helpers.

      Near the front entrance is this reef aquarium.

  
And opposite is a 130 gallon (600 litre) display planted aquarium with a Sera CO2 system and an electronic pH regulator.

   A small 25 gallon (100 litre) reef aquarium sits near the cash desk.

   On the cash desk are some different shaped bowls for aquatic plants and bettas.

Despite its name, a sign outside says that Aquariums West is a "full range pet store,"  and it does sell various birds, small animals, and reptiles, and the accessories needed for these pets and others.

   These ferrets appear to have eaten so much that they couldn't get out of their food tray!

   A hedgehog

      Reptiles and similar creatures are found in a separate small room and also this group of tanks. The large moon crabs are $35 each.

   Aquariums West is a distributor for quality Sera products from Germany, mainly fish foods, water conditioners, medications and water test kits. Aquarists come from all over Vancouver to buy these. A number of Sera videos are available on loan, many of them covering how to set up various biotope aquariums.

   Before reaching the fish room, you descend to a lower level where aquarium tanks, filters and other hardware is on display.

   And at the entrance to the fish room are these three large tanks, full of plants and fish. There is even a soft chair where you can sit and think about your purchases!

   The large plant sales tanks are so well arranged that they look like display aquariums. Plants are imported from Tropica bi-weekly, and some less expensive plants are brought in from Singapore.

   The fish room has two rows of tanks like this - 62 freshwater and 10 saltwater.

In fact all the sales tanks look almost like display aquariums! They are mostly sparsely decorated, since after all the fish have to be caught, but they are all set up with an eye for beauty, and it is sometimes hard to believe that everything in them is in fact for sale. Such a pity to disturb a nice arrangement by pulling out a plant! Here are some of them. The fish need little introduction:

   Three more large sales tanks

  
Swordtails, rainbows, and angels

     
Red honey gouramis....tetras....platies

     
Albino tiger barbs....calico goldfish....black moor goldfish

  
White clouds....blue gouramis

  
Paradise fish....black skirt tetras

  
Congo tetras....discus

   A brackish tank

   There are ten saltwater tanks, including these large ones.

  
Corals....live rock

     
I visited at the end of the slower summer season and new shipments of saltwater fish were expected soon, but I was pleased to get these photos of clown fish and a sharpnose puffer.

  
Invertebrates included feather dusters for $20, and beautiful blue sand sifting starfish for $21.

A friend of Jeannie's is helping her develop a web site for Aquariums West, and when complete it will have lots of photos. Progress so far can be seen at www.aquariumswest.com

On the web site Jeannie says that "our goal is to share with our customers our knowledge and passion for providing the optimum environments for the special creatures we choose to share our lives with."

Aquariums West is open Monday to Friday  10 - 7, Saturdays 10 - 6, and Sundays 11 - 6. It is a unique destination store for advanced aquarists looking for aquatic plants and Sera products, and for anyone who wants to set up a great display aquarium.