Aquarium Adventure

I came across the "positive" reviews for AA while searching for a new pond service company (at the request of Mr. Orr). I felt the need to provide a counterpoint for others looking for this type of service. We had our pond installed many years ago in collaboration with Aquarium Adventures. They told us that they would provide the necessary maintenance in the Spring and Fall. We have a fairly small pond, roughly 6 feet in diameter with 6 koi. The cost was approximately $2000/yr. Last Spring (2017), they did not do their usual thorough pond cleaning but charged the same amount. We called and asked them to return to complete the work, which they did. In the Fall, we repeatedly called to arrange for the usual "Winterization" of our pond. They did not return calls. They eventually left a message saying that they would no longer be servicing our pond and that we should find another company. They did not provide any explanation. I had tried all of last Fall to speak to someone (Jim Wymard, Steve Orr) at Aquarium Adventures and left numerous messages without a call back. I was told by our pond installer that they were instructed to ignore us. Obviously, an outdoor water feature is a big investment and one that requires maintenance. If you are looking for a long term pond servicing company, I would be careful who you choose.

We went to this vendor to buy a replacement bulb for our aquarium light as we had originally bought the tank and related items here. We brought in the burned-out bulb to make sure we got the correct replacement. The salesperson picked out a bulb for us. We brought the bulb home and put it in the light fixture. The bulb immediately flickered and went out. I brought the bulb back two days later. The same salesman approached me. I said I needed to return a bad bulb. He pulled the bulb out of the box and stated that it wasn't the bulb he sold us. I said it was. He told me that our light fixture was bad and burned out the bulb. I asked to return the bulb and he said it wasn't defective so they couldn't refund the purchase price. But, I could bring in my light fixture and he would look at it, and not charge for his time, and only charge for parts to fix it. I felt that he talked down to me the entire time and had a "I know more than you" attitude. I didn't appreciate that after looking at the bulb he insinuated that the bulb I brought back wasn't the one I bought two days prior.

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Angie's List did not have a listing for water feature repair, so we were a bit puzzled as to where to go for service on a water feature that was losing too much water. A local landscape company recommended Aquarium Adventure. Steve from Aquarium Adventure stopped by a couple of days after our first contact. He looked at the water feature and said the problem would not be difficult to solve and Dana would be by the next day to perform the service. Dana was terrific. She really knows water features and found the problem quickly. She filled in the crack in the water feature and that solved the problem. I would highly recommend Aquarium Adventures and Dana to anyone who needs service on a pondless water feature.

It went fine. Communication with Steve, the manager, is good, and the guys who did the work were very nice. We had drawn a schematic for them of how we wanted the pumps set up, and it worked out well. They were able to work us in with a cancelation, and we had everything ready to go. Pond is now crystal clear and the fish are happy!

The staff assembled the glass aquarium cover when I explained the problems I'd had putting the previous one together. The store staff are ways very knowledgeable about the fish, plants and products they carry and are willing to answer any questions.

Aquarium Adventure came and did a complete redo on a tank for us and we had an emergency happen where they were supposed to come back out to salvage the fish while we were waiting for the new aquarium, they did not and the fish all died, hundred and hundreds of dollars worth of fish. We found out that they overcharged us on the time, they charged us for 8 hours of the time and I was here at the house and they were here only for 3 or 4 hours and this does not include the fact that they put the wrong gravel in for the type of aquarium that we were setting up for a particular kind of fish and my husband contacted them personally to speak to them and tell them that they had made these mistakes and that he wanted a credit and he left them 3 messages and finally told them that they had 24 hours to make it right and we never heard back from them. This is a company that we had a long standing relationship with and they just chose not to answer anymore.We went online after this happened and their prices were much higher than the prices online. We have given them more than USD 17,000 worth of business but they just didn't care.

A supervisor came out promptly, inspected the pond, wrote out an estimate of the cost to clean it, and scheduled the job. The cost was based on a rate of about $50/hour per worker assigned to the job. A two-man crew arrived on schedule, were very courteous, did a nice job and answered a number of questions I had about proper pond maintenance. The only glitch was that in the course of cleaning the pond, the crew accidentally punctured the rubberized lining. The leak was initially bad enough that within 24 hours the pond drained almost completely. I called to have the puncture located and repaired. The supervisor once again inspected the pond and a few days later a crewman came out, couldn't really locate the puncture, but made his best guess as to what to patch. The guess proved incorrect and we had to repeat the process a second time. On this round it took several days for the supervisor to return my calls and I was on the verge of contacting *his* supervisor when I finally heard back from him. He again looked at the pool, a crewman came out promptly, drained what little water remained in the pool, and finally located the source of the leak. Overall, I liked the service. Everyone behaved in a courteous, friendly way, and they made no fuss at all about coming back twice to locate the puncture. They repaired it at no additional charge. It would be nice to give them an "A." In the interest of accuracy, though, I have to acknowledge that for about three weeks after the pond was cleaned it actually looked worse than it did beforehand--a rubber-lined pit is even less attractive than a dirty pond. Nonetheless, mishaps occur, and on balance I would hire them again the next time the pond requires cleaning.

Have bought a number of fish, all are very healthy. When I did have a problem with one, they honored the guarantee. All employees seem to be very knowledgeable but are willing to refer to someone else who has more specialized knowledge. Willing to take the time to discuss various aspects of pond & aquarium care and make recommendations to correct problems. I have been to and spoken with most of the aquarium stores in the Columbus area and this is one of two that I will rely on. Travis is their expert on fish issues & disease and parasites, he hasn't been wrong yet and has saved my fish several times.

SHOWED UP 3 HOURS LATER THAN EXPECTED. UNPREPARED. MEN RAN TO HOME DEPOT FOR SUPPLIES WHILE I PAID BY THE HOUR. DUMPED ALL DEBRIS, MUD, AND LEAVES FROM POND IN BACKYARD. LEFT IT A COMPLETE MESS. DUG HOLES IN YARD, AND USED EXISTING GRAVEL TO FILL IN SPACE UNDER FILTER. HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE ALL AROUND.

LEFT MY CELL PHONE NUMBER WITH THEM. NOBODY GOT BACK WITH ME AFTER A WEEK AND A HALF