Tat Tropical Illusion

First off. Tat’s is Amazing! ! However the one in ventura was Exceptional! !! Best fish store I have seen from cali to Washington.. Broke my heart when it closed down… purchase fish afterwards from petco and petsmart… blah blah… tiny little sick fish… anyways I quit with fish… no local stores.. Fins in Camarillo closed down as well before I decided to get rid of all my fish and give away my 75 gallon tank. life goes on… I moved to thousand oaks 3 months ago. Decided to drive through some of these shopping center’s.. my mind was blown away when I noticed the TO Tat’s just blocks away from me… nearly considered buying a new tank and getting ready to start over! Walked in and seen very healthy and large fish… was very pleased.. I tried talking to a staff member.. He shrugged me off… I changed my mind. he didn’t even look at me… so I’m not looking back. Terrible service.. sorry. ventura Tat’s wins my heart. As all relationships goes.. The heart can only sustain with two people.. I felt alone. desolate in a sea of beautiful fish. my cat got eaten by a dog and dogs stink… looks like nobody likes me. everybody hated me. guess I’ll go eat worms!

This store is exactly as the neon sign in the front window says «Aquarium hobbyist» This is a great place to go if you are already familiar with aquariums, fish and/​or coral, you’ve done all your research and you know what you want. They have a great selection of merchandise and livestock. The shopkeepers are knowledgable and the prices are competitive. I recommend.

Very Disappointed In This Store, I Came By At 11:00am On A Saturday Only To Find A Closed Store, Walked Around The Sports Chalets Next To Them For About 20 Minutes, only To Come Out And Find They Were Still Closed.

My husband and I have been in here a few times and the customer service is bad. No one ever says hi or acknowledges you. We were looking around and the employees just made it seem like we were in their way. We won’t be going in there anymore.

Purchased 10 Cardinal Tetras from Tat’s about 3 weeks ago. Every single one is still alive and very active. If you know Cardinals and Neons, they have a very high mortality rate when introduced into a new environment. I believe there are 2 reasons for the high quality of the fish I purchased. 1) They are more mature in age, rather then most places where you get juveniles. 2) I believe they were farm raised vs wild caught which makes a huge difference in survivability in a home tank.
Overall I am very pleased with the fish I purchased, but I still have to remove 1 star because they don’t carry juveniles so you lose some life span in your tank, and they cost a little bit more. I would say the Cardinals were about 50 cents more per fish then other stores, but the fish are higher quality and larger in size (age difference again).

Walked in around 1pm on a Friday. There were two other people in the store. Gave 3 stars for pristine environment, but we were ignored by the staff — not even a hello! Prices were high. We won’t go back. We will stick with Extreme Marine in Ventura.

I love this store, it s amazing that they have a lot of different kind of fishes, I always have fun looking around to find the fish I love.
The staff there is very helpful & great.

They don’t open until 11 on Saturday which is mildly annoying, but even more annoying is that my son and I were waiting around for them to open and finally gave up at 11:15 because the store was dark, locked, and no one was there. What kind of business doesn’t keep their own posted hours? There was a small crowd gathered out front, most people just gave up and left. Not a great way to win customers.

Rude and average

Rude staff, mediocre selection and slightly overpriced. I came in after working a long day and looking rough to buy a pair of snowflake clowns (which they didnt have) and was pushed around employees and ignored for over 30 minutes.

I went in last week around 7:45 I knew they were going to be closing but I was just looking anyways so it didnt matter. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by a young man named derek and another man named yoibon I believe. Both were very nice I told them I was just looking but as derek began to show me some of the fish they just got in it definitely made me think I had to get a few. I ended up walking out with a new 30 gallon gallon tank, stand, filter, fish and all the other goodies. They stayed an extra hour and a half to help me out and even loaded it into my car they are now my go to fish store

Because the Ventura location closed, we’ve been reluctantly going to the Thousand Oaks store. This time was our last time. As other reviewers have said, it is practically impossible to get help. One employee literally ran through the store looking for another employee… Not smart in a fish store with wet floors, live animals, glass, and customers. When we finally got the fish we wanted, they overcharged us, not giving us the discount for buying two. Nobody said thank you or goodbye. All in all, the lack of competent service far outweighs the selection they carry. If you are looking for a good variety of fish and don’t care about service, Tat’s is fine. Hopefully they read these reviews and set some expectations for how customers are treated.

Meh, it’s a nicely laid out store with a nice variety of stock, but the staff might as well have been mannequins. They did not say hello, greet me, or ask if I needed help, or thank me for coming in. They just looked up with a blank stare and continued working. Also, the floor was wet. I think the fish looked happy/​healthy, but I put a premium on service. This earns 2 stars from me, and past reviewers were right that these people need some customer service 101 training.

We bought an algae eater here and were floored by the roomy facility, well-​kept tanks, cleanliness and knowledgeable staff. Everything was perfect… The prices were on the high side, especially for food and accessories, but pretty typical for a specialized aquatics store vs. a larger chain. We’ll probably be back…

Great service and knowledgable staff. They have a good selection for saltwater and fresh, well stocked and often willing to price match legit dealers on line. They will do every type of water test you need and have fresh and saltwater on tap. Lovely soft corals on display and glad to help with problems. Definitely THE place in TO for you fish supplies!
I don’t know why some people expect big welcome smiles and arm waving greetings when you walk into a store, you’re not buying a dress for crying out loud. Fish keeping is an expensive hobby, these guys take it seriously. If you ask for help you will absolutely get it, but remember they get hundreds of people in every day who just bring their kids to look at the fish and tap on the tanks. If you want a warm welcome go to Brighton and buy a handbag, if you’re truly into fish keeping then this is the place to go!

Get my fish here, they’re all healthy and happy. I’ll never go anywhere else. Don’t know why there are bad reviews as I’ve found the people that work here very helpful and knowledgeable.

they will change their prices at the register

These guys are extremely knowledgeable. They provide solid guidance and if appropriate, talk you out of a purchase if what you’re looking at is unneeded or won’t work with your setup. They have a ton of selection and keep all their tanks really clean. Check them out.