Big Al's has a LOT of choices. I mean, sometimes I'll go find a water condition or fish food and I'm stuck with super expensive brand, or cheap crummy brand. Big Al's has the whole line of every known food and conditioner and stuff you didn't even know you needed.
Whoever does the shelving at the store is probably OCD and I love it. Every product is sectioned by brand, then size and price, left to right. Even the aquarium deco is color sorted. Fish have their own section, reptiles, arachnids have their own section. This is super helpful if you are like me, eyeballs up the glass, fish - fish - fish -fish -holy crap big ass hairy spider!! The small furry animals are in enclosed glass cases so you won't see kids picking up hamsters and strangling them.
The prices are comparable to Pisces, but Big Al's frequently run sales and promos which kill Pisces prices. The fish I buy here (betas) seem to outlast fish I buy at other places as well. They are always well staffed and helpful. Weekends are terribly crowded though, seems a lot of people come to browse and hang out.
I'm just super bummed because their shark is no longer in that big viewing tank. It outgrew the tank and has been placed elsewhere.