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#1
12/30/2005, 09:21 PM
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Post your opinion about local fish stores. Help with this Directory.
Ok, heres the deal- the Lfs list on the Bar website is looking pretty good, nearly complete, but it is missing one thing. The one thing it is missing is this: a general description of the store, and what you generally go there for. (coral/fish/drygoods/etc.)
So, here is the list, copy the name of the store and what put below it what you like to go there for: Retailers Alameda Alameda Aquatics Amazon Aquariums ______________________________ Albany Albany Aquarium ______________________________ Berkeley The Octopus's Garden ______________________________ Campbell Dolphin's Pet Village Fishy Business Tropical Fish _____________________________ Castro Valley Connie's Tropicals _____________________________ Concord Concord Aquarium _____________________________ Cotati Northbay Aquatics _____________________________ Daly City Aquarium Palace _____________________________ El Cerrito Tropical Fish World _____________________________ El Sobrante Wet Pets Pet Center ____________________________ Fremont Atlantis Aquarium Mermaid Aquarium ____________________________ Hayward Aquarium Concepts Aquascene ____________________________ Livermore Pet Extreme ___________________________ Milpitas Aquatic Gallery ___________________________ Modesto Caldron's Pets Choice Tropical Haven ___________________________ Mountain View Aquatic Variations Seascapes ___________________________ Oakland Connie's Tropical Fish Everything Fishie Lucky Goldfish __________________________ Pleasant Hill All About Fish _________________________ Pleasanton Wet Pets Aquarium ________________________ San Francisco 6th Avenue Aquarium Hung Ming (Pet Central) Hung Ming #2 Lucky Ocean Aquarium Underwater World _______________________ San Jose Amazon Pets Brian's Fish World King Aquarium Red Sea Aquarium Somethin' Fish Sea T&T Aquarium & Pet/Fishing Supplies ___________________________________ San Leandro Salt Water Insanity Tropical Paradise ______________________________ San Lorenzo Great Bay Aquarium ______________________________ San Mateo Fish For You The Ultimate Aquarium _______________________________ San Rafael Pet Arcade _______________________________ Santa Cruz Trop-Aquarium & Pet Center-Santa Cruz _________________________________ Santa Rosa Caesar's Tropical Fish __________________________________ Saratoga Tropical Fish International ____________________________ Scotts Valley Round-Up Pet Center ____________________________ Stockton Carter's Pet Mart Discount Pet Twin's Aquariums ___________________________ Sunnyvale Aquatic Life Forms, Inc. Natural Life Aquarium The Fish Tank ____________________________ Watsonville Trop-Aquarium & Pet Center ________________________________ (P.S. I know that some of these stores are closed now, you dont have to tell me and you can just ignore them.)
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-Rich |
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#3
12/30/2005, 10:27 PM
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Well, for one Tropical Paradise... You have any opinions about these Lfs Gresham?
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-Rich |
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#4
12/30/2005, 11:44 PM
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all about fish... fish...not the cheapest, but a large selection, they also stock more common corals. Bob from the aquarium has taken over the salt water section, he will always give straight advice. they will also test your water for free, the owner is a chemist and will give accurate results. generally great people to deal with. also they have the largest selection of tanks and koi around here
Alameda Aquatics, usally the lowest prices on fish (small selection) and a fair selection of corals, figure a clown tang is 80.00 in most stores, there 2 for 15.00... Concord Aquarium, they had a fire about 2 years ago and closed for a long time, but they didn't seem to change, still worse than a pet-co and you can leave with the burnt smell penetrating your clothing, one thing I will always remember is that they have the valcano setup in a display tank just like Nemo.... other than that...Not worth the trip. TP = Tonga Paradise AG Aquatic Gallery, great place for fish and corals, not cheap, but healthy and knowledgeable. Pet Co. concord, ohh the shame of it all... actually I picked up 20 clowns from them one time didn't lose even one and they were captive raised at 2.00 each... but their tanks are always bad looking. 6th ave... lots of brown corals... hay some one must love the brown color, because it isn't their lighting, it comes in brown, and goes out out brown or in the trash.... the cheapest salt around, as cheap as my group buys... largest selection of fish, Vary Cheap....Vary over crowded, stinks of incense, they must grow pot... or smoke it... someone said in a thread its a buddhist thing that it brings them luck.... well it dosnt bring their fish any... so I wish them all the bad luck...... Inovative Lighting, Redwood City, Lighting and other equipment...best sevice, best prices, and these people you will wish you could buy everything from... Tap Plastics Concord, over Priced, and usally off by 1/16 I guess that why they sell thickened cement.... Nicholas
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If I see one more Snail I hope its on my plate served as escargot !!! |
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#5
12/31/2005, 01:26 AM
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You forgot Benicia-Featherer Pet
& Fairfield-Sea Splendor |
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#6
12/31/2005, 01:58 AM
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Opinions of LFS, nah I generally stay out of these kinds of threads 
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Gresham _______________________________ Feeding your reef...one polyp at a time |
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#7
12/31/2005, 12:43 PM
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I'll speak for my LFSs.
Octopus's Garden - Great selection of fish and Coral. A great FW section as well. This is a good place to get extremely healthy averaged priced livestock. Helpful staff if you wait around long enough, there's usually quite a bit of demand for their attention. Not a great place to get equipment, small selection, and pretty expensive. Lucky Goldfish - Best thing about this place is the staff. Hunter and Corrine, the owners, are very knowledgable and will take a lot of time with you. Hunter loves to set up systems for folks, so for the newbie this is a great plus. He'll recommend all the right things for a particular system. They have recently expanded their coral selection and have some great specimens. Their fish stock is good, not a huge selection but mostly healthy. Just be sure to watch specimens for a while, I've seen some of their stock go downhill quickly. And hit or miss for equipment. Some things are priced very well and some are much more expensive. Good selection of tanks for reasonable prices. |
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#8
12/31/2005, 01:43 PM
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SF doesn't have a lot of LFS, but that's where I live.
Lucky Ocean - A small shop but the owner genuinely cares about his livestock and he makes an effort to get interesting stuff, which does sell out very quickly. He's also very friendly and helpful. Hung Ming - A large multi-pet store, which has an ever increasing supply of reef creatures and drygood stuff. I had a great experience buying a nano tank there from Kenneth who took a lot of time to show me every available option and gave me a discount on the already reasonable prices. He even carried the tank to my car! 6th Ave - the smell is atrocious in there and the animals are all distressed. However, they have cheap salt and are open til 10pm every night. One time when I was transporting a coral for someone and the bag got punctured and there was no water left and I wasn't close to home, I stopped by (on New Year's Eve actually!) and they gave me water and a new bag.
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Remember, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate. |
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#9
01/10/2006, 08:41 AM
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I used to use Trop Aquarium but the prices are to high. Go to Round Up Pet Center in Scotts Valley and talk to Mike. The fish prices are better...I bought a Coral Beauty for $20.
Salt is cheap and they have remodeled the salt water area and according to Mike they are going to add corals. Their is new owners and they are redoing the store. |
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#10
01/10/2006, 01:57 PM
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Sun Aquarium, boarder of SJ and Milpitas
Gets shipment in every week, things generally go pretty fast. If you're not there within a day or two of the shipment the store may look empty. Prices are fair and can usually special order certain species for you if you ask and won't triple the price for special orders. Something Fish Sea (South San Jose) Live stocks are pretty good, is a little higher than Sun. If you run into something extremely cheap or too good to be true there, generally it is. Either sick or dying Red Sea Aquarium (San Jose) Total rip off and does not give good advise. They think their setup is flawless. Take half of their advise and leave the rest at the store. Provide false information (told me that I can't add an OF box into an already made tank and wanted to sell me a new one) haha I came back and told them I just did it. MYSELF. TT aquarium (SJ) Extremely nice live stocks, good place to take the kids for a browse but you probably won't walk out with anything since the prices are tripled the other stores. Ultimate Aquarium, (San Mateo) Decent stocks but same as above, prices are triple elsewhere. Laurel's Pet (San Carlos) Friendly staff (if you call 1 worker/owner staff) healthy fishes and half way decent collection and again, I would call them moderate pricing. (6 bucks for a demsel and $20 for a small false Perk, are you kidding me?) I pay $2 for demsel and 8 for false elsewhere. Hung Ming Aquarium (in SF on Broadway) Never bought anything and didn't even bother looking at prices. Once stepped into the store, you'll feel like a prey being watched by a bunch of vultures. They'll scope you every single step you make (and make it obvious). Afraid that you might slip something under the jacket and walk out. How do I know? You'll see that they won't do that when you're looking at the live stocks but they'll jump right infront of your sight when you walk into the dry goods sections. 6th Ave. Don't think there's much to say here, people just plain don't care, Give you a bucket and you're on your own. Kind of a thrill actually on a sunday morning. I'd buy stuff here just for the thrill. |
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#11
01/10/2006, 08:03 PM
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New Alameda Aquatics
They have amazing prices on fish, and they're all very healthy. They also have very cheap inverts (skunk cleaners for $10, mine is SO healthy and is huge now). I've gotten a few corals there, but not much. My ocellaris pair was $18 total, and flame was about $30. The trio are absolutely gorgeous. The flame angel I've never seen a better looking one EVER in any LFS. It's colors completely blow me away. I guess I just got lucky. Tho he eats all montipora like mad... leaves all LPS and Softies alone. The owner is also really nice, and definately a fun store to goto. I haven't been there in awhile. 6th Ave. I said I'd never go back there again. After seeing how they treat all their animals, I was very dissapointed. They also aren't very helpful. Great Bay Aquarium The most unhelpful bunch of staff I've ever worked with. Every question I asked was answered with a quick "i don't know". The guy who ran the store played some kind of game on his computer the whole time, and was reluctant to leave the game to get me a high fin goby. *sigh* I had to ask him 3 times before he stopped playing his game. Wet Pets (San Pablo Damn Rd.) the staff there looked like they were 15 years old, all of them. What happened to all the adults? They have a small selection of corals, but very cleanly kept. They have some fish, and some rare ones in great health. Concord Aquarium Ah much worse than Pet Co. All their fish look like they're dying. They have coral skeletons as live coral, and 2 pieces of live rock with tons of aptasia on them. All their fish have ich (I've gone in about a dozen times since it's a block away from my work) and it's just bad. Drygood prices aren't too bad, but aren't the cheapest. Not worth it at all IMO. Albany Aquarium They have 4 green chromis and a yellow tang, lots of slime algae, and a ton of tanks. They have great freshwater fish and plants though. They quarantine all fish for a month before selling. That's somethin. THey're using LR and LS in their holding tanks, and a 6 foot skimmer. Nothing's setup though, and the place is a mess. Great for fresh water, bad for salt water right now. All About Fish I love this place! High prices though, but quality stuff. They got a huge assortment of fish, sometimes they get some rare stuff but it goes quick. Sunday livestock discounts kick *** (20, 30, 40% off for three items). They have awesome clams, some good blastos, a couple small acropora colonies, a lot of SPS, lots of SPS. They don't have any good ricordia or zoanthids. Great torches, frogs, hammers. A few good anemones. Sea horses, mangroves, scooter blennies, some nice dottybacks. Very expensive otherwise, but a huge warehouse with tons of aquariums to buy. They can be bargained with. Also Bob knows everything about saltwater! Oh, they also sell locline, not the cheapest but not too shabby. No locline elbows though =P I just needed 1 for an extra small cramped 5.5g I had, but they didn't carry them. Lucky Goldfish Last time I went, they had a few corals, but very nice ones. Lots of fish, and drygoods. Not the biggest selection, but pretty nice and worth checking out. They also have trochus snails! The ones they have are amazing! As good as turbos, size of astraes. |
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#12
01/10/2006, 08:36 PM
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And an update:
Mermaid Aquarium in Fremont - I had excellent experiences with this store. The staff, especially the owner Max, bend over backwards to get me what I wanted, including explaining the plumbing and everything to me. I also got a nice discount on my purchase of a gorgeous custom tank and sump. The custom sump was done in just one day!!! Unbelievable. They also have primarily marine and reef livestock, some of which comes from Eddie's (of Tropical Paradise) "farms" in Tonga, so you can get some aquacultured stuff through Max, which I find to be very exciting! Even though it's kind of a drive for me, I would shop there for just about anything because of the superior customer service.
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Remember, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate. |
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#13
01/11/2006, 01:34 AM
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Update- I believe Underwater World closed mid-December to make way for the new Lowes going in there. Had a Thank You note in his window though for all his regulars, however probably won't be back in the Bay Area again, though he did mention possibly setting up in the NE Bay Area or further out.
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#14
01/15/2006, 04:22 AM
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Im going to go check out Connies tomorrow in Castro Valley to see about some Live Rock, I will post what I find!
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#15
01/15/2006, 12:53 PM
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Quote:
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Gresham _______________________________ Feeding your reef...one polyp at a time |
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#16
01/22/2006, 01:29 AM
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Quote:
I don't think I saw Down Under Tropicals in Redwood City. They relocated less than a year ago. Not much for saltwater.
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Heloooooooooooooo Infidels. |
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#17
01/22/2006, 10:20 PM
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For San Francisco, you need to add:
Aquatic Central Address: 1963 Ocean Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127 Phone: (415) 584-1888 I was there today. In the back, they have a decent saltwater section with fish and corals (including a few SPS). Best of luck, Roy |
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#18
01/26/2006, 06:11 AM
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6th Avenue always gets a bad rap, and it's true that they treat their livestock terribly. However, the cramped quarters (those aquariums upstairs are going to go flyin' in the next earthquake), the brusqueness of the staff, the smell of incense, and the moldy food on the buddhist altar don't help; and I've seen equally despicable livestock conditions (tiny holding boxes, dying fish, unethical livestock choices etc.) in other Bay Area LFSs (aquarium concepts, for example), albeit in more presentable environments. That being said, I've made some incredible zoanthid purchases at 6th (including some beautiful teal blue colonies for $20), and the equipment is cheap. I refuse to buy fish there because of the stocking conditions... Lucky Ocean gets my business for fish...
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#19
01/26/2006, 10:02 PM
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When im home in Oakland:Lucky Goldfish: I've been going here since I literally was a little kid so I've seen just about everything! But as mentioned before, Hunter and Corina are extremely nice and helpful if you are setting up either FW or SW systems. Their displays are a good example of how long they have been working at the business. I've found that fish and coral prices are very reasonable and generally healthy. All stores have a moderate mortality rate at least, but the fish that I have gotten here over the last 10+ years have been great. Most of the losses I've had were due to the hobbyist in charge
 But he has been working on getting rarer and more exotic things over the years and if you're lucky, you will see something that very few people have around here (I remember seeing a Tomini tang years ago there before the recent influx). If you ask they likely can order it for you. Dry goods are a little expensive, but compared to online, everything is. Basically if you get a good relationship going, their experience rubs off on you, and it is worth the extra wait if they are busy. They're too busy to have time to put prices on the tanks for livestock so you'll have to ask. Same goes with possible frags out of the display (best to go when it's quiet). They have a lot of bird supplies and birds as well. When im at school in the (408) : Natural Life Aquarium: Great drygood selection and Manfred is very helpful in getting you what you need. I got a lot of the equipment for my school tank here, but they have a really good selecton of fish and corals as well. Aquatic Gallery: Very "clean" store in the sense that it is very new and there is a lot of attention to presentation. Prices are on the high side, but it is out of the way for me. I've only been back in emergencies. Absolutely Awesome Aquariums : Mostly freshwater stock, very small store with no corals. I just get saltwater here since it is right next to campus. |
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#20
01/27/2006, 02:51 AM
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6th ave is all about quantity and far from quality. they have a huge selection of fish but i wouldn't risk in getting any. when i started this hobby i started with fw and i wanted an arowana, not knowing how big they get at the time i asked one of the employess if it could fit in a 50gallon, and he said "yeah that's more than enough room, it should be fine." good thing i didnt buy right on the spot and researched it when i got home. and of course finding out an arowana can grow up to 4ft, i told myself i would never trust this store and never buy live stock from them. and their coral tank is horrible, it is over ran by aipista.
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"It's so easy, a caveman could do it." |
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#21
01/27/2006, 01:36 PM
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I went to Mermaid aquarium recently for the first time. The staff seemed attentive, 3 different staff members asked if I had any questions.
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"They can't stop the signal" Mr.Universe- Serenity;Firefly |
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#22
02/02/2006, 01:03 PM
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The folks at Hung Ming on Broadway are bascially racist. They gave me a strange look when I walked in (read: I'm a white dude), and basically refused to help me. I found a tank I liked and the price seemed good, but they didn't have a stand. So i asked if they could order me one and tell me how much the stand would cost. Well, the guy who was helping me (and didnt really seem to care that I was white) spoke to some other guy (who definitely cared that I was white) and after about a 20 second conversation they told me the stand would be around 500 or 600. I said, "dollars?" He said yes--I walked out. BTW, we're talking about a black oceanic wooden stand 48 x 18. I got the same stand at 6th ave. for $180. So yea, if your asian I'm sure this place is great, otherwise, good luck all-in.
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#23
02/02/2006, 01:22 PM
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what? how do you know they're racist? just because they gave you a huge price? what if an asian person walked in there and got the same price? you never know. why do people jump to conclusions, especially one like this? Just goes to show how many people unjustifiably suggest racism is the motive behind certain actions, and how as much as we try to say we're not racist or racism isn't one of the major factors in determining a situation, it exists. I think you are wrong to call them racist. Innocent until proven guilty, and the only evidence you support your claim is with your one experience, without any other sort of evidence to back it up.
In a way it makes you seem a bit racist, just because they're asian and gave you a big price. Hypocritical, but anyway, that's just my opinion. And of course, I'm not saying I'm not racist, nor do I ever judge without any racism, but I definately don't come to these kind of conclusions based on such weak support. |
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#24
02/02/2006, 05:09 PM
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I don't know about Hung Ming being racist, but I was also watched like a hawk when I was in there. I wanted to see how honest they were and told them I was thinking about starting a saltwater tank and asked how difficult it was to keep one. The response I got was, "They are so easy now that if you just buy one of these big canister filters that you don't even have to change the water." This was from one of the more mature employee's (say late 30's early 40's), so I assume he has some stake in this store. That was enough for me not to trust them.
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#25
02/02/2006, 05:13 PM
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