Must see shops near San Clemente

[Breadman03]

I lived on Pendleton for almost two years and am making a road trip from Pennsylvania to see the old stomping grounds. We will be staying in San Clemente for a couple days and I would like to stop into a shop or two while I'm there. If they can ship, even better

Please, please, send some suggestions out!

 

[ngvu1]

Well, PYA was OK a bit up north of San Clemente, but they are closing up......Drive north a bit and we have a few stores...drive north a lot more then we have a bunch

 

[Davehla]

If you make a stop in Los Angeles there are about a half dozen amazing LFS stores. Let me know if your travels bring you further north.

 

[Breadman03]

LA is doable. I mean, 6,000+ mile road trip. What's a few miles up the PCH?

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

If trips are in order...
Reefers Garage in Vista for good coral prices. Kinda small, but good stuff. They ship. Ellis Aquatics in Compton. Sells from his garage but it's set up like a LFS and has more corals than many larger places. Don't think they ship. Seaside Tropical Fish in Huntington Beach has a big fish selection and good coral selection. Great prices too. Not sure if they ship, but I think so. Reef Lounge in Anaheim has insane coral selection and good fish, but runs higher in prices. They ship.

 

[LetItReef]

+1 on Reefer's garage and about 20 more minutes going down 5 south check out Shipwreck's cove. If you are up to it hit up Aqua SD too.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

I just won some zoas from Shipwreck and got some a while ago too. I've never been to the store, but plan to the next time I'm down that way.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

There isn't really anything in SC. Haha I wish there was. Shipwreck cove in Encinitas will be close to Pendleton. Seaside Tropical has a ton of really nice fish and a pretty large coral selection but not a lot of name brand stuff if that is what you are interested in.

 

[Davehla]

My favorites in La
Ellis aquatics
Vivid aquariums
Cali aquariums

Those are my top 3...

 

[Breadman03]

I'm not interested in "name brand" stuff per say. I just think my tank is finally at a point where I can start stocking it again, and I'd really like to see what the shops in a good area look like. I've got basically one good LFS and two that are okay within an hour. There's maybe a dozen decent options if I bump my limit to a two hour ride.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

I just went to LAX aquariums yesterday. It is 2 minutes away from LAX so if you are flying in there for sure make a stop. HUGE store with a ton of frag tanks and large displays. They also had a lot of sharks and large tangs.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

Are you looking more for corals or fish or some of both?

 

[Breadman03]

I'm driving..5,763 miles, plus wherever we decide to go.

I've been eying corals for the most part and plan on being SPS dominant with an occasional LPS or zoanthid. I love clams and anemones, but they create livestock challenges that I would like to avoid for now.

I don't have anything specific in mind. I've been buying corals lately because my tank is running fallow. I've been fighting algae for several years. Well, I spent several years playing with it and have spent a couple months fighting it. I've vinegar dosed the daylights out of it to the tune of several hundred ml/day without feeding to get to an API zero nitrates and Hanna ULR of 0.03-0.05 PO4. I've added a bunch of snails, a couple conches, and some emerald crabs to keep algae under control, and some peppermint shrimp to get my aptasia issue under control.

The good news is that after lots of failure, things appear to be going the right way.

 

[Davehla]

I am in San Diego for work and came to Aqua SD. YOU HAVE TO COME HERE! they have one of the best selections of corals I have ever seen!!!

 

[Breadman03]

Thanks for the input, all! We're leaving at about 2am and will be hitting up a couple suggestions in a few days.

 

[BRB]

Seaside in huntington - awesome shop
Phils Aquarium in Lake Forest - small but cool
Sand Bar Pet Shop in mission viejo has a decent Saltwater area
Oceans Tropical fish in Mission Viejo
coral oasis - costa mesa - interesting shop, not sure how clean their water is the best/cleanest