San Francisco reef stores
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bluprntguy
Well-Known Member
I hate to disappoint, but there's nothing in San Francisco that's worth visiting. Go to Steinhart Aquarium for a few hours instead.
If you are willing to drive to the East Bay or San Jose, there are a few stores that might be worth checking out, but the nearest one is a good 45 minutes away in good traffic.
bluprntguy
Well-Known Member
I was trying to avoid this since our LFS's are the reason I order most everything online. I think shop space and labor in the Bay Area just make it almost impossible to run a LFS here. We used to have Atlantis Aquariums (originator of all the ATL corals you still see online), but they closed about 5 years ago and nothing has really filled in the void. Here's the ones I know of and my impressions. Hope this is helpful and I've tried to be as positive as possible.
East Bay/San Jose:
Diablo Corals (Concord, CA - 45 minutes from SF): In a warehouse in an older part of town, but still on a main street. Pretty small, but usually have a good selection of coral and some fish as I recall. It's been a few years since I've been here. Farthest one from San Jose, but closest to SF.
Aquatic Collection (Hayward, CA - 45 minutes - 1 hour from SF): again, a warehouse in an office/warehouse area (you'll see a theme). Great selection of fish and corals. This is probably the only one worth the drive and I'd prioritize this over others.
California Reef Company (Newark, CA - 1 hour from SF): Warehouse shop with mostly captive bred fish and corals. I just stopped there yesterday on the way back from a site meeting and they had a tank crash (50% of their coral space) and generally poor selection of corals. I'd not recommend this one, it's a shame as it used to be pretty good under different ownership.
Neptune Aquatics (San Jose, CA - 1 to 1.5 hours from SF): Great selection of corals and fish. Most of the corals are fragged from wild colonies with fewer aquacultured/named corals. They do have a good selection of zoas usually and cheap SPS. Lots of wild caught fish with a few captive bred specimens. A quality store, but usually named SPS and zoas are extremely expensive. I assume this is the one @IPHY knows about. They moved a few years ago from a nice warehouse to a new warehouse in a dicey area of town that's mostly old industrial buildings and streetside drug sales. Unfortunately, I witnessed a shooting and carjacking on my last (failed) visit three years ago and haven't been back since.
Ultimate Aquarium (San Mateo, CA - 45 minutes from SF): It's across from the mall in a real retail shop space! Usually a pretty good selection of fish and corals. Lots of ORA fish and corals. They will order specific things from ORA if you want and can wait, but they usually have a pretty good selection. The manager is an interesting guy, but usually helpful and does keep aquariums, so he's generally knowledgeable.
San Francisco City:
6th Avenue: Big place that's crammed with stuff everywhere, wild caught fish and inverts in enormous tanks. Not very clean and poor fish health usually. Poor selection of corals. A good place to pick up cheap chinese LED's, equipment, or a quarantine tank. Shipments of fish come in on Sunday AM and they have a bag sale where you can select/buy the fish before they go into their tanks.
Lucky Ocean: Great owner here, but this place is just hanging on. REALLY small. Sometimes he has some corals but mostly pretty pedestrian LPS/softies.
Aquaforest Aquarium: Exclusively freshwater/planted tanks, but they are the sole importer of ADA tanks and equipment in the US. Great selection of ADA and higher end tanks and equipment. They also have a number of freshwater planted show tanks. If you are in the area it might be worth a drop through just to look. Again, no saltwater or coral.
Aquatic Collection, Hayward, CA
Neptune Aquatics San Jose, CA
Steinhart Aquarium: Look up on line and sign up for the behind the scenes tour.
Neptune Aquatics San Jose, CA
Steinhart Aquarium: Look up on line and sign up for the behind the scenes tour.
+1 on Aquatic Collection being the best one in the Bay.
I feel all bay area fish stores are chop shops with bad husbandry. They are like going to China town where everything is dirty and cramped just trying to make a buck. Neptune in San Jose looks promising and well put together.
zer0salinity
New Member
Recently went to Neptune Aquatics and walked right back out. The tanks are riddled with every pest you can think of. Aiptasia, Majanos, Asterina stars, cloves... It wasn't used to be like this before.
zoasaholic
Well-Known Member
Byropsis
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