Deep Blue Aquarium

[wishntoboutside]

Hello All,

I met the owner a few years back when he was getting going and selling some frags with Jimmy at Reefapoolza. I had the opportunity to visit his store yesterday and I have to say it was well worth the drive. Although his shop is small he has more tanks and frags then most of the So Cal shops that I have visited in the past. He had at least 100 various colored anemones. Frags I would say 2000 plus. Him and his sister have been working away farming and growing out all kinds of corals. I thought it was great that he did not sell any mother colonies as well. I know we are complaining about no indo corals but with people like this we don't need indo as they are farming everything.

While I was there I saw others come in some just wanted his best as they could not get it from another store while others were picking up a new skimmer and items and that customer walked away with some free frags. What a great way to make people feel special and appreciated.

For those not familiar with this shop he is in North Hollywood and if your in the area you are in for a nice surprise. I found some nice favias got a Tyree undata frag and some old school farmed SPS. I am waiting to see how is Idaho Grape grows out in LEDS as that on has been on my got to have list as well.

Dry goods were a little low but the quality and quantity of the frags make the drive worth it . I would give this shop four stars at least for their efforts and look forward to watching them grow.

 

[Jmason95]

Couldn't agree more. I visited this shop two weeks ago for the first time in search of small frags for my nano, and it was the perfect store for what I was looking for. Picked up a couple mushrooms, zoas and some cloves.

Only the sister was working during my visit and she was the nicest person. She even surprised my 5 yr old with a drink because she was thirsty.

 

[Browncoat]

2000 frags was that a typo?

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[dodgerblew]

Nice write up Richard. I’ll need to make an effort to go down there to see it.

 

[wishntoboutside]

2000 frags was that a typo?

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no typo. did not count for the record thou. sorry no yellow tangs here thou.

 

[uclaray]

Never met the owner, but his sister is a very nice lady. They do have a lot of frags and the most anemones I've ever seen in one place. Decent prices on most things too. I always enjoy my visits there.

 

[pga7602]

2000 frags was that a typo?

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You would be surprised how many frags can fit on a full sheet of egg crate.

 

[Browncoat]

You would be surprised how many frags can fit on a full sheet of egg crate.

Yes, I suppose you're right if you really think about it you can fit a lot. I'll have to check this place out sometime. Its in my old hood.

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[jorda9095]

I've been there and they do have a very large and healthy selection of BTAs. The best I've seen in any LFS. Some cool corals as well. The store is very small, smaller than Ali's shop. You basically walk in and that's it. I'm not sure about 2,000 frags. Maybe so but a lot are duplicates of corals that aren't very spectacular and can be found just about anywhere.

I guess I didn't meet the owner since there was only a lady that didn't speak very good English who helped me. She was very patient with me though as most of what I wanted was not for sale. In my opinion, it is not really worth the drive. There is a great selection from vendors around here online (unique corals, aquasd, etc) and it is better than driving through LA traffic. If you're close, I would recommend it.

 

[thirst]

Hong is awesome! Definitely stop by if you are looking for some fairly priced frags


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[rorroreef]

Great shop. I counted 3,982 corals frags and all but 4 of them were for sale. The owner is super nice and his livestock is legit. Definitely recommend this shop. I would post pics but my cell camera sucks. Now to go enjoy all the nice corals and fish that I just bought.

 

[Jamie1210]

Finally made it to Deep blue aquarium today. It was definitely well worth the trip! The store itself is small, square foot wise, but it is CRAMMED full of frags from high end to beginner stuff. SO much stuff to look at, including tons of clownfish! Must have been hundreds of designer clowns as well as pink and orange skunks too! And if youre looking for a bta, he must have had dozens and dozens of various colors and morphs, greens and rainbows galore.

Not sure about pricing for other stuff, but did pick up a nice bta for a good price. The owner is super friendly, very chatty, and has a super friendly dog that follows you around as well

(They were not exaggerating in a previous post when someone said there must be thousands of frags)

Highly recommended, and will definitely be back.

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[m0nkie]

Hong hooks it up with the fish!

just saw 2 gem tangs and 2 bella gobies in his store

 

[CNGH]

stopped by today to check it out. haven't been there in a couple years and it's changed a lot (for the better). i think 2000 frags is pretty accurate...every tank has frags in it, even the small specimen tanks that normally are just for fish. only complaint is it's hard to tell what's actually for sale and for how much, as things are not clearly labeled and sections not demarcated well. but, the sister was very friendly, helpful and responsive.

they had probably 100 or more bta's, most were very colorful and not the run of the mill variety. they also had rock flower nems and blood red mini nems.

also, they had 2 small borbonius, a couple inches and one huge one in a display tank. she said they were all for sale. i only asked about the small ones, just out of curiosity, and she said $350 each.

they had tons of mangroves, flame algae, designer clowns... so much stuff. tho, i did see one tank full of small/juvi clowns that looked like they had velvet and their fins were beat up/shredded. but that was only in one tank. other fish looked ok.

all in all, this store has a ton of stuff and probably has what you're looking for. i'll go back again.

 

[sberman]

I agree I have been here for the size of the store he is jam packed . I need to go back and see what new stuff he has . Has plenty of bta,s and clowns to

 

[Jamie1210]

Picked up a speckled bta last week as well as a green one back in september...all are super healthy! If nothing else, come here for nice healthy btas love this place!

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[dodgerblew]

Did you notice any gold torches or unique Euphyllia species Mike?

 

[kichimark]

Hong's Deep Blue Aquarium is really the only store I go to now. He has helped me out numerous times and is always willing to shoot the breeze when he isn't busy. Definitely a reminder of how reefers used to be from years past. I am very picky on my corals due to my limited space but I make it a habit to buy water whenever I go to help contribute to this store. I have recently visited other stores and honestly was not impressed with the variety of corals nor the customer service (newer guys think they are God's gift to aquariums vibe and always trying to sell something it seems...JMO)

Did you notice any gold torches or unique Euphyllia species Mike?

Haven't seen gold torches there in a while since he usually imports the stuff himself and doesn't visit the wholesalers very much. He has some gold hammers that he is growing out (I asked) and it makes sense since they are from Indo but then again I am growing mine out too haha. I know unique has some but they wanted crazy amounts for one head (140 if I remember).

Hong has tons of frogspawn and nice leathers (Traded my large green sinularia for some smaller ones since I am afraid to frag that in my nano and have it possibly release chemicals and wreck havoc haha).

Long story short, I have been going to Hong's place since I have started and been in the reefing and saltwater scene since around 2000 and he is the only one I go to now. Definitely treats me and my son when we visit like family. I never have raved about a store but he is the only exception.

 

[CNGH]

Did you notice any gold torches or unique Euphyllia species Mike?

Hey Rik, I'm not well versed in the different kinds of torches and hammers/frogspawns so I don't know if any were unique per se. I didn't see any gold torches/hammers/fspawns, but it's possible I missed them bc there was so much stuff. I did see some very neon green torches and hammers and fspawns.

 

[dodgerblew]

Thanks Mike