Lfs in so cal

[samuelkl]

Total Fish and Pets
137 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91810
Neighborhood: Alhambra

http://www.yelp.com/biz/total-fish-and-pets-alhambra

I usually go to Total Fish and Pets in Alhambra, Ca. It used to be called Garvey Fish & Pets on Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park.

The owner's name is Kim. The store is basically 50/50 saltwater/freshwater.

He has a decent marine fish selection and he has a large amount of coral. His large tank is a 300g reef setup with all kinds of mixed coral.
He also has a dedicated SPS tank. He has other long, shallow tanks that have mixed coral colonies & frags.

He usually picks up new coral/fish on Fridays/Sundays.

Hopes this helps.

I frequent this place bc it's close to the USC downtown campus. Mainly go for the sps frags, he has I think a 100 gallon tank with just sps, some colonies for sale, but he's willing to cut you a frag of any big colonies you see in there. Nice lokani, pink digi, efflo and other common, some unique, frags for very fair fish store prices. Cheaper than some sellers in this forum lol. Has some chalice frags time to time as well. For sgv ppls, better fish selection and husbandry than ptf. Owner, who I think is usually in, is also willing to trade frags if it's something he doesn't have

 

[lilmonster]

Mystic Reef for me too. I'm in there every week.

 

[Six2seven]

Good to know.

We are lacking a good store in this area considering the wholesalers are all in a 3 mile radius.

7 seas is cool for fish, have them quarantine your guy for a few days.

I have had hit miss with them on hard to keep fish.

Watch out for the upsell he is good! No names.

Really nice, acts like he's really interested in your setup careful, you've been warned.

But over all a clean store and decent prices on most things. LPS store. Not too much but sometimes he gets some in.

lol I'm glad someone else agrees. (no names) is the pushiest salesman i have ever met, but you;re right he is good, very good. even knowing better I almost spent $100 one additives and test kits i did not need.

 

[Six2seven]

oh and finally got to visit Vivd aquariums and was lost in the beauty. Absolutely best display I have ever seen.

West Coast Aquariums on reseda in northridge is the saddest store i have ever been to. It is run by a very old man who probably had a great store in his time but has not been able to keep up in years. there is a saltwater section that is completely dry with nothing but salt scum on the walls. the whole place needs a good sweep. only freshwater but you cannot see the fish because the acrylic/plastic tanks are so cracked and old. algae prevents you from looking in. I felt so bad for the guy. he has a cash register and the box that the register came in is sitting right next to the register. obviously trash since its just thrown to the side but does not take it to the dumpster. this is the second time i have been to the store and the box was still there. so sad, i honestly do not know why i went back.

 

[ryshark]

oh and finally got to visit Vivd aquariums and was lost in the beauty. Absolutely best display I have ever seen.

West Coast Aquariums on reseda in northridge is the saddest store i have ever been to. It is run by a very old man who probably had a great store in his time but has not been able to keep up in years. there is a saltwater section that is completely dry with nothing but salt scum on the walls. the whole place needs a good sweep. only freshwater but you cannot see the fish because the acrylic/plastic tanks are so cracked and old. algae prevents you from looking in. I felt so bad for the guy. he has a cash register and the box that the register came in is sitting right next to the register. obviously trash since its just thrown to the side but does not take it to the dumpster. this is the second time i have been to the store and the box was still there. so sad, i honestly do not know why i went back.

I agree the main display at vivid is awesome, one of the best I have seen.
I have never been to West Coast Aquariums, but I could only imagine. I too feel bad going into some of these stores, so I try to purchase something, usually food, but sometimes it is even hard to find that.

 

[Brian Chong]

I cant leave vivid without spending at least 70 bucks so i try to avoid that place. If i go there agin i'm afraid they'll force me to buy the vivid echino and they have a huge bin full of vanutu live rock, my favorite type but very expensive also.

 

[eniram78]

Hey guys, any good LFS in SFO bay area or an hours drive from SFO down town? Am looking for sps and zoas frags.

The LFS has to be comparable to Vivid or Manhattan LFS.

thx

 

[Brian Chong]

Eye candy in garden grove/stanton is also a good place

MEH....they tried to sell me a 1in frag of a blue tort looking acro for a hundred. They sell booger frags about a quarter of an inch for 35 dollars when they have something decent but that's rare. My buddy said they had nice stuff in the past but that store went down the drain as far as coral selection goes

 

[Nick A]

It's been a while since I've posted on RC...

I went to Rainbow in Arleta yesterday and picked up a 3" powder brown tang for $20 and the little guy was able to eat a bit after acclimation. I've been going here for years and haven't had a bad experience.

Also went to Creatures of the Seas in Reseda a few weeks ago and picked up 5 lbs of rubble rock to help jump start my system. Owner was really cool and the shop was pretty clean. Price wise, I don't really remember but the LR was $2/lb for rubble and $3 for Fiji(I think). Not a large selection of fish when I went, but it may be due to his shipments coming on Mondays and me going at the end of the week. It used to be owned by another group of people a while back, but I didn't ask what happened to the previous owners.

 

[CaliforniaKeith]

Ditto what a few others have said about Vivid in Canoga Park. The 800DT at is awesome. And they recently remodeled their frag tanks. Very clean and well displayed. It's in an industrial area off off Vanowen in between De Soto and Canoga Ave. The side street you turn on is Variel I believe.

 

[solitude127]

Here's a new one in the South Bay area.

Ok here is the deal.

The owner, Michael, is going from a supplier of the major wholesalers into retail. The address is:

23302 South Normandie Ave.
Torrance, CA, 90502

There are no signs as he is having them made.

When I pulled up the gate was closed so I had to come down Mariposa which is behind the store. You can get there either off sepulveda or 228th. Looking on google I see it is almost right across from ricks welding (which has a prominent sign on the building).

The store is just getting started, its a little small, more of a warehouse atmosphere. No dry goods, all livestock. He has 3 main rows of double sided tanks, 2 all fish, one all coral.

The corals are all Indonesian, fish are indonesian and Hawaiian.

I walked out without anything. Rent was due this week, but I will be back next week to pick some stuff up.

The prices and quality live up to the ad on craigslist.

David

 

[Six2seven]

Here's a new one in the South Bay area.

So i went to check out this new store. It is literally a small warehouse with no dry goods. They only have a a row of tanks for fish and a row of tanks for corals. The fish seemed healthy, they have only been there a week. There are no lights over the fish at all. The corals are all LPS and softies. They only have a couple of fixtures that only have t5s. Great prices because they are trying to move all of their inventory. Probably good for this week because they seem desperate to move their inventory.

 

[solitude127]

They only have a couple of fixtures that only have t5s.

Only T5s?

 

[Six2seven]

Only T5s?

Not for sale i mean the t5 fixtures are the only lighting for the corals.

 

[esc]

Anyone know what their business hours are? How about a phone #?

So i went to check out this new store. It is literally a small warehouse with no dry goods. They only have a a row of tanks for fish and a row of tanks for corals. The fish seemed healthy, they have only been there a week. There are no lights over the fish at all. The corals are all LPS and softies. They only have a couple of fixtures that only have t5s. Great prices because they are trying to move all of their inventory. Probably good for this week because they seem desperate to move their inventory.

 

[Six2seven]

Anyone know what their business hours are? How about a phone #?

Dont really know thwir hours she said they are open fri, sat sun only but like i said i was in there in the afternoon during the week and they were open. She said she had an ad on craigslistnbut i couldnt find it

 

[thebanker]

I have to bump this thread for Capistrano Reef and Ecosystem Aquarium. Capo is awesome, and Ecosystem sells coral now at good wholesale prices.

 

[Aldridge Corals]

Dont really know thwir hours she said they are open fri, sat sun only but like i said i was in there in the afternoon during the week and they were open. She said she had an ad on craigslistnbut i couldnt find it

Number is 310 308 8771 appt only

 

[Aldridge Corals]

I have to bump this thread for Capistrano Reef and Ecosystem Aquarium. Capo is awesome, and Ecosystem sells coral now at good wholesale prices.

So ecosystem is retail store or wholesale store?

 

[Aldridge Corals]

I love Age of Aquarium, Aquatic Fantasy and Reef Hot Spot. I have traveled from Burbank to Riverside area and all in between to scope out the best stores to shop and I found that the best places are in my back yard. Oh don't want to forget Ali's place in OC.