San Fernando Valley shops?

[MrSquid]

I'm going to have part of the day off tomorrow (work in Culver City) and was thinking of heading up to check out stores in the SF Valley. I've been to Vivid, but that's it - any other places I should check out? Are there better options not-too-far-south without having to head all the way down to OC?

 

[evad1]

tats tropical is up that way

 

[nikecivic]

Rainbow Pets in Arleta.

 

[MrSquid]

I just looked at the Tats website - if I don't make it there tomorrow, I'll definitely have to check it out eventually. Looks nice!

 

[MxReEfEr92]

Tats sucks, all the coral they get is common wild indo stuff and their prices are way to high. Fish selection is alright but again prices are to high.

 

[MrSquid]

Not really concerned about prices - I'm just trying to get an idea of who's out there. I've had a tank in the past but won't have my next one set up until maybe a year from now. But if they only have common stuff, maybe I'll pass on it.

 

[MxReEfEr92]

Yea nothing special ever, the dont even hand pick stuff its all ordered then delivered. The one in ventura is better than the one in Thousand Oaks. Aaron from socal corals has a frag tank there with nice pieces.

 

[nikecivic]

I wouldn't drive all the way to Ventura just to go to Tat's. Rainbow pet and Aquarium city is a better option.

 

[Chefzilla77]

I woulda said to check out sps coral store in la canada flintridge

 

[evad1]

dang that sucks
i always heard good things about tats, but never been.
i retract my statement

 

[watchguy123]

I don't think there is any place like vivids in Southern California for the volume of high end coral. It is not inexpensive but not unreasonable and their frags always look healthy and chunky. Sps coral store is unbelievable, perhaps the nicest collection of limited edition pieces and priced better than anyone else. The two are probably a good hour apart from each other but both worth visiting for the coral junkie . I would call to see if Aaron( I believe that is the owners name ) is working that day because he is knowledgable and nice to talk to. Dave is the owner of vivids and also a delight to talk with. There are other stores in this neck of the woods but more hit and miss. Oh and I forgot about fantastic frags, not a store but more like online hobbyists but you can check out their stuff with an appointment and they usually have a lot at reasonable prices but I have not been to them in a while. They are about 15 or 10 minutes west of vivids

 

[MrSquid]

I made my way to Vivid about a year ago. Very nice!

I ended up staying local on Fri and stopped in at The Aquarium in Culver City. I asked for them to get me a quote for a custom 220 - after taking all the info of what I wanted the guy said "Um, we're not real good at this stuff - so you might want to give us a call on Monday to see if we remembered to send in this quote request." Yeah.....I don't think so.

Last night we were in Sherman Oaks and we stopped in at Underwater Depot. That was a great stop since I'm looking at doing a built-in 220 and while I'm sold on it, my girlfriend still had reservations. Seeing their built-in DT got her more on-board. Kinda fun getting questions from her on what the different fish and corals were and in a sense, seeing stuff for the first time through her eyes.

Not in the Valley, but we also stopped in at Pacific Reef in Torrance on Saturday. Those guys were great and had a few ideas that I hadn't thought of before. Should be seeing a quote from them tomorrow.

I'll have to keep SPS Coral Store in mind. I never get out that way so that'll be one for once the tank is up.

For my own sanity I'll probably cool it on store visits until MAX, then hit stores on the way there & back.

 

[Oleary818]

For the Valley, Vivid has the best selection of high end corals in colony and frag form.

Rainbow in Arleta has a nice selection of fish, with a few deals on some nice corals.

If you're looking for dry goods, Aquarium city in Canoga Park isn't too bad. I'd consider their corals more if their tanks weren't so dirty.

 

[la1fan]

Went to Rainbow a couple of weeks ago for livestock. I was not impressed. Several tangs were in such a small amount of water that they were lying on their sides ( and not dead), and saw a couple of dead fish in their DT.

We went to Vivid last week and liked the shop a lot. Dave was very helpful, even steered us away from a purchase which was not in our best interest. Store was clean ( and busy).

 

[Oleary818]

Ya, la1fan does have a good point. Rainbow pet will have a few dead fish from time to time being displayed.