Good/ Bad LFS in Bay Area, CA

[BayHeli]

Any good LFS near Dublin, CA?

Which one is bad that I should avoid as a newbie?

Thanks :)

[p0rkch0p]

BayHeli, there are several, depending on how far you want to go. One of the best is in Hayward/Castro Valley. Its called Aquarium Concepts, 22398 Foothill Blvd in Hayward, they have an amazing selection of fish, gear, and coral. There are a few others around there too, Hayward is teeming with fish stores for some reason. Another good one is Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas (www.aquatic-gallery.com), its high end and a little small, but again, good quality specimens and knowledgable with an impressive selection of coral, including a lot of harder to find stuff.

There is also Wet Pets down in Pleasanton, corner of Hopyard and Valley, but I have not been in there a lot so no experience there.

I end up at AquaPets in Livermore, they are small, but walking distance to my house and the guys in there will talk fish with you all day long if you have the time. Also, Pet Extreme is in Livermore, but thats more of a chain type store so some of the fish you get in there are a little suspect, I have a strawberry dottyback that my girlfriend bought there that I am trying to nurse back from I think ick (its cottony white patches, not the traditional salt sprinkles).

Anyway, let me know if you find any others, but definitely check out the first two, you will not be disappointed, they are worth the drive.

[BeefnCheese]

Wet Pets in Pleasanton is run by an old guy and lots of "kids"... You dont get the best information there.

Aqua Pets is local to me and has hooked me up on prices on large purchases. Friendly and defenitly doesnt try to oversell you. Small shop though with little live specimens.

Aquarium Concepts is awesome. Selection, Service, and soon to be new location in DUBLIN in Sept 06. I cant wait.

I also had a custom cabinet and canopy made by Mermaid Aquarium in Fremont. Good selection and good prices... They too are moving sometime early 07 i believe down to San Jose.

Pet Extreme for your basic dry goods.. I wouldnt buy fish from them.. I see lots f dead and sick fish in there.

My $.02

Brent

[hawaiianwargod]

BeefnCheese
[welcome]

[BayHeli]

Thanks for your information.

Here is my experience with two LFS:

I went to pet extreme in Livermore last night. They are selling instant ocean salt (50 gal) for $18.99 :eek1: The good thing is they close at 9:00 pm.

The same salt at Connie Aquarium in Castro Valley is only $8.99. I brougt 3 bags. :D

I will visit the stores in Hayward this weekends.:rollface:

[tsproul]

Hey!

There seems to be a bunch of us in the HOT valley........:)

I was impressed with Aquarium Concepts. All About Fish is also a reasonable drive up in the Walnut Creek area. I couldn't tell you anything about the quality or such of either.....I'm just starting to set up a reef tank.

Tim

[p0rkch0p]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7592324#post7592324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeefnCheese


Aqua Pets is local to me and has hooked me up on prices on large purchases. Friendly and defenitly doesnt try to oversell you. Small shop though with little live specimens.


Brent

No, they actually will anti-sell you generally, LOL! They are great guys though, will talk with you forever. They are at the corner of First and N. Livermore.

I just saw Aqua Concepts is moving, all this talk about fish and shops got me out and I spent $140 bucks there today on some shrimp, a couple of percula's, and an Oriental Sweetlips (mostly because I loved the name....actually it has really nice coloring and I hadn't seen one before). I talked to the guy, the bad news is their move is being delayed, not until probably Jan or Feb now....once they get moved to Dublin, that will be the only store you need to visit.

[BayHeli]

The great bay aquarium in San Lorenzo is changing ownership and they are selling stuffs pretty cheap. I got $110 LR from them last night at $2/ lb:D

The problem is that my house has water softener and RO system which produce water at a very slow rate.......:rolleyes:

It will take forever to fill up my 90 gal tank.

What did you guys do to fill up your tank initially?

Did you buy the water from LFS?

How did you get that much water back to your house?

[p0rkch0p]

When I filled my tank initially a couple months ago, I just bought purified water from the Culligan Water service by my house. Its a little expensive (I think it was about $6 or $7 per 5 gal. jug) but it was better than waiting for my slooowww RO system. The added benefit was I kept a couple of the jugs instead of returning all the empties, they are really handy for keeping water on hand. I just fill them gradually from the RO filter and keep them in the garage. Another great tip that I got from the Aqua pets guys, go buy a 32 gal plastic garbage can from Home Depot and use that to mix up all your salt water, then use a powerhead to mix and pump it into the tank. Just a helpful hint, it made that part really easy, and now I use it to hold all my tubing, gear, etc to keep things clear for the aquarium.

[want2reef]

My personal favorite is Aquatic Gallery. :)