San Francisco/Bay Area Reef shops

Shine5555 · Dec 1, 2017

I am in Pleasenton (East of San Francisco) CA this weekend with extra time. What are some of the Reef shops I should Visit?

kinetic · Dec 1, 2017

Shine5555 said:
I am in Pleasenton (East of San Francisco) CA this weekend with extra time. What are some of the Reef shops I should Visit?

Two that I would definitely consider checking out:

Aquatic Collection (you're pretty close)
Neptune Aquarium (far, but worth the drive)

I've heard that Diablo Corals is also good, but haven't been there myself. It's kind of close to you.

Shine5555 · Dec 1, 2017

kinetic said:
Two that I would definitely consider checking out:

Aquatic Collection (you're pretty close)

Neptune Aquarium (far, but worth the drive)

I've heard that Diablo Corals is also good, but haven't been there myself. It's kind of close to you.

Thanks, I will give them a try.... I do not mind driving some I have free time and might head into San Fran for fun

Shine5555 · Dec 1, 2017

I have been to Aquatic Collection in the past, I enjoyed that shop

jason g · Dec 2, 2017

Diablo Corals is pretty good, Jess the owner is a good dude. I buy from him at all the California reef shows.

Susan Edwards · Dec 2, 2017

A new place in Santa Clara is Infinite Aquarium. Didn't have a lot of fish yet but had some great corals. On the way to Neptune which has a huge selection of corals and everything else.
De La Cruz Blvd #13

Shine5555 · Dec 4, 2017

Thank You for all the suggestions. Below is a summary of my trips this weekend. These are just my thoughts, please do not take them to heart, as everyone is different and everyone has different ideas of what a reef shop should be to them

1. Diablo Corals - The person working seemed nice, but not a lot to see, very limited stock and a lot of disorganization with maintenance equipment left out and about while the working sat behind a desk or half wall. Seems they run home maintenance and just have stuff piled up and around the store front. No real display tanks to drool over. The place was not very busy
2. Aquatic Collection - I very much enjoyed this place. A ton of reef fish and corals, limited hard goods. Nice display tank. I found the prices to be very good and the staff helpful and friendly. The place was fairly busy
3. Neptune Aquarium - Great place to walk and look around. A lot of very nice display setups and a huge selection of hard goods. Great to get inspiration. The staff seemed to be very busy doing maintenance on the tanks and stocking for a Saturday and I saw a lot of customers looking for someone to help them. Prices seemed a little on the high end, but very nice displays and a very large collection of corals. Fish are a little more limited
4. Infinite Aquarium - a little hard to find in the back, meet the owner and he was very nice and very helpful. They are brand new and still setting up. Looks like a lot of potential. They have a decent selection of corals and some fish in now. They are still working on display tanks
5. Superway Aquarium - Nope, did not enjoy. Just a mess
6. Ultimate Aquarium Inc - Decent place, Decent selection. Limited hard goods, seemed very pricey. Overall all a lot of corals and reef fish. Somewhat disorganized as the labels and hard written fish and corals names on each display did not match what was in each display.. You have to ask for prices for a lot of things as they do not seem to update what is what, and prices are a mystery, until you ask about corals. No real display tanks
7. Lucky Ocean Aquarium - Very small and no real display tanks. They seemed to have the basics. Prices seemed high, but they are in San Francisco, so you have to keep that in mind. I cannot even imagine the rent on that place. they staff seemed very helpful to the people that came into the store

Just my .02 cents. Let me know if anyone thinks of any others to visit. Thank You again

Susan Edwards · Dec 4, 2017

@Shine5555 I agree with your summary of Aquatic Collection--always very helpful and attentive. And very efficient and fast in bagging fish as well. Alot of what I used to have before MV came from here and most of my corals from there are thriving. Not all made it. Eager to see what Infinite Aquarium evolves into. Super nice. Love to just browse Neptune. Amazing displays, more than any other store I've been in.

If you head for the Sacramento area, let me know and I'll post some of the places there I've been.

Shine5555 · Dec 7, 2017

Susan Edwards said:
@Shine5555 I agree with your summary of Aquatic Collection--always very helpful and attentive. And very efficient and fast in bagging fish as well. Alot of what I used to have before MV came from here and most of my corals from there are thriving. Not all made it. Eager to see what Infinite Aquarium evolves into. Super nice. Love to just browse Neptune. Amazing displays, more than any other store I've been in.

If you head for the Sacramento area, let me know and I'll post some of the places there I've been.

Thanks for the offer, I would like to look around Sacramento this weekend. I will be up that way Saturday. Let me know what is good up in Sacramento

clover128 · Dec 7, 2017

kinetic said:
Two that I would definitely consider checking out:

Aquatic Collection (you're pretty close)

Neptune Aquarium (far, but worth the drive)

I've heard that Diablo Corals is also good, but haven't been there myself. It's kind of close to you.

I wasn’t impressed with Diablo. My 2c

Susan Edwards · Dec 7, 2017

Aqua Life-in Rocklin. Just moved. Might be in some trouble. Lost 2 fish I got there and a couple corals. Was told by another lfs they lost a lot during the move--had some crashes. My sil uses them for maintenance. The blue toadstool leather I got is doing fantastically though.

Your Reef. Tons of cheap corals, huge selection. Some did not make it but my coral qt was new, plus a 10 gal qt just doesn't seem to work with any corals I've tried to put in it

Exotic Aquarium--huge place. Haven't tried anything from them

Aqua Workz--on my list to try. Dau says they are good

Aquarium Depot also on my list. Per their website they qt fish. If so, a plus in their favor

Crystal Aquarium--don't bother, stay away. Freshwater only and the place is a moldy yucky place. You can see the mold on their windows before you walk in. and then you don't want to breathe the air...

Splash Aquarium--Nice, clean, friendly

have fun. share your thoughts on them, esp the 2 I haven't been to if you go

Beardo · Dec 7, 2017

Shine5555 said:
Thank You for all the suggestions. Below is a summary of my trips this weekend. These are just my thoughts, please do not take them to heart, as everyone is different and everyone has different ideas of what a reef shop should be to them

1. Diablo Corals - The person working seemed nice, but not a lot to see, very limited stock and a lot of disorganization with maintenance equipment left out and about while the working sat behind a desk or half wall. Seems they run home maintenance and just have stuff piled up and around the store front. No real display tanks to drool over. The place was not very busy
2. Aquatic Collection - I very much enjoyed this place. A ton of reef fish and corals, limited hard goods. Nice display tank. I found the prices to be very good and the staff helpful and friendly. The place was fairly busy
3. Neptune Aquarium - Great place to walk and look around. A lot of very nice display setups and a huge selection of hard goods. Great to get inspiration. The staff seemed to be very busy doing maintenance on the tanks and stocking for a Saturday and I saw a lot of customers looking for someone to help them. Prices seemed a little on the high end, but very nice displays and a very large collection of corals. Fish are a little more limited
4. Infinite Aquarium - a little hard to find in the back, meet the owner and he was very nice and very helpful. They are brand new and still setting up. Looks like a lot of potential. They have a decent selection of corals and some fish in now. They are still working on display tanks
5. Superway Aquarium - Nope, did not enjoy. Just a mess
6. Ultimate Aquarium Inc - Decent place, Decent selection. Limited hard goods, seemed very pricey. Overall all a lot of corals and reef fish. Somewhat disorganized as the labels and hard written fish and corals names on each display did not match what was in each display.. You have to ask for prices for a lot of things as they do not seem to update what is what, and prices are a mystery, until you ask about corals. No real display tanks
7. Lucky Ocean Aquarium - Very small and no real display tanks. They seemed to have the basics. Prices seemed high, but they are in San Francisco, so you have to keep that in mind. I cannot even imagine the rent on that place. they staff seemed very helpful to the people that came into the store

Just my .02 cents. Let me know if anyone thinks of any others to visit. Thank You again

I've only have been to the first 3 on your list but it's great assessment.
Diablo Corals had as better selection before they moved though.
Aquatic Collection is my go to for fish, always have a great selection with some fairly exotic choices at times plus there prices are good. On the dry goods side, they can get pretty much anything you want. I've had them order in a number of items for me.

Another store in the area is California Reef Company, they have a pretty decent selection of corals, though it has been awhile since I visited there.

Susan Edwards · Dec 7, 2017

Beardo said:
Another store in the area is California Reef Company, they have a pretty decent selection of corals, though it has been awhile since I visited there.

Where is this place located.

Beardo · Dec 7, 2017

Susan Edwards said:
Where is this place located.

It's in Newark, not far off the 880. I can PM you the address if you like.

Susan Edwards · Dec 7, 2017

Beardo said:
It's in Newark, not far off the 880. I can PM you the address if you like.

Sure. How are their fish?

Beardo · Dec 8, 2017

Susan Edwards said:
Sure. How are their fish?

They had a good selection of fish at their old location but I didn't look at their fish the one time I visited after they moved.

Hypen2000 · Sep 7, 2018

Personally really like California Reef in Newark. They have grown their coral selection and prices are good. Fish selection is limited, but everything looks very healthy. They are a smaller store with just 2 guys working there, but they care about their livestock and customers!