LFS in Los Angeles area

[roxy25]

Hello Gang,

 

I would like to know where are some good LFS in my area

I used to live in lakewood ( near LB,Cerritos, Norwalk,) so I don't mind going south for a good store.

 

But I wanted to know if there are any good store up where I am at now.

 

I been to 3 stores in my area like 2 years ago. One was Horrible another was ok and one was very awsome but the area the shop is base in is expensive area so his price where steap.

[rna]

its not in the LA area, but have you ever been to strictly fish off of carson and i think studabaker? by the long beach towncenter. the shop is very clean, and they know alot about fish too. they even deliver. stuff is a little pricey, but not crazy prices though.

[roxy25]

its not in the LA area, but have you ever been to strictly fish off of carson and i think studabaker? by the long beach towncenter. the shop is very clean, and they know alot about fish too. they even deliver. stuff is a little pricey, but not crazy prices though.

 

I know exactly what shop your talking about. I been in there once and all I can say was the people working there where the most helpful. usually when I walk in a shop I get no help whats so ever.........

 

 

I know more about the LFS down here than up here I use to go check out tons to see what people I could work with who where friendly/helpful and had clean healthy fish. another one I like was Circle pets on Xemino . Got alot of advice there too.

 

any more LFS?

[I Take Pictures]

This one may be a bit far, but the I go to is Neptune's Reef in Torrance. Very helpful employees with a good slection. Maybe a bit pricy but its worth it.

[hubakoo]

you guys should check out SEASCAPES off of south street and woodruf, very very clean store and the guys there are pretty cool, i also liek their prices. i think they have a website seascapestropical.com check it out they got some pics

[rna]

you guys should check out SEASCAPES off of south street and woodruf, very very clean store and the guys there are pretty cool, i also liek their prices. i think they have a website seascapestropical.com check it out they got some pics

 

 

is that in long beach? if so ill check it out tomorrow after school

[Cesar]

We have a couple of good LFS around here Roxy25.

 

Ghetto Tongs. On the corner of Vernon and Vermont. The surrounding is ghetto but nice selections, lol.

 

Bob's Tropical Fish on Atlantic. Right of the 60E.

 

If you want to go a bit further Rare Fish in West Covina. That place is pretty nice.

 

I just recently discovered a real nice one because I met with gOtfish there for a sale. Pasadena Tropical Fish off of Colorado. Man they had some real nice stuff in there last Sunday.

 

Tongs in Fountain Valley.

 

Let me think of more...

[krazy330]

Pasadena Tropical Fish of Colorado Blvd in Pasadena is a cool place. I been going there for awhile. Prices are reasonable..

[Cesar]

I saw a nice looking Acan for only $1000. LOL.

[roxy25]

is that in long beach? if so ill check it out tomorrow after school

 

Rna that would be in lakewood you will see a petco acrosss the street ross etc.... its right next to ortho mattresses ( if its still in business) . there is like four plaza type store surrounding the whole intersection. mayfair high school is near also ( the school I went to ) BLAH !!! lol

 

I seen them never been. when they where buliding the store I moved lol

 

We have a couple of good LFS around here Roxy25.

 

Ghetto Tongs. On the corner of Vernon and Vermont. The surrounding is ghetto but nice selections, lol.

 

Bob's Tropical Fish on Atlantic. Right of the 60E.

 

If you want to go a bit further Rare Fish in West Covina. That place is pretty nice.

 

I just recently discovered a real nice one because I met with gOtfish there for a sale. Pasadena Tropical Fish off of Colorado. Man they had some real nice stuff in there last Sunday.

 

Tongs in Fountain Valley.

 

Let me think of more...

 

Ghetto Tongs LOL my major cross streets are vermont and whilshire so I think I seen the outside before.

 

you should try Oranda aquarium on santa monica this store BLEW ME AWAY ( i am very picky when it comes to fish stores) this is the store I mention about be good but pricey.

 

pico aquarium on Pico is ok i think I should go back and make sure, he had sharks and rays scary type of fish

[roxy25]

DANG I guess there really isn't no good LFS near me ........

 

 

I went back to Oranda LFS and they are soooo EXPENSIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

and some of there fish where dying

 

 

then I went to Fumi;s tropical fish on pico today and WOW the whole store was HORRIBLE.

 

they had no real supplies to set up an SW tank. many fish sick and dying and they had a small seletion of tanks.

 

I guess I will have to order online ..... or drive very far ro get a good store all well

[adinsxq]

oranda "blew you away?"

 

that's sad.

[roxy25]

oranda "blew you away?"

 

that's sad.

 

 

when I first went in there years ago reread what I posted ..................

[roxy25]

We have a couple of good LFS around here Roxy25.

 

Ghetto Tongs. On the corner of Vernon and Vermont. The surrounding is ghetto but nice selections, lol.

 

you know what I tried to go to Tong's yesterday on the bus. I got off and couldn't find it lol. I went in this mini mart plaza and was seeing if it was there but then I saw a WHOLE bunch of bums hanging around. I was like F@$k this and left . when I got on the bus I saw where it was ( the direction the bums where lol) so today I am going again lol

[psidriven]

Any suggestions for the westside? Just got a used tank set up and there seems to be a bunch of little things wrong. So looking for a LFS with decent dry goods selection. Gonna try reefhotspot, but wanted to know where else I should go. Tried apex, they're so so. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Tony

[Mini_GBR]

Hi Roxy. I live in Sherman Oaks and work in West Hollywood. Near me there is Marks tropical fish ( http://www.markstropicalfish.com/) which is OK. A really good one most of the time, that is if you are willing to go east a bit on the 101 (or north if you wanna look at it that way) there is vivid aquariums ( vividaquariums.com ). Underwater depot on ventura blows, but aquarium center also on ventura is ok, atleast on mondays when they have 25% off all livestock. I also just checked out reefhotspot.com at the wharehouse, decent prices, but search really well the livestock there before you buy, b/c some is not taken care of all that well. Hope this helps, I'm always driving around here for work, and stop by a LFS if I see it, I'll et you know if I see anything else out in our area.

 

Mike

[er1c_the_reefer]

you know what I tried to go to Tong's yesterday on the bus. I got off and couldn't find it lol. I went in this mini mart plaza and was seeing if it was there but then I saw a WHOLE bunch of bums hanging around. I was like F@$k this and left . when I got on the bus I saw where it was ( the direction the bums where lol) so today I am going again lol

 

 

Try Tong's in Fountain Valley. Cross streets on Warner and Magnolia, from LA, take the 405 S and exit Magnolia. Go straight past Warner, and turn into the plaza with the Chevron gas station.

[Phixion]

We have a couple of good LFS around here Roxy25.

 

Ghetto Tongs. On the corner of Vernon and Vermont. The surrounding is ghetto but nice selections, lol.

 

Bob's Tropical Fish on Atlantic. Right of the 60E.

 

If you want to go a bit further Rare Fish in West Covina. That place is pretty nice.

 

I just recently discovered a real nice one because I met with gOtfish there for a sale. Pasadena Tropical Fish off of Colorado. Man they had some real nice stuff in there last Sunday.

 

Tongs in Fountain Valley.

 

Let me think of more...

 

I live a couple miles from PTF, and it's not too shabby. They have a decent selection of fish. I'd say 98% of them look healthy. Their prices are a bit expensive though (typical of a non-chain LFS) but I did get my AP12G from there for $99 a few weeks ago, and I got my L/R from there just yesterday. I also get my RO/DI water from there. The staff is pretty helpful, so that's cool. The owner kinda rubbed me the wrong way my initial visits to there, but once you get talking with him he's an alright guy, and pretty darn knowledgeable as well. They have several nice reef tanks set up there as well.

 

I still would say I prefer Tongs in F/V.

[trojans]

Hi Roxy. I live in Sherman Oaks and work in West Hollywood. Near me there is Marks tropical fish ( http://www.markstropicalfish.com/) which is OK. A really good one most of the time, that is if you are willing to go east a bit on the 101 (or north if you wanna look at it that way) there is vivid aquariums ( vividaquariums.com ). Underwater depot on ventura blows, but aquarium center also on ventura is ok, atleast on mondays when they have 25% off all livestock. I also just checked out reefhotspot.com at the wharehouse, decent prices, but search really well the livestock there before you buy, b/c some is not taken care of all that well. Hope this helps, I'm always driving around here for work, and stop by a LFS if I see it, I'll et you know if I see anything else out in our area.

 

Mike

 

 

Where in Sherman Oaks do you live. I live on Alana Drive near Mulholland. There is also big fish which just opened up near haskell and Ventura.

[Mini_GBR]

Where in Sherman Oaks do you live. I live on Alana Drive near Mulholland. There is also big fish which just opened up near haskell and Ventura.

 

Yeah, I didn't mention that one just because I haven't liked the livestock. It doesn't seem to be very well taken care of, and whenever I go in the pieces look browned out and scarce. Maybe I've been in there on a bad day, but the owner seems more into making a quick buck than to offer good advice. Plus its a bit over priced on some things IMO. But you are correct there is The Big Fish, thanks for noticing. O, and welcome to the lub Trojans, would love to see a thread on you tank sometime, maybe we can share some frags when our tanks mature a bit.

[trojans]

Yeah, I didn't mention that one just because I haven't liked the livestock. It doesn't seem to be very well taken care of, and whenever I go in the pieces look browned out and scarce. Maybe I've been in there on a bad day, but the owner seems more into making a quick buck than to offer good advice. Plus its a bit over priced on some things IMO. But you are correct there is The Big Fish, thanks for noticing. O, and welcome to the lub Trojans, would love to see a thread on you tank sometime, maybe we can share some frags when our tanks mature a bit.

 

 

I'm gonna post pictures of my tank sometime this week. I would love to get some opinions on how it looks. You're right about big fish, but my kids love to go and see the shark tank.

[psidriven]

Any LFS that stocks plastic fasteners? Need two sets of plastic bolts and wing nuts for my overflow. I'm near West LA.

 

Thanks,

Tony

[KWoo008]

Here are some other store in the San Fernando Valley that didn't get mentioned:

 

Rainbow Pets (Woodman and Nordhoff) - Corals are very pricey and not in the best of shape. Fish (salt and fresh) are priced very competitively, but you have to be careful. Their livestock are not always healthy so look things over before you buy, and I would highly recommend you quarantine anything you buy from them (although you should be doing that anyway).

 

Ocean Pet (Reseda just north of Parthenia) - Decent prices and owner is cool, but livestock is hit and miss on selection and health.

 

Aquarium City (Sherman Way just east of Topanga Canyon) - Coral and fish are on the pricey side, but you can get a deal once in a while. Staffed by a bunch of younger guys who are "fun" to talk to but not always the friendliest.

 

Tat's (Woodland Hills) - Way farther than Vivid Aquariums for people coming from LA proper. Lotta nice stuff but you need a lotta money if you wanna take any of it home with you (IMO).

 

There is another store further north on Topanga Canyon but nothing really worth going out of the way for.

[I Take Pictures]

Wow I cant believ noone has mentioned Jeffs yet (I know I didnt either but that was awhile ago). Roxy, I strongly encourage you to visit Jeffs Exoctic Fish in Gardena ( http://www.exoticfish.com/ ). I highly doubt you will be dissapointed, but let me tell you this before. This is not a store, it is a warehouse for their internet buissness. So there are no pretty decorations or anything. But that being said, they have great livestock, great employees, great service.

[thatdog2202]

Vivid Aquariums (vividaquariums.com) in Canoga Park as mentioned by Mini GBR is really great. Everyone in there seems to know a lot about the whole hobby. The owner Dave is incredibly helpful. Their prices are very reasonable and you will never find a floater in their tanks. I use them exclusively and I'm always willing to drive the 45 minutes it takes me to get there.