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LFS in Los Angeles area

roxy25

By roxy25,
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Cesar

Cesar

Posted
Posted
I just got back from Pacific Reef in Torrance he he expanded his frag tanks. He has more variety and are priced from 5-20 dollars and has three tanks full, not to mention clams at 20 bucks too. I need more light for those.

 

Man I need to really drive around dude. I end up going to the same spots all the time. This Pacific Reef is really starting to call me.

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hansen

hansen

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I went to Pacific Reef in Torrance and it is amazing. The selection of frags is just ridiculous. I spoke with the owner and he was explaining to me that they are expanding their already massive frag tanks. Definitely worth the drive for me.

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Cesar

Cesar

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What's Pacific Reefs Address? I might swing by there tomorrow.

 

 

Nevermind I found it. Man I never realized how close it is to me. Only 10 miles away. Very cool.

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  • 2 weeks later...
ezcompany

ezcompany

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i dunno what the fuss is about Pacific Reefs. Its a huge place but their corals that i've seen were ugly. But most of all, its overpriced, except for their 5-10$ frag section. highschool kids will help you, but at least they help :) They do have oyster eggs, which is the only thing i got there when I went. maybe its different now...

 

Tongs Tropical Fish @ FV probably has THE BEST display tank I've ever seen so far of any LFS. other than that, buying stuff there equals to a downpayment for a new brand new car. i bought one bar of cyclopeeze and marinesnow. where you can buy Kent Magnesium for $13 in LFS, and less than that in Marine Depot, they charge $19 there. limited customer service, 3 people working in a huge store. no thx

 

Coral and Fish Center, next to Southcoast plaza mall, nice layout, decent acans, insane prices once again. their owner is okay...but his wife/gf was a b**** as she refused to frag me one of the blastos lol "i don't want to risk the whole colony for $20" yeah whatever...its called a dremel....and the head i wanted was totally isolated too....their drygoods are also marked up around 150%, a $99 for a Seio 620, $37 at Marine Depot, and $40-$50 at other LFS.

 

My favorite stores for now all happen to be up in the Valley.

 

Vivid Aquariums

Maknwaves

and....thats it....Los Angeles is sad...

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rbdesigns

rbdesigns

Posted
Posted
i dunno what the fuss is about Pacific Reefs. Its a huge place but their corals that i've seen were ugly. But most of all, its overpriced, except for their 5-10$ frag section. highschool kids will help you, but at least they help :) They do have oyster eggs, which is the only thing i got there when I went. maybe its different now...

 

Tongs Tropical Fish @ FV probably has THE BEST display tank I've ever seen so far of any LFS. other than that, buying stuff there equals to a downpayment for a new brand new car. i bought one bar of cyclopeeze and marinesnow. where you can buy Kent Magnesium for $13 in LFS, and less than that in Marine Depot, they charge $19 there. limited customer service, 3 people working in a huge store. no thx

 

Coral and Fish Center, next to Southcoast plaza mall, nice layout, decent acans, insane prices once again. their owner is okay...but his wife/gf was a b**** as she refused to frag me one of the blastos lol "i don't want to risk the whole colony for $20" yeah whatever...its called a dremel....and the head i wanted was totally isolated too....their drygoods are also marked up around 150%, a $99 for a Seio 620, $37 at Marine Depot, and $40-$50 at other LFS.

 

My favorite stores for now all happen to be up in the Valley.

 

Vivid Aquariums

Maknwaves

and....thats it....Los Angeles is sad...

 

 

I agree with you EZ on Pacific Reef. I went there yesterday and was disappointed. Their fish selection was slim and things were over priced. I was in the area and needed some salifert tests, can't remember the pricing on it, but for the Instant Ocean Tests, I think for 10-20 test of nitrate and phosphate it was $33.00 phosban reactors for $55.

 

The 240 gallon tanks they will be setting up will be sweet though, but I won't there again.

 

I have to try and make it to Mknwaves though.

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Texsun

Texsun

Posted
Posted
I agree with you EZ on Pacific Reef. I went there yesterday and was disappointed. Their fish selection was slim and things were over priced. I was in the area and needed some salifert tests, can't remember the pricing on it, but for the Instant Ocean Tests, I think for 10-20 test of nitrate and phosphate it was $33.00 phosban reactors for $55.

 

The 240 gallon tanks they will be setting up will be sweet though, but I won't there again.

 

I have to try and make it to Mknwaves though.

 

Like I said, I wouldn't trek down here just to visit PR quite yet.

 

Give them a few more months (remember this store is less than 6 months old!) for their systems to mature and for Mike to set up his 3 240g SPS/rare coral tanks.

 

I agree on the pricing but Mike's pretty reasonable if you only talk to him. Also, keep in mind that unlike OC, there aren't that many alternatives in the South Bay.

 

BTW, I went to Mark's Tropical Fish for the first time in months (if not years) and was reminded of why I like the place so much. Healthy fish and coral + good service. They don't have the biggest selection but what they do have is A+. Had some nice black perc misbars that I haven't seen elsewhere.

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CBlanks

CBlanks

Posted
Posted

Right now the folks at Reef Hot Spot on Pontius are having a sale corals. One of their large tanks has multiple different types of corals (Favias, Mushrooms, Zoos, Flowerpots, Frogspawns, Candy Canes, etc) and everything in the tank is $25. Thought Id give everyone a heads up!

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psidriven

psidriven

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Posted

The impression I'm getting is that there's no one stop shop for selection and price. Seems like you just have to shop around for the best deals and finds. I like PR in FV since they've been open longer and seem to have better selection of nano size livestock and decent prices. Haven't needed drygoods so can't comment on that. I tend to purchase drygoods at asian owned stores since they'll give you a discount if you ask and are a regular.

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Phixion

Phixion

Posted
Posted

I briefly considered one of those. Very mysterious looking, but cool! I have yet to see around at the LFS's I've been to around LA... Perhaps Jeff at Exotic Fish could track one down for you?

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S.I.C.

S.I.C.

Posted
Posted

EZ,

 

You are right, LA sucks. Pacific Reef is the best place around here that I have found. I like Vivid a lot but it takes me an hour to get there. I need to look at some of the spots in OC they have had good reviews. The fuss is because its the best in the area :)

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psidriven

psidriven

Posted
Posted
I thought I was the only one that like these guys ! it seems that marine center is the only one that has them I looked every where

 

 

Really? Interested in doing a group order from Marine Center, haha.

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Phixion

Phixion

Posted
Posted
EZ,

 

You are right, LA sucks. Pacific Reef is the best place around here that I have found. I like Vivid a lot but it takes me an hour to get there. I need to look at some of the spots in OC they have had good reviews. The fuss is because its the best in the area :)

 

Jeff's in Orange is really nice. I've been before and I liked it! Pretty decent prices too!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
roxy25

roxy25

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o rly...so you have good LFS's near you =) gratz!

 

 

HAha just 2 out of 100's lol this LFS has potential. its on santa monica and yale its called nature aquarium gran opening .

 

fish where all healthy and bright colored they had a potters angel, scotts wrasse to name a few. I dont know the prices of fish in the lfs but they where marked the same as an online vendor.

 

Their coral was not a huge selection but they had hard coral colonies, not sue how much or how much a frag.

 

it was a clean shop no fowl oder etc...

 

I bet you can have them order corals and fish for you if you asked.

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Phixion

Phixion

Posted
Posted

Hmm, interesting... I found another near me I'm going to check out soon, Monrovia Tropical Fish. Looked decent inside from what i could see through the door when I drove by recently.

 

Hey Kerry, you interested in going to our little LFS meet at Raskal311's shop tomorrow? So far about a half dozen of us are going.

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Asin

Asin

Posted
Posted
Hey Kerry, you interested in going to our little LFS meet at Raskal311's shop tomorrow? So far about a half dozen of us are going.

 

 

It would be nice to have a lady come by. :)

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roxy25

roxy25

Posted
  • Author
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Hmm, interesting... I found another near me I'm going to check out soon, Monrovia Tropical Fish. Looked decent inside from what i could see through the door when I drove by recently.

 

Hey Kerry, you interested in going to our little LFS meet at Raskal311's shop tomorrow? So far about a half dozen of us are going.

 

 

where is it at ?

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  • 4 weeks later...
ReefApprentice

ReefApprentice

Posted
Posted

In mid January the gang is meeting up at Pacific Reef, so you skeptics can check it out. Hopefully they will have their SPS tanks setup. I hope he will make cheap frags!!!

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