LFS in Bay Area

Hi, so I am starting and I live in Oakland CA I have been buying most of my setup stuff from online retailers. But I need to get liverock and sand, and I need to get fish at some point. Anyone have recommendations of stores they trust?

Glen.

 

Well, how far are you willing to drive, and what are you looking for?

All About Fish (forgot name of city, but it's thru the 24 tunnel)
New Alameda Aquatics (on the island)
Lucky Goldfish (China Town)
Atlantis Aquarium (Hayward - Whipple)
Mermaid Aquarium (Freemont)
Aquatic Gallery (Milpitas)
Dolphin Pet Village (Campbell)
Natural Life Aquarium (Sunnyvale)
Ocean's Treasures (SF -Duboce)

To name a few

More can be found on Bay Area Reefers which BTW, is a reef club in your area

Bay Area Reefers

 

With in driving distance of Alantis.

Where is that "green with envy" smiley face...

 

what kind of livestock are you looking for? I have a serious hook up on caricean fish and inverts, strait from the diver.

 

ok some reason caribbean got butchered in the previous post

 

And they're only one of our great shops

 

So Gresham you would recommend all those shops as places to go for stuff? Atlantis Aquarium looks amazing. I am going to need live rock should all those places offer good prices? I guess i can go do some reading around in the rock section. Hey Gresham, do you go to Bay Area Reefers meetings? are they a good place for extreem noobs such as myself?

 

I'm ex-Vp and secretary of BAR It's an excellent group for noobs

I personally know every owner of every store I posted. I trust all of them. If your looking for a very knowledgable store, go to New Alameda Aquatics in Alameda during the week (not thurs) and ask for Jim. He's the ex-VP and accountant of BAR and worked in Tonga running a collection station/clam farm. He's been around the industry a loooong time. Tell him I sent you

As for LR prices, I'm really not sure whom has the best deal in the bay, sorry. I'd call around and ask. I have a sneaking suspicion that All About Fish has the best LR prices, but I honestly don'y know

 

FWIW, depending on the amount of LR you need, Jim may be able to price match, etc. It's always worth a shot

 

All About Fish is in Pleasant Hill. They have sales on coral every Sunday. 20% off the first one and 30% off the second and so on. I'm not sure the excact price of their live rock but they have several kinds. There's also that place in Berkely, Octopus Garden, but I've never been there personally just heard good things.