Great selection of both aquarium livestock and equipment. While my focus is primarily on freshwater…read moresetups, their saltwater inventory is highly impressive. The pricing here is very competitive, featuring excellent bulk discounts that are especially economical if you are stocking schooling fish. As a best practice, always quarantine any new additions before introducing them to your established community tanks. Transporting livestock introduces significant stress to their immune systems, and retail holding tanks are inherently high-density environments, so a quarantine protocol is a must rather than a reflection on the shop. Additionally, this is a fantastic source for high-quality dry and frozen fish food. Highly recommended.

I had a very pleasant experience. The store is both incredibly well-staffed and well-stocked with a…read morehuge selection of freshwater and saltwater fish, tons of plants, tanks, and equipment. Everything was well-organized, clean, and well-cared for, which made it really enjoyable to browse. Reasonable prices compared to Pet Kingdom. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable, ready to help when needed. They were happy to answer questions, give honest advice, and didn't make me feel rushed or pressured to buy anything. It's clear they genuinely care about the hobby and about helping customers succeed with their aquariums. Whether you're new to aquariums or have been in the hobby for years, this place is definitely worth visiting. I've checked out at least 20 different aquatic stores and this ranks as #1. Definitely be coming back the next time I'm in San Diego!

Very friendly owner. Variety of fish…read more Price is reasonable. Will come back again. Love the black tripe shark

The Best Store for planted tanks and critters. We bought from here our Anubias Plants, 3 kuhli…read moreloaches, black mollies, 4 corydoras, 1 Dwarf Gourami and 8 Blonde African Dwarf Frogs. And they all get along. True story. It's really relaxing having our 20 Gallon aquarium and a bit of nature with us. Very cool. Highly recommend.

Aquarium fish depot is fantastic and they treat their customers right and with care. If you need…read moresupplies they are the place to go!

If I could give zero stars, I would. Avoid this store at all cost!!!…read more I placed an order with Aquarium Fish Depot on April 8th, and it turned into one of the worst customer service and livestock experiences I've ever had. Before ordering, I emailed them to ask if I could place an order but delay shipping until April 17th. They responded and said yes, and told me to include the request in the order comments, which I did. Right after placing the order, I also replied to their confirmation email (which instructed me to reply if I wanted to add Route shipping protection) and asked them to add Route. They never responded. I emailed again on April 15th asking for an update and again requested Route protection. Still no reply. I called on April 15th -- no answer. I called again on April 16th and left a voicemail. No one ever called me back. Then, the evening of April 16th, I suddenly received a shipping confirmation. They had shipped the order without responding to any of my messages, and had quietly refunded one item -- the Captive-Bred Orchid Dottyback -- without explanation. Worse, the order was incomplete, and several fish arrived dead or in critical condition. --- What Arrived Alive: Coral Beauty Angelfish Firefish Goby Royal Gramma Cleaner Shrimp Pistol Shrimp 1 of 2 Fromia Starfish --- What Never Arrived: Hector's Goby Yellow Watchman Goby --- What Was Refunded Before Shipping: Captive-Bred Orchid Dottyback --- What Arrived DOA or Died Within an Hour: 2 Lyretail Anthias - Dead on arrival 1 Lyretail Anthias - Arrived half-dead, died within the hour Midas Blenny - Dead on arrival 1 of 2 Fromia Starfish - Dead on arrival --- That's 7 animals either dead or never sent. I followed all acclimation instructions exactly and documented everything with photos and timestamps. The worst part is that they completely ghosted me after confirming delayed shipping would be fine. I gave them multiple opportunities to respond and resolve things -- they chose not to. Avoid Aquarium Fish Depot. They do not stand behind their orders, they do not respond to customer concerns, and they clearly do not care about customer experience.

For the Ichthyophiles in Escondido, you probably already know of The Love Aquarium on E Valley…read moreParkway, between Midway and Citrus on the south side of E Valley Parkway. Tucked away in an innocuous mall, as soon as you enter the driveway The Love Aquarium is straight ahead. Visiting The Love Aquarium is a tranquil experience away from the warm, dusty Eastside of Escondido. The employees are very knowledgeable and friendly. They have all the supplies you need to care for your aquarium, better than the pet store on the other end of Valley Parkway. You can learn a lot about the various aquatic creatures by just looking at the tanks upon tanks of fishes and asking questions on their journey from whatever exotic locations they came from. So, if you need help, supplies, advice or recommendations, come here ready to be educated and explore The Love Aquarium!!! Definitely a return visit call!!! I'll be back!!!

Owner is an erragant guy. Everyone else is helpful. Has no business skills and asked if I was a…read morecop?. First word when I asked if he was Doug. Then decided that buying plants from another person who walked in afterwards was more important than helping us as we sit and wait.

I have made numerous orders from Aquatic Arts. No company…read morepacks better or has better customer service. The fish are all healthy! I've ordered: Blue eyed Fork tail rainbow fish Gold Convicts Gold Ring Danios Opaline Gourami Lavender Gourami Neon blue eyed Red Rainbow fish Cherry Barbs Gold Barbs Panda Corys Beckford Pencil fish var.red I would recommend them. I will reorder again as well

Buddy was so helpful. He restored my little birdbath fountain at a great price and great attitude…read more Will definitely call Buddy when I'm ready for that big backyard water feature.

The owner clearly loves his craft. Staff is super helpful, loads of healthy fish to choose from,…read morestore has a cool wood inspired aesthetic.

They definitely made it right--unbeknownst to them…read more I had bought dry goods and ended up changing my mind about them. They informed me of their exchange/store credit policy: 5 days. This unfortunately isn't a very generous window. To my dismay I was on day 6 so they said they couldn't. I explained that I live about 30min away and am off work around 630/7 so it's VERY difficult to make it down within the 5d period. After explaining this they said they could make an exception. The one downside is their driftwood pricing. They do have sims decent selection; however there's no set pricing guidelines. Other LFS stores use color-coded zip ties to denote price; here they don't. Online it says they sell based on weight; however the times I've bought pieces they've never weighed it: it seems like they just come up with a number and that's what you pay up. I guess another downside is they have a smaller selection (of goods in general) than other local LFS stores and they're a bit pricier.

5 Star Aquariums really does earn their 5 STARS!! My…read moreaquarium was in such bad shape, the water where I live is extremely hard and fish just kept dying! I had given up on my tank ever sustaining fish and looking beautiful. Shane at 5 Star Aquariums came to my home and cleaned out the tank, filled it with proper water and brought everything else with him too! Gravel and lots of decorations to choose from. My tank looks so beautiful now and I am looking forward to getting some fish again. Thank you Shane!!

Always helpful!!! I was in a pinch for ro water after trying to go to our local store said open so…read morewe went in and they were actually closed. With no notice on the door.

It's worth the drive from Temecula to see this coral Mecca! They have it all and then some. I…read moreplaced an order online and decided to drive and see the shop! Marco gave me a tour and of course I purchased another item. We've been using aqua SD for the last 2 years and they never disappoint their customer service, advice and quality of corals are always spot on! I've never had an issue with any of my past purchases! Keep reefing and enjoy the hobby!

Avoid this place. I…read morespent thousands of dollars with SD Aqua and regret ever doing business with them. It started when I purchased premium-priced live rock from SD Aqua. Within days of adding it to my tank, the entire system began crashing. The rock appeared to be in terrible condition, my sand bed turned black, and the tank was effectively ruined. As someone relatively new to the hobby, I relied on SD Aqua's expertise and guidance. Instead, I was left dealing with a disaster. To address the problem, SD Aqua referred me to a person named Andrew to help fix the tank. Unfortunately, the situation only got worse. The work performed created additional plumbing problems that later had to be corrected. We relied on the recommendations of people who presented themselves as experts, and that trust turned out to be a costly mistake. While the tank was being repaired, we entrusted our fish to SD Aqua for temporary holding. Several fish died while in their care. The remaining fish were returned in poor condition and soon showed signs of disease. Over the following weeks, we watched fish die one after another despite significant effort and expense trying to save them. Anyone who keeps saltwater fish understands how devastating it is to watch animals slowly decline and die after investing so much time, money, and care into them. What makes the entire experience even more frustrating is the complete lack of accountability. We were left with a destroyed tank, dead fish, damaged plumbing, and thousands of dollars in losses. One additional concern was the business practices we encountered afterward. When I later tried to obtain copies of receipts for purchases and services, SD Aqua was unable to provide complete records. Many of our transactions had been made through Zelle because we were repeatedly told the credit card system was unavailable. As a customer who spent a substantial amount of money with the business, I found it troubling that obtaining basic documentation of purchases was so difficult. At a minimum, it reflected a level of disorganization and poor recordkeeping that was consistent with the rest of our experience. The owner, Diego, was ultimately responsible for our account, and Andrew was the individual recommended to work on our system. Based on my experience, I would strongly caution anyone--especially those new to the hobby--against relying on this store for fish, water, rock, advice, tank services, or system design. There are too many reputable aquarium stores in Southern California to risk going through what we did. My experience with SD Aqua was expensive, frustrating, and ultimately devastating to the aquarium we worked so hard to build.