Short Story: Great selection, healthy fish, clean store, decent prices Long Story: I recently expanded my turtle's tank and added some fish for her to chase and a pleco to take care of the algae. Within a week, I became aware that the fish had ick (ich), one of the more obvious cases I have seen. Because a pleco is a type of 'scaleless fish,' it is sensitive to the typical medication used to treat ick. I contacted my local PetSmart, Pet Co and a couple others to try to find a specific medication that was advertised as being safe for plecos and scaleless fish (turned out it wasn't...the pleco is no longer with us). This was the only store that sold the specific items I was looking for. I walked in and was surprised by how open, well maintained and clean the store was. There are plenty of fish stores that are more than a little dingy. All of the fish I saw were healthy and active, with the exception of one tank with an awful case of ich (and judging by the color of the water, it looked like it was being treated). The owner was busy talking with a client who appeared to be a regular, and was quick to help us once we requested help. Service was good, prices were decent, everything was excellent. If you have fish, a 'sick aquarium,' or just want to see a larger selection than what your typical PetSmart or Pet Co might supply, this is the place to be! read more

If I could give this place a 0 star review I would. I went here Friday of last week to get Shrimp for my freshwater planted tanks. All three of which are already established, cycled, and thriving. I got 5 Red Cherry Shrimp to start off with hoping that I would be able to start a colony of them. 2 males 3 females, one baby shrimp also hitchhiked on in my purchase. I took them directly home (I live in Stanton so about a 30min Drive tops). Opened the bag up and one had already died. I slowly acclimated the rest and introduced them to my 5 gallon tank hoping for the best. However, within the next few hours all 5 of the remaining shrimp died. I am beyond disappointed, and upset for the wasted money on live stock that didn't even make it to the 24 hour mark, I will never be returning to this store, it is 100% a waste of money especially for how low in quality their shrimp are. read more

I've purchased my fish here for years, since about 1991. They're very knowledgeable and have a good variety of tropical fish, tank decor, tanks...pretty much everything you need. No complaints it's a one stop shop. read more

Really nice and clean shop. There's also a big selection of tanks (a lot of acrylic ones as well) and decor. The fish and plant are very nice and are well taken care of. Will come back here for the angels discus and shubunkin. read more

My boyfriend and I are starting a new hobby with our freshwater tank and there aren't many fish stores in our area that sell freshwater fish so we came here. We got 6 neon tetras for our 10 gallon tank and some cherry shrimp. A couple days later we notice white spots on the tetras. Found out it was ich. We QT our tetras after we saw the ich and a couple days later they died. We went back to the store and looked at the other tetras he had... sure enough his tetras had ich! This guy sold us sick fish, and when we told him that they had ich nothing was being done about it. If you're going to buy fish from this store to add to your tank QT them before. Luckily we didn't have any other scaled fish in our tank to pass the parasite on. Very disappointed. read more

Just found this place while trying to find someone who had quality fish and were very knowledgeable. The fish all look fat and healthy. The Reef has a wonderful selection of fish. If looking for large fish for big aquariums, this is your place. Rows and rows of grown fish. We only have a small aquarium, so we purchase the smaller fish. Love the fact that there are so many different species to choose from. Aquarium plants are beautiful and fairly priced. Wish we had an aquarium large enough to have an Arowana. They must have a 100 young silver Arowanas. I drive 30 plus minutes to get to this shop. It is always well worth the trip. read more

A very very knowledgeable staff. It was well worth the drive from Perris. Very lg quantity of different fish.

When you walk in, the store looks nice. Its well stocked and organized. But as you are in there, no one asks you if u need anything, instead the old man there will lock eyes onto you and make u feel uncomfortable. Then he will circle around the aisle you are in still not asking if u need help but instead making you feel even more uncomfortable. And then other employees come over and still dont ask but walk into ur aisle and walk right back out. Seems to me that you are assuming that I may a shoplifter. Give me a chance to browse your wares without making assumptions about me.My business is better taken elsewhere. read more

Very helpfull and I appreicate the fact that it is a family run business. I've bought my fish here in the past and also bought supplies. They have a good variety of fishes and supplies. IM always down to help a small business rather than a big corporation. read more

This is the fish store every fish store tries to be. The staff is actually knowledgeable. Can't tell you how many times I've walked into a fish store and have found myself to more knowledgeable about fish than the actual employees. Thankfully I happened upon this fish store and was pleasantly surprised. The fish were in good condition and they certainly have a great variety for both freshwater and saltwater aquariums. They are also one of the few fish stores near me that have a good variety of shrimp rather than the just the ghost and/or amano shrimp. They also carry assassin snails, which I was happy to hear as I have a pesky mystery snail problem in my tank. Will be shopping here from now on whenever I want anything fish related. read more

I appreciated they were friendly and knowledgeable about what I needed since I've had bad experiences at other fish stores not educating me on how to maintain my tank and what to feed my fish. read more

Always helpful on the phone and respectful. Going to check out their selection. They have bettas there!

Was here for almost 10 mins. Nobody greeted me. I saw a few fish I was interested in. The employees kept walking back and forth never asking if I needed help. Left figuring I could buy the same fish online for a lot cheaper. Would not recommend. read more

The workers seem like they dont like working there. Very unfriendly when I was asking them questions about the fish. I will not come back

I hate to give this place a bad rating, because I like to support local businesses that aren't chains, but I had a terrible experience here. I purchased a small pleco (sucker fish) for my freshwater tank. I should have quarantined his little ass, because two days after I bought him, he died. Then, two days after that, all of the other fish in my tank got Ich! My little goldfish were as sick as dogs, and I had never had ich in my tank before, and I had not introduced any new fish (other then the small pleco I bought at Reef) for months. I went to another store, and I bought Ich medication for them and followed the instructions, and they seemed to get better, but a couple weeks later my formerly healthy and beautiful Blackmoor Goldfish died. So, One Star from me for the Reef. Besides buying that little sucker fish (who I had named Toby Keith), my only other regret is that I didn't call them to tell them their fish got my fish sick, but it was a moment in my life where I was going through a lot and I just didn't feel up to picking up my cell phone and Em-Effing a fish shop. I should have. I will say that a friend of mine who told me about this place had had better luck then I did, but I will never shop here again or recommend it to you or anyone else. read more

I'm in nursing school right now and there's a lot of studying to be done. How does this relate to this fish store? In short, fish = better grades. See, our cat has gotten ultra needy within the last year and needs to have lots and LOTS of attention. I'd try to study long hours of the day and night, but our damn cat would love to step in front of me and all over my notes, purring and meowing for kitty cuddles. I really couldn't study at all, and it especially irritated me the night before a big test. I needed a solution....I needed a distraction....I needed fish. I bought the aquarium, but lo and behold, there's this whole new thing about 'cycling' aquarium water before putting your desired fish in. I thought I did tons of research and since I was trying to minimize fish murders in the Nowack household, I opted to try the "fishless cycling". I was taking biochem at the time, and it all seemed to make perfect sense! Add ammonia to water, nitrite levels go up, nitrite levels go down, nitrate levels go up! Well, it was a botched experiment because I would measure the water levels every 2 days for 3 weeks, and nothing happened. Enter Reef Tropical Fish. There are several fellows there that provide good information about cycling. The asian guy in there just shook his head when I told him I was doing the fishless cycling. :( Oh well...I tried!! But he had an easy solution..., they even have live enzymes in a freezer that cycles the water right away...which means, you can start your fish family right away Got 3 tetras as starter fish...waited 2 weeks (2 of them died within 2 days), but finally got my beloved tiger barbs. They had baby tiger barbs too, which is rare to me! There are now 5 tiger barbs and one tetra in my 15 gallon tank. It's 2 months later and all of them still seem to be very active. As for our cat, she LOVES them. In fact, she'll sit in front of the aquarium for hours and just watch my little babies go back and forth all day long. We call the aquarium the "Cat TV". No more distracting me during midnight cramming, no more clingy, attention hoarding cat. Mission accomplished. read more

I've been three times. First time, I was happy to find a potentially great place for turtle stuff. Second time, needed a pleco. Third time, wanted to let my son walk around all the tanks and experience the wonders of the deep. Third time was the last time. Interesting shopping: a grip of equipment to choose from and a mountain of volcanic rocks to trip over. Horrifying shopping: cannibalistic shrimp mowing on ghost carcasses of their deceased tank mates and cichlids swimming upside down. I think the place is haunted by the spirits of the lifeless floaters. In fact, I almost believe that the pleco I bought there is possessed. It rarely moves. It just sucks the underside of one rock...forever. Upside down. Blank stare. And then the occasional jet-powered dash around the tank once, as if its fins were on fire. Then back to the rock. read more

Unmatched inventory, great customer service and the store is right off the highway! What more could you ask for?

** My review is based soley on the salt water offerings of the store, not the fresh water** In terms of salt water coral, this place really didn't have anything worth looking at. All the salt water coral tanks on the side of the wall were bland and uninteresting. Maybe they didn't have any new stock or something but it was pretty lame in terms of variety and quality stock. In terms of the fish, they have the usual salt water fish but they didn't look 100% healthy in general. It seems like this place has much better fresh water offerings than salt water. There were no frag tanks in the aisles to look at like what all the other reef stores have. They only had the big tanks against the wall with absolutely no pricing marked on the glass. It seemed as if these tanks were there for decoration. read more

Of all the local fish stores (LFS) near me, I would place Reef Tropical Fish as one of the best. Having been lead here by Yelp, I was curious how this store had attracted the attention of more yelpers than the rest. I certainly wasn't disappointed. I had been browsing several stores in the general area to research pricing, get advice and check the quality and variety of livestock available. I had heard saltwater aquariums to be much more complicated to setup than a freshwater tank and so I wanted to do as much research as possible before jumping in headfirst. Being interested in a new saltwater setup, Reef Tropical was the place I chose to purchase my live rock and pre-mixed salt water from. I was able to find the perfect sized/ shaped rocks to fit my tank needs. After my tank finishes cycling I will definately be back to check out which new addition to my family I'll be taking home. If you're interested in freshwater, RT has a myriad of choices to pick from. I'm quite impressed by the selection offered; I always take more time wandering through the aisles of RT when I have time to kill. Definately a gem in O.C. if you're an aquarium enthusiast. Pricing: Not cheap, but great selection and quality. Overall rating: 4.5. Price: $$ read more

I absolutely love this place. I come here all the time to buy ghost shrimps for my puffers. A friend gave me a 80 gallon tank for my birthday and knowing nothing about aquariums, I came here to decide what I wanted. The guys were knowledgeable and was nice to explain to me what were hardy fish to care for, for a newbie. This is the only store in OC that I found that carries ghost shrimp and frozen clams on the half shell. read more

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I absolutely recommend this place! The staff is super helpful and they have great prices, Better and healthier fish that Petco or Petsmart.

A really solid pet store. By the name I expected a good selection of saltwater fish and invertebrates, and it was up to par. Maybe not the best pet store I have seen, but right up there. The corals mostly looked healthy and they had all the usual critters. The freshwater section was the best I have seen in Southern California though. A great selection of plants. While it is not exactly rare, when I see Java Moss it usually is a good sign. It is a robust plant which can be used in a wide variety of aquascapes. I also did not see any of the typical poor choices chains like petsmart try to sell. For example I did not see Mondo grass (which is not a true aquatic plant and eventually dies if placed in an aquarium). They had about a half dozen varieties of freshwater shrimp. This too is not exactly rare, but you can usually pick out a decent pet shop by whether they sell Cherry Shrimp. It was a small store though. Because of this, one thing it lacked were high quality show tanks. It had some nice reef tanks, but they looked like they were more to show off what they had for sale. One or two high quality planted aquarium show tanks would have gone a long ways towards selling people on the idea of a freshwater planted aquarium. read more

Bright, clean and well stocked. The aisles are separated from fresh-water agressive, to semi-agressive to community so you won't go wrong. But the staff is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful so they'd make sure that you wouldn't purchase incompatible fishes. Prices are fair and reasonable and there were plenty of fish in stock. Supplies and dry goods are well stocked as well. Overall, a must check-out if looking to start a new hobby or if you're already an enthusiast. read more

I give them five stars for their awesome freshwater selection, but negative three stars for dead fish in the tank. I can understand one dead fish--sometimes fish get in fights, arrive at the shop sick after a customs delay, etc. But there were three dead fish, all in different tanks. There were also three people standing around working and no one asking if they could help the one customer in the shop (me). Even worse, no one was maintaining the tanks. To quote the immortal David Spade in the epic cinematic masterpiece, "Reality Bites," "If you got time to lean, you got time to clean!!" I bought a few neon tetras only because it was a long drive from South Central Aliso Viejo all the way to Anaheim and I didn't want to leave empty handed. All the tetras turned out to have ich (as in, they looked fine in the tank and in the bag, got them home, put them in the tank and 12 hours later they were all iched out). Two of them are already dead. So, basically, I have learned my lesson: don't buy fish from a shop with dead fish carcasses in the tanks. Go to Tong's off Imperial. They are super helpful, constantly taking care of the fish, and they approach you immediately when you walk in the door. read more

Expensive but great selection! This place is like most independent fish stores... salesmen who watch your every move and say just about anything to get you to buy their fish. The good news is they have a great selection of freshwater fish. Theres 3 aisles for freshwater fish and 1 aisle for saltwater and corals. Their prices are probably at least a dollar more than most places but I imagine that its because there arent very many fish stores in the area to compete with. This place is small but has a nice setup. The tanks are clean and most of the fish look healthy. I bought a Bolivian Ram, which isnt the easiest fish to find, and so far hes in pretty good health. I recommend this place for people looking for a better selection of fish rather than the normal Platys, Mollies, and Guppies. read more

They have a great selection of cichlids! This family business is so friendly and honest ... they tell you what's in your best interest to purchase vs selling you products or tanks . We turned our freshwater into saltwater and the owner was beyond helpful. It was pretty busy when we were in there but he made sure to finish helping us before jumping to the next customers. Didn't rush on us and answered all of our questions . We set up our tank and look forward to coming back for fish! Thank you!! read more

Reef Tropical Fish - Live rock! Can't wait to get starter fish! - Local Fish Stores Near Me - Anaheim, California

IMO their is no better fish store in orange county, they will take care of you, with what you need and not try to sell you what you don't. I have not found a more knowledgeable person when it comes to the aquarium hobbyist interest than the owner Mr Tee. I am a bit obsessed when it comes to my hobby and any time i have a question or think i have stumbled on to something new Mr Tee is there full of answers knowing all about whatever thing i thought i discovered. I can tell you that he the is only person I met who actually knew what he was talking about without being pushy trying to up sell me, and when he didn't know, he got out the book and looked it up rather than give me information that he wasn't confident of. The store has a nice variety of tropical fish with approximately 30 different acrylic tanks set up for freshwater. They also have a nice marine section with some live coral as well. The store also has a good selection of supplies and fish food. The store also has several bundle packages for starting new tanks which are unbeatable i have purchased several as gifts for friends and family. Their is one drawback the store is a bit understaffed, but with our economy their is on other alternative for a small business owner. Their are lots of great fish stores in SoCal, and I try to visit them all but Reef's is my go to first, i never leave disappointed. read more

Honestly, this place is pretty dang good. If you have any type of need to shop for any type of tropical fish, this is the place. It's not as big as Tongs, but there is one main thing that instantly stood out to me when I browsed through their fish: tank cleanliness and fish health. Both were top notch. The fish were well-kept, which is a good sign, and the tanks were clean as well, so there wasn't much in terms of questioning or doubts on how healthy the fish were. Very good. The fish selection itself was very large and diverse; from the simple tetra to the more exotic arowana fish, they have it all. And if you're looking for cichlids, look no further; an entire row, made up of 2 stacks, was dedicated to this species. Also a nice note; they do have quite a nice selection of live aquatic plants, which are all a nice healthy green color, with few or no brown spots. However, some were eaten up a little, as they keep these plants with fish *good due to source of nutrition, bad due to being the food source for fish :D* Prices varied; some things were cheaper or the same price, others were marked higher. Honestly though if you're going to spend the time comparing prices, amazon.com is a lot faster and easier than driving around. The tanks that they had in stock was pretty decent, but I didn't get a good chance to really look through them. Glass selection was good, but didn't really see that many acrylics. Tank decorations were a little small, but comparing their stock to the size of the store, its acceptable. All in all, a solid store. Only reason I'm giving them a 4/5 and not a 5/5 is due to some price discrepancies on some items. But that is normal in any line of business. Also, they were selling the marineland stealth 100 watts and higher; to those who do not know, marineland did send out a recall order on those, so please watch out. Any marine land heater 50 watts or lower is safe. The recall was due to defects that caused the heater to explode, so please be careful out there to those who bought these model and brand of heaters recently. read more

Definitely one of the better LFS in the OC. You will find all your dry goods here, as well as a wide array of freshwater fish. Their saltwater selection is limited. The cool thing about this store is that they readily accept trade-ins at 1/3rd their selling price. It's nice because sometimes your fish get too big, or they get too aggressive to their tankmates, or sometimes you just don't want them anymore. I actually bought someone else's trade-in, a 6" flagtail at $25! My girlfriend named him "Brandon" and he's the only fish she cares about in all of my tanks. read more

Oh the selection! Tons of freshwater, there's like a wall of salt, but the store is mainly freshwater. Lots of different plants too. When I walked in to the store I was like, whoa this place is big. There is an aisle of medications, nutrients, etc, then there are a couple for all the different kinds of food there, one for decorations, and what surprised me was that they even carry a bit of stuff for reptiles and birds 0.o bedding, bird seed, turtle food haha. Then on another wall there are cleaning supplies and nets. They have some tanks on display too but some are kind of just pushed up against the wall and still wrapped in plastic. They're nice tanks I guess but I'm certainly not in the market for one (my beta fish doesn't need a tank big enough for me to bubble bath in) I really love their selection of decorations. There was some sponge bob and Dora stuff but the there were the sunken ships, ancient city structures, castles, dragons, wizards (ok I'm pretty sure I saw a wizard but that might be my mind filling in that part lol) mermaids and stuff. Don't know enough about live aquatic plants? S'okay, they got fake ones too :) My favorite thing about this store though is walking in and hearing the bubbling noise as you walk through the aisles of fish....very relaxing and mellow to me. The lighting in the store is somewhat dim, probably to contrast with the light from the tanks. It's a clean store too, floors aren't slippery with water spilt for whatever reasons. I think they have pretty good prices, came in looking for baby angelfish and left with a couple nice ones and change to spare. Another time, we saw some Rosaline sharks and had to get at least one because it was such a good deal. We had this aquatic plant club/forum membership thing, so they gave us 10% off our total. Customer service was pretty much the same as the other fish stores I've been to. There's no tv for them to watch so I usually get greeted. I don't believe there are as many employees though. I've seen the owner (Asian man?) and then two other guys. If they're not helping someone, they are usually cleaning the tanks or something. Tell them what you need and they'll get it for you; that's the extent of my interaction with them. Small talk? Nah. Questions about your set up? Nah. Sometimes it's just one person working so we've stood at the register for a few minute waiting but it's never bothered us. read more

Amazing service got helped out almost right away asked a couple questions about owning a salt water tank and he answered them all with no hesitation wonder full service and beautiful fish and corals read more

Got two fishes on Thursday. Both died last night (within 2 days) and got my other fish contaminated... with white fuzz around their fins and bodies... Not getting anymore fishes from here. read more

Great store with a amazing selection of fish. I drove from Inglewood to get new fish for my tank and they were awesome.

This is an excellent place to go for both fresh and saltwater. They do have mandarin gobies which are pretty cool. I think their selection caters to more freshwater folks, but that's just me. You'll be pretty happy to see such a small store with such a vast collection. A lot of the hard to find fishes can be found here for a good price like Corydoras pygmaeus, Endlers, dwarf chain loaches (sidthimunki), purple rasboras, galaxy rasboras (aka celestial pearl danios), and most puffers. I didn't see a Fahaka, but I think the owner is willing to get a custom purchase for you. I got my pygmy cory catfish here today for $3 a pop. I'm planning to acquire some of their Endlers in a few weeks. Before I forget, they have some cool freshwater inverts like red crabs and Neocaridina spp Orange variety. Also, I sometimes have trouble finding amanos. Here, it seems they never run out of them. Tanks are well kept. There may be a few deaths but I know they do upkeep just after opening and sometime in the afternoon. From what I saw today, they get their shipments early in the week like on a Monday like most of other stores (Tongs, 405 Tropical FIsh, etc). Nonetheless very clean and almost spotless. Fish are healthy and active. Can't find the driftwood? Look under the tanks in the stands themselves...you'll find koi there too. For hardwares and other supplies, they do run a bit higher than the usual retail Petco or Petsmart. However, there are certain hardwares that you can't find anywhere else like CoraLife T8 which I need for my show tank. Speaking of the owner, he's a kind Thai guy. Pretty quiet, but very friendly if you ask him for any help around the store. His name is a bit of a mouthful so everyone just refers him to Mr. T. His son is also around to help...you'll see resemblance. The Reef is my go-to LFS. I wish I can give them an extra star. 6/5 read more

They have a lot of knowledge about fish and aquarium keeping but usually when I walk in there there's at least 1-2 dead fish in their tanks. I just purchased three last week and two died two days later. A lot of their fish have sunken bellys unless you get them the same day they were delivered then you are good. Sucks that such great guys have such shit fish. ‍ read more

If you're like me and love fish, you've gotta check out this store. Compared to all the other local fish stores this one is huge. The owners are so friendly and the fish are so cuddly. I've bought over 12 freshwater fish here; oscars; green terror, plecostamus, jewel cichlid, silver dollar, red hook, to name a few I have. The store has 4-5 long aisles of fish aquariums and lots of accessories too. read more

First time visitor as we do not live all that close to here but our local fish store hasn't had female guppies in months. The owner here is very friendly and the tanks are all really well maintained-it's no wonder that they have been in business for over 31 years! They have a wide selection of both fresh and saltwater fish at reasonable prices. Would come back here if in the area or looking for something our local store doesn't have. Happy to support small businesses instead of the big boxes. read more

Continuing my quest to visit the LFS in Orange County... After reading good words about this place on fish-keeping sites, I decided to stop by. I was impressed with the selection of freshwater fish they have available. They also have some rare and exotic species as well. Good amount of supplies and equipment as well. Fish are well-priced but dry goods are pricey, as usual for LFS. read more

Great fish store. This little gem offers a lot of dry goods at very reasonable prices. Everything I needed (varying sizes of driftwood, check valve, and lettuce clips) were all in stock and at great prices. As many have already noted, this store mainly caters to freshwater species. They do, however, have a nice selection of corals. I was very impressed at the cleanliness of tanks (I observed this on 2 separate visits), but of course I still spotted at least 2-3 tanks with dead and/or dying fish. Had this issue not been prevalent I would have given them a full 5 stars. All in all, I will be back and would highly recommend them to fellow fish keepers. read more