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View Full Version : Finally have a tank in SD!

Macrocystis
10-01-2011, 06:49 PM
Hey everyone!
I recently moved down to San Diego once again for school at UCSD and this time I brought a tank along with me. Glad to see there's a group of knowledgeable hobbyists in the area!
I was only able to bring a tiny tank down, so I'm wondering what stores you guys recommend for a better selection of smaller critters. I'm also looking for the most reliable place for water. One of my customers back home recommended Encinitas Tropical Fish to me, but the water I picked up today was sort of questionable. The employee working didn't know if it was synthetic or not and when I noticed brown flecks in the jug upon returning home I tested and found that it was pretty watered down and had ammonia. :[ Any other places you'd recommend?

Thanks so much!

Jamie
h20poloman2
10-02-2011, 12:15 AM
Hey everyone!
I recently moved down to San Diego once again for school at UCSD and this time I brought a tank along with me. Glad to see there's a group of knowledgeable hobbyists in the area!
I was only able to bring a tiny tank down, so I'm wondering what stores you guys recommend for a better selection of smaller critters. I'm also looking for the most reliable place for water. One of my customers back home recommended Encinitas Tropical Fish to me, but the water I picked up today was sort of questionable. The employee working didn't know if it was synthetic or not and when I noticed brown flecks in the jug upon returning home I tested and found that it was pretty watered down and had ammonia. :[ Any other places you'd recommend?

Thanks so much!

Jamie

Welcome Jamie. There are plenty of LFS here in San Diego and also pretty close to UCSD. AquaSD, Aquatic Warehouse and Octopuss's Garden are all in a very close vicinity. As for water, I personally have mixed my own and also use Scripps natural sea water which is free. I've been doing weekly water changes with Scripps for probably about 8 months now and my tank has been doing well. Aquatic Warehouse would probably be your best bet if you want to buy RO/DI water but I'd still always suggest testing with a TDS meter just to double check if it's coming out at a zero reading. As for livestock, all of those mentioned should have smaller items for your tank. Pet Kindgom and Encinitas Tropical also give our card carrying members a min 10% discount on livestock.

If you are also not familiar already, I suggest surf www.sdreefs.com which is our main BBS for San Diego reefers.

Cheers,
Marlin