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Aqua Traders
- Hours:
Fri-Sun 11:30 am - 6 pm
19 reviews for Aqua Traders
19 reviews in English
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Review from M C.
San Francisco, CA
4/4/2011 2 photos
This is a warehouse that now also sells to the public. They supply most of the bay area fish stores with their fish. Each day their drivers would load their vehicles with bags of fish in white boxes to each of the stores in the bay area.
The fish aren't really feed regularly since they are waiting to be sold. The stores themselves, buy the fish and feed them for a couple days before reselling them. -
Review from kim w.
San Francisco, CA
10/6/2010 4 Check-ins Here
Idk why all the bad reviews. I came here with feelings that they were going to be rude to me because of the reviews, but it was the total opposite. These guys were so gangster and nice!
It was also wayyyyyyyy better than going to Monterey Bay Aquarium!! such a cool place with sooooooo many different fish! A lot of the fish i only had in my aquarium in my iphone app! SO CHEAP too!!!!! I bought two blue crayfish for $10, he told me to get one more and it would be the same price, but i only needed two. They were helpful and knowledgeable.
The thing that gave them 5 stars was that there were no questions asked. UNLIKE PET SMART or another local place in the sunset that refused to sell me pets......the hell??
they are whole sale mon-fri, so come on a weekend if you want to just buy 1 fish or another creature. Self serve!Listed in: for my homies at home
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Review from Kurt W.
Foster City, CA
2/7/2009
As others have noted, Aqua Traders is primarily a wholesale operation with an online consumer business as well. The store front is more of a place to store the stuff they sell online or to other businesses.
The livestock are literally in a warehouse with lots of holding tanks. I've been buying livestock and supplies from here for many years when they were in a slightly larger space on San Bruno Ave. Since these are "holding tanks", the livestock aren't the best of shape, so figure on a around a 70% survival rate. I bought a mix of livestock last week including two cleaner shrimp. I lost some of the fish, but the shrimp are doing great. They were half the price of http://saltwaterfish.com.
The tanks and supplies are very reasonable, especially lighting and tanks. I bought a combination light hood with two sets of flourescants
Parking at their current location is a challenge at best. A very small parking lot is augmented by very narrow streets. One tip is to look for street parking one block west of the store, towards the railroad tracks. -
Review from avalon e.
Sunnyvale, CA
Updated - 7/25/2007
1 star for livestock, 5 stars for hardware and supplies.
This is where the Sunday bag lot sale livestock at 6th Avenue aquarium gets transhipped from!
The staff is very friendly and helpful ( vs. 6th Avenue aquarium) and the hardware / supplies are extremely affordable.
Go there on Fridays at noon and witness the healthy specimens get spoken for by the retailers, and the ones of marginal survivability dumped into the holding tanks waiting for smaller retailers to pickup OR end up in bags @ David's 6th Ave Aquarium on Sunday.
Be considerate, do not try to compete with the retailers at that time and even if you see your local fish store guy getting fish there just pretend you dont see him.
Unless you have a quarantine tank/bucket to resuscitate fish I recommend you not pickup anything in the holding tanks. Wait for Sunday at 6th and you get to pick those that survive Saturday at a better price. But you'd still have to "rescue" the fish before introducing them to your main tank.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/21/2007
1 star for livestock, 5 stars for hardware and supplies.
This is where the Sunday bag lot sale… Read more »
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Review from sfc j.
San Francisco, CA
3/2/2008
They have a good selection, and there cheap, but it doesn't matter because most everything you buy there will die. The last time I bought fish from them, was the last time. 3 saltwater fish about $40, all three dead in 2 days, and they gave Ick to the rest of my fish. So what little savings there is on the front end, ends up costing a lot more in the end.
This place is only good for food, and filter stuff. Don't expect any advise either. They will tell you anything you want to hear to make you buy a fish.
I was chatting with a customer in another fish store in the city, and he said he bought some power compact lights from them, they shorted out and started a fire in his house.
No thanks I"ll spend the extra few bucks!! -
Review from Tiffany V.
San Bruno, CA
10/30/2008
When you walk in it looks like a warehouse, which I think it kind of is. They have a lot of tanks full of fish at relatively cheap, reasonable prices. However, they tend to die fast and are stressed out. Its not very clean either; you will see a lot of dead fish on the floor. When you know what you want, you go get a bucket and a net and scoop out your own fish which I think stresses the fish out even more if someone doesn't know how to properly net fish. When you scoop out some water, you'll notice that the water is very yellow. There are no prices listed on the tanks, so you have to keep walking from the back to the front to ask the guy at the register how much this or that costs. Don't bother trying to ask one of those guys walking around, they don't really speak English and don't know what fish is what and all they do is scoop out dead fish and put new fish in.
I used to buy goldfish from here because the fish is generally hardy, but they don't sell them anymore. They have a wide variety of freshwater and some for saltwater. The algae eaters that I buy from here do live, and I have noticed that they are the only types of fish that live that I have bought from this store.
Their tanks and other equipment is from pretty much unknown brands unless you're a Chinese fish keeper. I only say this because most of the equipment is made in China and more popular in China, like Jeebo. Also, if you order their equipment online, it is so much cheaper than in store. A bad thing is that you cannot order online and pick up in store, if you do that, then you have to pay store price which is usually double. One time, I ordered a light, and UPS tried to deliver but I never got those "missed you" notices, so they sent it back, and then they didn't want to refund me. So I told them that I live nearby and they said that they would still have to ship it and that I would have to pay for shipping. After much arguing, the guy agreed to do a reship for free, and I finally got my light.
Overall, I wouldn't shop here unless I'm looking for an algae eater or freeze dried worms and shrimp. -
Review from Masa K.
Marin, CA
4/2/2011
Very poor customer service. They do not match their own online prices. They charge $3 "connivence" fee for credit card purchases.
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Review from Blue S.
San Mateo, CA
12/26/2007
Review only on saltwater related goods and livestocks.
People = Friendly; but don't expect to get a lot of answers there though (better research online); its a wholesale place, not school.
Fish = huge selection (no exotic fish though) and quantity. You need to know how to pick a healthy fish though. Go on fridays and saturdays. Price is almost like wholesale price. If you are adding a new fish to your establish tank. Make sure you put it in quarantine tank for 2 weeks and it is free of disease and eating fine. You can buy 3 tomato clown for the price of 1 (compared to other LFS). So, even if you screw up and kill two, you still have one. Hopefully not.
Corals = almost none
Equipment = huge collection, but only carries one or two brand which is not my favorite. price is very affordable. You should check this out if you are a newbie.
I recommend this store for saltware fish. I never tried anything else ... -
Review from Tina T.
San Francisco, CA
6/21/2008
This store used to be located on San Mateo Avenue and was called "99 Fish Pets" before they moved to San Bruno Avenue a few years ago. They have a large variety of fresh and saltwater fish, but nothing out of the ordinary or exotic. And don't expect their fish tanks to be aquascaped or the store to be pleasingly decorated either. This store is a giant warehouse housing tons of fish in bare tanks. The prices are low to average, but I wouldn't buy from them unless you have a quarantine tank. Their fish are highly stressed and their health are questionable.
Also, they are closed on Tuesdays, and they no longer sell goldfish. :-( -
Review from Mr. Rivet ..
San Francisco, CA
5/16/2007
the livestock is not very healthy at all and kept in poor conditions.
the supplies they sell are very cheap, but beware they are also of low quality. if you are on a mega budget they are fine but have been known to have problems. they are cheap products at a cheap price so no surprise.
just wish they kept their livestock better. untill then i am not purchasing any thing from them. -
Review from David M.
San Francisco, CA
4/13/2007
Very cheap fishes!!! This store focuses on providing supplies to local fish stores, so don't be surprise to see workers from other stores there. It can be a challenge at times to get nice fishes because a lot of times the local stores clear them of fishes.
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Review from katie M.
San Jose, CA
2/25/2009
Do not order from here!!! Worst possible service ever! Check out the fish forums hundreds of complaints from this company! Too bad I didn't see the complains until after I made my purchase!
I ordered a light fixture from here because of cheap price. I never got a tracking number or a confirmation of purchase until after I received the product. When I finally received the product it was nothing as pictured, so I wanted to return it. It took them a week to reply to my email to authorize the return! I only live 40 min. away from the warehouse so I know for a fact that they received the package a day after I mailed it. Two weeks has passed and I have yet to be credited my refund. I called inquiring my order and they said they cannot find it and they don't think it ever arrived. I asked to speak to a manager, and the woman answering the calls puts me on hold for 10minutes. I hang up and call again and again, now they are ignoring my calls. I decided to call from a different number and suddenly somebody picked up. Coincidence? I think not! I start to get angry complain about how unprofessional she is and ask for the manager again. Then she hangs up on me. I wait a few minutes and call from a different number again. This time I tell her I live in San Jose and she will be sure that I am very capable of arriving there within the hour. Suddenly, they find my package and refunded me my money quickly. Wow, all of a sudden my package magically appears after I threaten to go to the warehouse myself.
I reported them to the Better Business Bureau and they already have many complaints. Save yourself some money and go to a fish company with a good reputation! -
Review from kmaintl L.
San Francisco, CA
9/12/2009
This is a direct importer, selling to the public at wholesale prices. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. Be cautious on any electronic products like lighting. Check out the reef forums and some of their ballasts has caused home fires.
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Review from Dominick S.
Vancouver, WA
7/31/2007
They have cheap prices on fish tanks, fish and lights. I bought a 260 watt 48 inch light with 3 different control switches for $120 you can not beat that anywhere. Their tank prices are amazing as well. I was there yesterday and they had some beautiful Gouramis. If you don't know anything about fish do not buy any until you learn about what you want. I did not find them to be very informative. Do your reasearch on fish first. Do buy your fish tank here or at Wal Mart. I personally did not buy my fish here so I do not know about that but they always have a large selection that is always different.
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Review from ray h.
San Francisco, CA
4/15/2011
I'm so glad they are located in san bruno ca. they really do have good prices on all their fish products. i purchased lights and protein skimmers ps160,500watts heater,air pump,saltwater fishes and friends bought fish tanks from aquatraders and so far no problems and it really works!!!!!!.i bought expensive products and it does go out. i just cant afford it anymore.
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Review from Stan P.
Millbrae, CA
7/2/2006
I give only 3 stars, because it isn't fully outfitted with aquarium supplies. It's not their thing. You won't find the basics like Tetramin flakes or fish medicine or live plants. I think they are a wholesaler/importer and the retail part is just a side gig. The shop is partially a warehouse. They import large deluxe tanks and weird filters...stuff that someone like me with a 20 gallon tank would never use. Big tank enthusiasts should check this place out. The fish: self-serve..get a net and a bucket and catch 'em yourself. I found the nicest snakeskin guppies here...at a cheaper price than other folk charge for plainer "fancy guppies", but stock changes frequently. Even though the workers are always busy organizing and putting away their imported stock, the two Asian guys I have spoken to there are cordial and pleasant, unlike a certain popular Asian-run aquarium in SF. Sorry, no hip-hop music at this place.
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Review from andrew l.
Hayward, CA
10/17/2009
wide selection of livestock which is the only good thing going for this place. terrible customer service, the workers didn't even acknowledge my presence. limited in supplies and food. and they're only open from friday to sunday, 11am-3pm. make sure the fish that you will be taking home is healthy because about 40% of them are in bad shape.
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Review from Phillip K.
Oakland, CA
4/21/2010
Don't know why there are so much haters here. The selection of fish is very good at times and the prices cannot be beat.
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Review from Evan C.
Oakland, CA
4/22/2010
I agree.. .I don't know why the bad review. It's a business. They get their shipment direct and sells to vendors immediately. It's a business.... Good prices and good choices... It's our job to QT the fishes when we buy. They never forced anyone to buy. It's a help yourself place. If you ever run a business....you would know how it's like... These low ratings are just sad....
