Baja Reef

Cheap fishes and neat selections, knowledgable people helping you out is a plus, 7.99 $ frags cant beat that!

Can’t believe all the negative reviews! Been coming here for about a year now to get all my fish for my reef tank, they always have a good assortment, and fair pricing! Steve and his crew are the most down to earth sincere people ever. All of his staff are extremely knowledgeable, and wont try to sell you every fish you lay your eyes on. In other words, they wont sell you a pretty fish without telling the good, bad and the ugly– if itll work out in your tank a lot. They have pretty sweet deals too, like buy 2 fish get one free! All the fish ive purchased here are hardy too. I’ve gotten all sorts of tangs, gobys, clowns, banner fish, angels, everything! Their coral section is a bit lacking, but they have some cool stuff if you just ask!

This place is great! I now get almost all of my fish from here. They have quality livestock and I very rarely have problems with anything I buy; if I do, they’ve always done something to keep me happy. They gladly hold fish for you in their tanks if you put a deposit down, which works out great if you cant take the fish home that day. If you want something and they don’t have it, they’ll order it for you on their next order. Their prices are reasonable and if you watch for their sales, you can sometimes get stuff for really good prices. Some of the lighting on their tanks is a little lacking, so its sometimes hard to see the colors of the fish really well. Their strong spot is definitely tropical saltwater fish, they don’t typically have a lot of coral selection. I’ll be coming back for more!

Prices were not appealing. Seemed like everything was over priced here.
Coral Selection… Little to choose from.
Fish Selection… Not that many to choose from. Although, there were many of the same kinds.
Walked in… Received mehh service. Left in less than 10 minutes.

Staff is nice, but this is not like the old Atlantis. It is more focus on saltwater fish and it has a lot of Passer Angelfish… Like 100+ and very healthy. Will be great if there are more variety. Pricing is fair.

Been here several times and the displays and prices are just not appealing. I want to be a fan but nothing inspiring about this place at all. There’s just no comparing this to Aquatic Collection, Reef Raft, or Neptune’s.

Bottom line is this. Their selection of fish, coral and prices is uncomparable!
I live in the valley which have a limited selection of saltwater products, yet the LFS charge way more than Baja Reef (which Baja has more overhead). Its cheaper for me to drive to Baja (1 ½ hours), get a better deal on better quality saltwater products!
Go there you won’t be disappointed!

I dropped by the store when it first opened. I was impressed by the selection of Caribbean fish they had available, especially at the abundance of queen angels and rock beauties. Almost all of them looked exceptionally healthy, but you should always qt prior to addition of the display anyways. The rock beauties were actually eating pellets as well. The prices seemed reasonable and if I were looking for these Caribbean angels, I would come back to this place. The selection of corals was so so and some of the tanks did look a bit dirty. It seems like if you did want something a bit more exceptional and out of the ordinary, I bet they would be able to get it for you. Almost every time I’ve been there, the customer service was not bad, and they would ask if I needed help. However, I always do my research prior to walking into pet shops so that helps as well. I would go again, especially if I needed some healthy looking angels, since that’s the reason why I keep saltwater. OH, and this is the first place that I’ve actually seen Clarion Angels in person as well.

Customer service is alright, but most of the tanks don’t look so clean. There are
some tanks in the back that have yellow ish water. A lot of the fishes don’t
look too healthy too. All in all I’d recommend going to either Aqua Exotic in Belmont
or Neptune Aquatics in Milpitas, their tanks are much cleaner, and the fishes all
look healthy.

This store represents exactly how a local fish store should be run, I would recommend this above all others in the East Bay.
The owner (Steve) is involved with the whole process of fish collecting. He focuses on ethical and environmentally friendly practices, as he takes part strictly with net catching rather than cyanide. Additionally he actually travels around the World quite a bit in order to catch the fish personally in order to monitor the process and make sure that his products are the highest quality and can assure me that no drugs are used in the process of obtaining the sea life.
The staff who maintain the store on a day to day basis are extremely knowledge and passionate about tanks, and have helped me a great deal in learning about the best practices in maintain and proper saltwater aquarium.
The prices are all reasonable plus there is a huge selection of fish, corral, tanks, and other equipment. If you’re looking to avoid an impersonal and terrible experience at the big chain stores (like Petco), I would highly recommend coming here. You’ll come away smarter and always have a place to go and people to talk to if you run into any problems with your tank.

While not perfect, this store boasts a wide fish selection. Most of their fishes are in good health.
Just today I heard Steve (the owner) telling someone, «no you can’t buy that butterfly» (referring to a small, thin copperband). It’s rare for the owner of a store, that moves the volume of fish that this one does, to care so much about the well-​being of the animals. The majority of fish stores would have bagged the butterfly without delay.
Examples like this, set Baja aside from many of the other bay area reef stores. They aren’t just after the quick sale. To me that’s a strong indicator.
Steve is passionate about obtaining livestock that has been properly collected. It’s nice to have someone who has had such a positive impact on the hobby as a resource. His experience with fish collection is apparent. The other reviewer who complained about the «abuse» their chalk bass suffered was probably not aware of just how many fishes he has successfully collected/​handled.
The girls are always helpful and attentive.
I’ve found some nice wrasses here for fair prices. They have a good selection of frozen foods. Try their little flats of prawn roe (great value).
Constructive criticism for Baja: stay on top of pulling losses! (this seems to have worsened), address the leak in that sump which has been flooding for months!
Why not spread your stock around and take advantage of all the volume? At times it seems things are unnecessarily cramped with how many tanks you have up and running.
Keep up the good customer service! Make a few improvements around the store and you will be amazed at how much it will benefit your business.

I decided to start a reef tank and with no prior experience with saltwater, I needed to get some seeding material to kickstart my cycle.
I decided to stop by at Baja Reef since it’s close to my work and I’d heard that they took over a previously good spot. I walk in a little after lunch time and I was greeted by a young lady, who I guess was watching the place by herself and I asked her if they had any live rock for sale.
She was surprisingly knowledgeable and genuinely helpful; didn’t hesitate to get up off of her seat and show me around. They had a good selection of healthy looking fish and the tanks were nice and clean. Despite the limited selection of live rock, I found two pieces that I liked and took them home.
Now my tank is on its way to finishing its cycle and when it’s time to get fish I’ll definitely be heading back to Baja for my first fish.

I’ve been in this hobby for over 12 years. I’ve been busy with family stuff so I haven’t visted many stores for a long time. Had not added anything in my tank for over 4 years. I happened to be around the area for work and decided to drop by and noticed Atlantis was now Baja Reef. I still noticed the awsome display tank on the side and when I went in, I was surprise to see a lot of healthy fish in there. The girl that worked there was attentive and asked if I needed help. I told her I was just looking. A few minutes later I met the owner. He was very helpful and knew a lot about his fish and where it came from. He is a proponent of net collection and had been in the industry for a long time. It actually jog my memory and that he was a guest speaker for our local club and talked about net fishing and was a big opponent of cynide. I ended up buying 2 fish from him because of his knowledge and how healthy the fish looked. I will support this store again.

Avoid at all cost. Service and products are horrific
Horrible place for any reef needs. Customer service is not available and if you do manage some its rude. All Fish and Coral at Baja Reef are on their way too a better place in heaven. Aquatic Collection or Neptune’s Aquatics is highly recommend instead of Baja… I’d go as far as to say 7-​Eleven would be a better alternative to any reef needs then Baja Reef.

I have taken my bussniess to aquatic collections in Hayward once the change in ownership took place. This store has turned into the scum of Bay Area aquarium stores! There is also Neptune aquatics in milpitas which is also a great store. I would be suprised if they are in bussniess in the next year!!!