Tropics

Beautiful corals, beautiful saltwater and freshwater tanks! They definitely have some of the prettiest high quality betta fish I’ve come across. It’s a shame there are so few fish stores in SLO county, but this one is definitely worth checking out. Prices seem a little high for corals, but all are well taken care of a they have a good variety of corals, fish and inverts. Small store, but has a lot to offer :) Please shop at our local pet/​fish stores and keep them in business before going to big corporate chain stores :(They do need a larger sign over their store, it’s very easy to miss it!

The more I come here the more and more I like it. Paul Has done a fantastic job of not only fixing the place up (adding more tanks, better organization) but also brought in more stock and variety. Also with the addition of Carmen to an already awesome staff I cant help but give them 5 stars.

We have been doing business with this store for years.
The place is now under new ownership. The new owner is unreasonable. I have spent thousands of dollars there. I had an emergency breakdown. The new owner saw my desperateness and offered me $ 20 for hundreds of dollars worth of corals and a fish. I explained to him that was a robbery. he took advantage of the situation.
A small business owner should take care of his customers. I went back to pick up my $ 20 and the owner didn’t have the audacity to speak to me and made his employer handle the transaction.
They lost all my future business.

Was passing through on a trip back to the Bay Area and decided to stop off at Tropics. Well, it’s small but prices seemed to be on par with the majority of other shops I frequent. Pretty sure it’s a hobbyist turned store owner who runs the shop so I can appreciate that. Fish looked relatively healthy but some of the frags were dead
One semi-​bad major thing in my book: One of the high end items was not the ‘real deal’. The ‘Jawbreaker Mushrooms’ at this shop are not the real deal, they’re just run of the mill bright red mushrooms. Many hobbyists in the Bay Area have Jawbreakers with direct lineage to the original colony and I am 100% sure these were not the same strain. Not going to present an argument for/​against the name game but if you’re dropping big bucks on ‘named corals’, do your research first and know what you’re buying. I’d usually knock off two stars for this but I’ll add one for the hobbyist owned aspect.
Everything else was named/​labeled right — Space Invader Pectina, JFox Jack-​O-​Lantern, etc.

Very knowledgeable staff, he answered all our questions. Nice selection of fresh water fish, beautiful fish you can’t get anywhere else. He even had some wild caught fish. I highly recommend coming in here, you never know what treasures you’ll find.

I have found this store to be a wealth of information and advice for starting a nano reef tank. Every visit has been enjoyable, the staff are helpful, knowledgeable and patient! I highly recommend them.

Excellent service; very knowledgeable! I don’t shop anywhere else for fresh or saltwater fish and supplies.

I went into the store looking for aquarium supplies for a complicated field experiment. Even though what I am trying to do is not typical, Brendan was incredible helpful. He took the time to understand what I need, and found the right equipment for me (and for less money that I thought it would cost). They are even willing to ship it to a different location for me.
In addition, he has been developing ways to farm corals that many other people collect from the wild, a far more sustainable way to have live corals.
Highly recommend!

This is the fish store of my dreams, I’ve been here so many times, love love love them! Fast special ordering, extremely knowledgable staff.

Friendly and helpful staff. The store is very small, probably a 20′ x 50′ store overall. Despite the small store, they cram a pretty good selection of fresh and reef fish. The equipment selection is pretty narrow and pricey, but they don’t have room for much in the store anyway. The best part is that they can order just about anything for you which is nice.

If you are located in SLO county and in need of anything aquarium related than Tropics needs to be your go-​to spot.
Since I have gotten into the aquarium hobby Tropics has been there, supplying everything I need to take my fish nerdery to the fullest. Whether your interested in aquascaping a freshwater garden, setting up a reef tank with exotic coral and fish, just putting a sweet beta fish in a bowl, or you simply miss seeing the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and need your fix of ocean awesomeness than Tropics and its knowledgable staff is the perfect place for you to go.
Andreas, the owner, is one of the nicest and most enthusiastic people in San Luis Obispo and has a vast knowledge of aquatic ecosystems. The main-​man of the store front, Brandon, has helped me set up numerous tanks, solve many of tank’s issues and I have been nothing but satisfied with his advice and help! If you are interested in freshwater shrimp than James, the shrimp master, can help you out. Collectively the staff at Tropics will help you solve any of your aquarium needs; if its not in the store, they’ll get it for you… Tropics is the type of store where you should talk to the staff and use their expertise to your advantage to get the most out of your aquarium experience. For first-​time aquarists, Tropics is the best place to go (not Petco!) because the staff here will point you in the right direction and their advice can be trusted.
For the final cherry on top, Tropics will service your tanks for you if you are out of town or whenever you may need it for a modest charge. Being a Cal Poly student, Tropics’ service has saved me — my fish tanks mostly — over many a break and vacations.
If you like fish (or want to set up your first tank), don’t waist your time anywhere else and head to Tropics.

These guys are great! They are extremely helpful and have a great selection of fish! If they don’t have a fish you are looking for, they will go out and order it for you. I won’t go anywhere else.

Tropics fish store is awesome, and I love going there. If you haven’t been, than you got to check it out, if you love salt water fish tanks.

All I have to say is if you are looking for fish, fish tank accessories, or service for your fish tank, then you must go to Tropics! Andreas, the owner, is the most knowledgeable person I have ever talked to! He knows everything and goes above and beyond to ensure you get what you want. He has special ordered things for me in the past and his prices are totally fair. He also does fish tank service; my employer has Tropics come out and clean our tank every other week. The maintenance guy brings us fish food, coral food, snails, and crabs to keep our tank working perfect. I highly recommend them.