The Mystic Reef

The guy that often runs the place is sketchier than a Family Guy style used cars salesman
The guy helping us seemed so hyped, he must have gotten some white powder from the guys in Scarface.
We initially wanted AI Prime light if we switched go LED, and when we went in he talked us out of it and sold us a rather basic LED kit rated for a much smaller tank, claiming that this kit did more, without needing extra ventilation.
My husband called the store to ask if we could swap the light for store credit for the one we wanted. And the guy asked him to text him? A professional business guy?! Doing is work via text, sketchy.
The guy we dealt with, Justin, maybe? Seemed to have no idea what the AI Prime light even was, even though he had previously stated that he had it in stock, and often overheated. Clearly, he lied about something.
Luckily, and the only reason this place gets a single star, he did offer store credit which we used toward new coral and fish.
We won’t return, everything is overpriced. If you Google, he will just pull up a shitty eBay listing for a price 3x what he wants. Doesn’t mean I can’t get it cheaper at Treasures of the Sea or even Amazon.
If you do have to go here, which you don’t, go somewhere else, Petco would be better, just know what you need/​want and get NOTHING extra. These scum bags prey on everyone, but especially newer hobbyists.

I went in last week for a few things I needed for my tank since I was cleaning it out & the owner was so helpful and more than happy to make sure I was satisfied with everything I was buying. Definitely coming back for more! Thank you!

Great place for reef tanks, The guys are super friendly and very knowledgeable. my first time going and i am sold. We drove all the way from Barstow and cant wait to go back, they gave me a great deal and lots of advice. They have so much coral, live rock and everything you need for your reefs.

Their own website shows they are open Friday at 2:00. I drive all the way here and they are closed again. This is the third time I’ve driven here and it’s closed during the hours on their website. Don’t bother coming here, they will be closed.

This is an honest review from someone who knows a great deal about reef tanks. I wish I could give them more stars but I can’t.
Do your research and reading on saltwater reefs before you go in.
I went in to check out some corals for my long time running 50 gallon cube and to purchase lots of live rock/​tonga branch for the aqua scape of my new 150 gallon display tank for my house. I talked for quite some time with one of the brothers (friendly guy, was the only one there) and he knew I was an avid reefer with a decent knowledge of the hobby. He gave me prices on the corals I was looking at (common zoas and other lps corals) and the price per pound on live rock, as well as the price for the tonga pieces I wanted. I told them to not hold anything because I could not take anything home that day since I wasn’t going home that night and I would be back the following day.
I returned the following day and was greeted by a different employee who was the brother of the person I had talked to the day before (he did not know I was there the day before). I got an instant used car salesman vibe from him. I talked to him about a few common pieces of coral and before I had a chance to tell him I was there the day before was quoted a price of almost twice as much and was told how rare they were. I thought «oh well, I still need rock.» As soon as I picked up the first few pieces of tonga (that I had already seen the day before) he proceeded to tell me that those were his «hand picked pieces that he just picked up» and then named the price on they fly of each piece I picked up which ended up being over 3 times what I was quoted the other day! I just decided to not say anything and go on my way.
Do your research online for saltwater reefs in so cal, there are plenty of forums with experienced reefers that have had similar experiences with this place.

Thought we were getting great deals, until we did our research and found this not to be true.

Jeremy is so helpful and is very knowledgable. Great prices on all his frags. I walked out literally with a full box of frags. This is going to be my new pet store for all my reef needs.

If I could give them 0 stars I would!
Horrible customer service. I went in looking for a closer place to my house for corals and had found them on the Internet.
My initial reaction was that the store was cluttered and dark but thought I’d look around. I started looking and found they had a wide variety of coral and one tank that was especially colorful. I’m not new reef aquatics but the second I walked over to look at what was in the tank and commented on the nice fan in the tank (one that I would like to get) the guy yelled at me and told me not to go anywhere near the tank because I was going to break his fan. Then proceeded to say I scared all his fish because I stood by the tank and looked at a coral. I was just about ready to walk out of the door.
I decided to do a quick look of the rest of the store and whispered to my finance that he was so rude I guess he didn’t want to sell anything. Which I think he heard because at that point he started to try to be nice.
I ended up getting a couple trochus snails and then he sold me on a coral. I was very confused by his deal. He was very expensive and so he decided to try and negotiate a price. He couldn’t stay constant with his offer and kept trying to get me to buy more expensive items. By the end of my trip he had sold me on 3 corals one of which was a small frag and it didn’t survive. Not sure he even knew how to frag correctly.
All in all there are so many awesome places to get coral don’t waste your time here. I go to Jan’s Tropical Fish. They have great prices for larger corals.

Jeremy is a great guy, completely about customer satisfaction and definitely there to help guide you to your tanks success. This guy has worked with high end reef systems most his life and have enough knowledge to help guide and point on in the right direction.
Finding their store at first was a little difficult because it is all the way at the end of the plaza, but once you enter the dimly lit room, you can see tanks left and right of the place. They carry many clownfishes that are harder to find, like the ORA midnight clowns or even the snowflake ones, which are in good health. They also make sure to feed their fishes with the top of the line food and make sure that the fish’s health is good enough before they sell it to you. If something is out of budget, the guys who work here are pretty understanding and can help adjust depending on what the cost and situation is.
Recently I came and purchased a Vlamingi Tang, Purple Tang, and 2 ORA midnight clowns, which cost me an arm and leg, but that does not matter when you know that the quality of fish you receive is on point. Otherwise if I paid for these fishes and they died off the bat, this review would reflect differently but these fishes are thriving in my tank.
Definitely coming back here to check out over the counter product and even lifestock.

I have been shopping at mystic for almost as long as they have been open great store, great guys, best place Iv been too in Cali.

I have not visited these guys in a while because I tried to shop here and came twice to a closed shop during normal business hours. But I figured I would give them a try again. I found the store still very messy and looked unkept. They did put up a board to hide all the salt creep. Tanks all looked really messy and overcrowded. The owners attitudes also changed. They used to be nice and helpful and this last visit they were short with us and primarily ignored us. I don’t think we will be back again.

NOT RECOMMENDED for the following reasons:
Store: Not well-​kept
Selection: Not too many sections to choose from.
Customer Service: None
Pricing: Over priced
The younger brother, Adam, who runs the store tends to be impolite and rude to customers.

Talk about customer service! Jeremy goes out of his way to make you feel at home. There is no judgement or pressure at all. He has GREAT price and gives good advice if you have questions. Hours have changed though,
HOURS:
Monday — Friday 2:00 PM — 7:00 PM
Saturday 12:00 AM — 6:00 PM
Sunday 12:00 AM — 5:00 PM

Best fish store around hands down. I have been to every fish store around, half of which dont even have their own tanks at home. These guys have a 300 and know what it takes to maintain a highend reef system. Prices are fair and they more than make it worth it with the knowledge you receive. My only go to store for everything.

We’ve been to just about all of the saltwater fish stores in the IE. Mystic Reef is by far the best one. The customer service is excellent. They are willing to help out and give their opinion to us even being new to the hobby. They even sat down and helped us to see different ways to place the live rock in our new setup. We’ve been here a few times to look around before we got our tank and they still took the time to talk to us, knowing that we weren’t buying anything that day. Mystic Reef is awesome and worth the drive to go there!

One of the best frag scenes I’ve seen In a very long time! I had no issue with the owners, they took awesome care of us. You can tell a lot about a shop on how many bodies fill the shop, and this shop had a constant flow of happy customers.
This store is a keeper!
Thank guys!

The Mystic Reef is a superb saltwater fish store. Whether you are new to the hobby or an experienced reef keeper, the helpful folks at The Mystic Reef can help your reef become healthier and help you become a better reef master. The staff is super-​helpful and enthusiastic. They are the kind of people who know what works, and they won’t try to «sell» you some sort of magic gimmick product or offer a load of BS that you don’t need anyway. Fair prices and great service is what you get. If you just need salt water or high-​quality foods, or if you need some new corals, or interesting algae, or invertebrates, or fishes for your reef tank, The Mystic Reef has it all. For a small and local reef shop, this is the place you want to go!

The owners are friendly and will talk with you but they are very good salesman as well. They do like to carry collectors stuff which is fun. They didn’t have any other livestock in but I won’t hold that against them. We will see how well the corals hold up.

The best saltwater fish store hands down! I have been to many other fish stores around the area and the Mystic Reef offers the best prices and service hands down! Just go check it out for yourself and I guarantee it will be your new store for all your tanks needs! I have just started a tank and Jeremy and Adams vast knowledge is very helpful and they are ready to help at any time! Im glad I found a store that has great product and honest prices! Even though it is a far drive from my house I will never go anywhere else for my saltwater tanks needs!

I love the Mystic Reef! I go there often. Customer service is the best. Jeremy and Adam are very knowledgeable and helpful. I’m three weeks into cycling my tank and Jeremy has been great! He has given me a wealth of information on the things to do while cycling my tank. I’m so glad I found this store. I highly recommend this place. Jeremy is awesome!