About
Tucked into Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley, Vivid Aquariums has spent over a decade building a reputation as one of the best saltwater and reef-focused stores in the Los Angeles area. Owner Dave and his team — including well-regarded staffers Ben, Ben, Luis, and James — run both a brick-and-mortar coral farm and a thriving online store that ships livestock across the country, from Missouri to Ohio and beyond. The heart of Vivid is its coral selection.
Rows of tanks house an impressive range of SPS and LPS corals, with frags and colonies at prices that regulars consistently call reasonable. Their WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) online listings are photographed on-site, and customers can even order online for local pickup to save on shipping. Speaking of shipping, the packaging has earned near-universal praise — heat packs that keep corals warmer than destination tank water, carbon added to shrimp bags for water quality during transit, and careful labeling throughout.
One customer in snowy weather reported everything arrived in perfect health. Beyond corals, Vivid stocks marine fish including gem tangs, purple tangs, and yellow tangs, plus invertebrates like pistol shrimp and clams. The staff can order specialty fish on request.
They also offer tank maintenance and cleaning services, and Dave himself once helped a customer relocate an entire aquarium from Northridge to Santa Clarita. What sets Vivid apart is the follow-through. Multiple reviewers describe receiving phone calls confirming delivery dates, quick credits when winter storms delayed shipments, and bonus frags tucked into orders as a thank-you.
Dave's informative videos have also built a following, drawing visitors who already feel connected before walking through the door. , Vivid Aquariums delivers quality livestock with genuinely attentive service that keeps customers coming back for years.
What they offer
Livestock, services, water
- Livestock & products
- Services
- Specializes in
Highlights
What makes them special
- Extensive SPS and LPS coral selection at competitive prices
- Thriving online store with WYSIWYG coral listings and nationwide shipping
- Exceptional packaging for shipped orders, even in extreme weather
- Owner Dave personally follows up on orders and resolves issues quickly
- On-site coral farm with tours available for visitors
From keepers
Customer reviews
“Just stopped here again today to pick up coral and get water. Ben & Ben are probably my favorite people here to work with when shopping. Both are very knowledgeable and always willing to help or answer questions, and have wonderful patience. The coral selection is always nice and they have an online store with a larger selection. Also, I cannot say much about the owner as I’ve just met him, but the other worker James is usually cranky.”
— J5.0a week ago“Great experience with Vivid Aquariums! Learned so much from them! The owner was outstanding! Helped me move an aquarium from Northridge to Santa Clarita with minimal headache.”
— Craig Little5.03 weeks ago“I have been a vivid customer for well over a decade and I’ll continue to be one because they offer healthy, high quality corals at a very reasonable price. They are also incredibly knowledgeable and experienced in every aspect of reeefing. You can purchase from their online store or their brick and mortar one, both are excellent! You can even order online and pick up your corals so you save on shipping.”
— Chuck Goodman5.0a month ago“Hands down the absolute best experience I've ever had ordering livestock online. Selection and pricing is incredible and customer service is even better. Orders were shipped quickly and packaged UNBELIEVABLY well. Even with snow here, my entire order still arrived WARMER than my actual tank water. The attention to detail is second to none and the corals I bought were all healthy and beautiful. The pistol shrimp I ordered even came with a few pieces of carbon in the bag to help mitigate water quality issues during shipping. You won't be disappointed with Vivid... HIGHLY RECOMMEND! If I could give more than 5 stars I ABSOLUTELY would!”
— Anthony Louise5.0a month ago“Great customer service! Dave and James helped me out when winter storm delayed delivery and killed a couple corals. We observed them for several days to give them a chance to come around and when they didn't, they credited me immediately. This is my second order through them and am very happy with them and will be using them again.”
— Mike Jennings5.0a month ago“Excellent Dave the owner is very helpful and he treats everyone equally great”
— Matt Shumard5.02 months ago“10 out of 10 I would recommend if your more of a coral person yes they have fish (gem,purple, an yellow tangs) but outside of that an unlimited supply of coral I would give a full 5 start but they need a cleaning day out of the week just 1 day to scrape all glass clean overflows out for noises reasons an a detail walk through the coral they have free open areas but different corals so close they are stinging an killing each other the owner/manager needs to do like a once a week detail walk through each tank an have the problems cleaned up other than the cleanliness I would recommend the have average prices mother outrageous great service they ask you do you need help 3 or 4 times but give you space not over crowding you like a sells man they differently know what they are talking about an have a fam you can see through the Alger overgrowth”
— Matthew Desedare4.06 months ago“The staff is always willing to above and beyond to be helpful”
— Bobby Nicholl5.06 months ago“Received an order and was one coral short although the bag was labeled that coral it was actually something different that I had ordered. The owner later reached out to me to make it right and offered to ship the missing coral which I thought was excellent customer service. One thing I’ll say of the hundreds of dollars I’ve spent here recently all my livestock is healthy and beautiful. For the price and customer service you can’t go wrong here…..”
— Edro5.08 months ago“Do Not Buy from them from the Internet! You will NOT Receive what they post for Pictures of the Frags or Coral you are Interested in! You are better off going to your LFS and seeing what you like! I placed a $300+ order only to be completely Disappointed!”
— Drew Lopez1.09 months ago
Reference
Frequently asked questions
Note — Store information and services may change. Always call (818) 348-3288 to confirm current availability, hours, and services before visiting Vivid Aquariums Inc.