Shipwreck Cove Custom Aquariums

Dan is absolutely one of the best in the business. His corals are of very best quality and the pictures on his website are spot on. Communication is fast and his shipments are immaculately packaged. He’s one of the only coral vendors I do business with.

I love this shop, always has great deals (unlike other local stores) and beautiful coral. They are very knowledgeable and have always been kind to me and my daughter when we go in. I have bought some of my rarest fish from here as well. I Got a Copper banded butterfly that ate frozen Mysis at the store and lived for years in my tank. The copper banded also eradicated my Aptasia issue and I haven’t had any since. I also got a white tail bristle tooth tang from them that is amazing.

First off, Shipwreck Cove is one of the best saltwater store around period. Not just saying in the San Diego area but in California. Every time I come down to LA (from Seattle) to visit family I always drive down to visit Dan and has store. He has everything a hard core sps keeper would want. From beautiful colonies to beautiful frags. He has everything. Dan always does his best to take care of the customer by making deals so you won’t go home unhappy and empty handed. He can get you whatever the of want if he does have it. Every time I go visit his tanks are always full of healthy fish and beautiful looking corals. This is sure my number 1 spot for corals!

From me, 5 Star review because this is where you become a regular after just one trip — they’re helpful to me, treat me like a long time friend and have great quality.
I love shopping in Shipwreck Cove– not only is it great to support a local business, but they give back to each and every single customer — from taking special requests for certain fish or coral I want, to always cutting off a few dollars here and there — as a customer I am satisfied and feel as if among friends when in to shop because everyone gets what they need, and shares info/​tips/​stories about their tanks etc — combined with the best quality in the area (the colors on everything are so vibrant), I mean wow, there go all my paychecks! The new location is really nicely done too.
I realllly appreciate that I can call after store hours for help.
Gets busy sometimes but hey that’s a good thing occasionally I have to be patient– its a local business so there’s one maybe two people running the show at a time I wait my turn like an adult and what I buy is well worth it; I just call and ask about his pick up days so I beat the crowds to the good fish every week haha. AND Dan has a cool rewards program I get perks from — thank you btw!
PS Fabi should know better than to let their child mess with a salt water aquarium, they could mess up the chemical balance of the water putting hands in — do you let your kid at home get finger prints all over your tank? — that’s common courtesy as a customer, we all know to respect the place we are visitors in! As a customer, if I saw someones kid touching glass or putting hands in the water I personally would not be embarrassed to correct them myself! LOL — again respect the place you are a guest in, it’s not hard to set yourself up for a good experience, especially here

I have never felt so unwelcome at a store in my life.
The guy working there seemed put out to have people walk in. He yelled at my kid for touching a tank (which, in all fairness, was NOT labeled and there were no signs visible). There is a nice way to ask someone something… and then the way this guy communicated.
Another tank in the back did have a sign threatening a $ 200 fine if you touched it. (Good luck collecting that!)
After yelling, he ignored us completely, never asking what we were looking for, or if we needed help.
We finally left and went to Encinitas Tropical Fish down the street and spent our money there.
Night and day experience.

I can not say enough good things about Shipwreck. We are semi new to the hobby and Dan and his staff are very knowledgeable and have been patient with us from the start. The are very prompt with returning messages which has saved our tank several times all ready.
The have very healthy livestock that is replenished often and quarantined before the will sell just to be sure that they are selling healthy quality livestock. Also they can easily order any equipment that they don’t have stocked already.
We live in San Marcos and this has become our new go to aquarium store for very good reasons!

Look no further for your North County aquarium needs. The parent of small children, we wanted to set up a fresh-​water guppy tank, but after repeated efforts sourcing fish at many other local shops yielded poor selection, several fish born diseases, and many quick deaths from their stocks, we had all but given up… But then, luckily we spotted Shipwreck Cove in their new location, and couldnt have been happier. Jared and Dan were excellent. They even custom ordered some fantastic breeding pairs, special for us, and the outcome truly exceeded expectations. I’ve found my aquarium specialists for the next decade here. Great group of people, amazing customer service! Couldnt be happier. Highly recommend.

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I woke up Sunday morning to find that my 3-​year old dumped a gallon of milk in my 90 gallon mixed reef tank. It was 8AM in the morning and I called Shipwreck Cove in a panic. They were not open so I left a message. Dan called me back in 30 seconds, and within an hour his guys were at my house emptying the tank and completing a entire water change (they had this done before they opened on Sunday. That is service. That is dedication.). The water was a perfect 78 degrees so that my fish and corals would hopefully not go into shock. I was amazed with how great Dan and his team handled the situation. It is so reassuring to know that someone with his expertise and resources are so close by. I would recommend them to anyone and everyone. I have bought many corals from him in the past and have had great success. BTW, none of my corals where effected by the entire water change, and no fish have died. I credit the success to Dan and his team. They did an amazing job. They went above and beyond.

Had my first experience with shipwreck cove and Dan this weekend. Can’t say enough good things. Didn’t leave with much coral but I’ll be back that’s for sure. Just a great vibe there. Amazingly beautiful coral with a huge selection and great prices. It’s so refreshing to go to a LFS and talk to the owner who knows the history of all his pieces! I left with a awesome red acan that is super healthy and a few clove polyps my wife loved but didn’t want the whole colony. Dan fragged them for her right then. I’ve made my rounds around all of San Diego’s coral shops and this is by far the best.

I haven’t had good experience every time I have been to this place. I’m an experienced aquarist of salt and fresh water tanks for over 15 years. They have a decent selection of fish and corals but most of them are over priced. When I asked about a fresh water discus, the store employee had a very condescending attitude and seemed preoccupied with some of his friends who were in the store as well. Only 3 people in the store including myself and he didn’t bother to greet or address me while I was there. Hopefully they will work on their customer service because the competition down the street will take them out of business very soon.

I have been getting Corals here for months and I recommend this Store. Lots of LPS, SPS and Softies. Very affordable Shop for a Hobbyist.
Excellent service from Dan.
They have Marine Fish/​Corals and also sells Freshwater.

This shop is really great, and it is definitely something special in the area! They have the best livestock, which you can tell is fed high quality food. Dan, the owner, actually treats his inventory like they are his personal fish, and you can clearly tell the difference, especially from another tropical fish store in Encinitas, who shall remain nameless. (Last time I was in there I saw too many floaters to ever want to give them my business — YIKES!)
Their current shop is small and oddly located, BUT have no fear! I hear they’re opening up a much bigger location soon on El Camino Real which should have lots of space and good parking! Hooray!

This fish store is one the best I’ve been to, regardless of how small it is. The reason why I say that is because the owner, Dan is just way chill and has a great selection of corals at good prices. He also has this spot on device that allows you to accumulate points for future purchases and there’s this thing he abides by, which is if a fish dies within a week, bring it back and he’ll exchange it for you for free. Now what other fish store does that? NONE! Hopefully he gets a bigger store in the future were there will be more parking available.

First — Unilocal,you have their address wrong! They are at 542 2^nd St. Essentially, they are across the street from where you have placed them. We couldn’t find them the first time because we didn’t think to look across the street.
The next time we were in the area, we called first. We spoke with Dan and it has been just a great experience from that point forward. These guys (Dan and Trenton) are so passionate and knowledgeable about what they do. They have the best pricing and are always working to do right by you. They installed a custom aquarium at my house in record time and it is such a show piece. We are first time aquarium owners. So, we are having them service it for awhile (probably a long while), but they have installed a couple systems so that it will be relatively low maintenance.
So whether you are looking for great prices and selection of fish and coral, want a custom aquarium or need someone to service or repair your current aquarium; you couldn’t find a better outfit.

This shop is the best. I’m only able to stop by on the weekends but everytime I’m in Dan has a huge selection of corals and always has the BEST prices. He’s very helpful for advice and any other info you need! Definitely is a must go to place.

Great place Dan is knowledgeable and he has amazing tanks great looking fish and everything looks extremely healthy!

Dan is a super nice guy and really put the needs of you above his own. It’s like havig a personal coiffer to help with your tank needs. Plus is prices are very reasonable and livestock is quality

Great selection at reasonable prices. Just the store needed for the north county!

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Dan is a SUPER real dude and treats everyone like their his sole customer. In the short time they’ve been open, they’ve already done everything right, and secured me as a customer for life.
Prices are right where they should be, and their fish warranty is 7x better than anyone else’s — Most don’t even offer a warranty!
Thanks Dan and Trent!

Super competitive prices, awesome selection of corals, live rock, and saltwater fish. The codes on the tank labels are awesome! You can scan the code with your smartphone and it tells you where the fish is from, when it was caught, what it eats, etc. Amazing amount of knowledge and advice from the owners Dan and Trent.
Looks like I’m ditching the cichlids and going saltwater again! They also do custom aquarium design, setup and maintenance.