Underwater Depot

One of the best tropical fish stores around. Having three tanks of my own I’ve visited many many stores, none come close to underwater depot. Their displays are outstanding. The planted tanks are show worthy. Overall an amazing store that I’d definitely recommend for all aquarists to visit.

They got a good assortment of livestock and equipment. If you’re looking for something specific all you have to do is ask them and they will give you a honest answer about how and when they can get it for you. Another thing I like about this place is the people that work here will admit that they don’t know a answer to your question and will get someone who does. This is extremely important to me because I rather wait a few minutes than get hot air blown into me. They also have a few display tanks to showcase what they’re capable of and it’s worth going here just to check out these tanks.
Parking is available at the back and tandem parking is allowed but make sure you park in the spots that are NOT marked for the neighboring business. The back parking is located right behind the business in a alley way and it is really easy to miss. Parking is also available on the street but you will have to pay for street parking.

This store is gorgeous. Small but packed with lovely displays and healthy, handsome fish. I was particularly impressed with the unique artistic setups with unusual shaped tanks and complimentary plants and driftwood. This store has some of the most unique freshwater plants I’ve seen anywhere. I prefer a modern looking but natural aquarium, so there are a lot of options for that here. Have met 5 different staff members so far and all are experienced and passionate about what they do. I feel very comfortable with their helpful advice.

I actually like the way the store is set up and the prices aren’t completely terrible (though still overpriced). My problem is that a couple of guys, including one of the owners, couldn’t be less friendly with terrible customer service. If this was a one time thing, I could overlook it, but has happened multiple times. (I asked one of the owners what settings they ran their Radion lights on and his response was «did you buy the lights from me. If not, why would I give you the settings?»). I guess I’ll keep driving to Vivid, which blows this place away in all categories.

Cory & Ed are a great resource of info on planted tanks & getting a nice balance to you tank. Great guys to talk to & get fish & plants from not to mention the store itself is clean & organized so you can easily find what you want (or didn’t know you wanted till you saw it). Thanks for all the know how & assistance with my tank guys!

We’ve been considering a custom aquarium and this is the place. Their knowledgeable and professionalism is second to none. So comfortable with this big decision, these guys are the ones for the jobs. You will not be disappointed…

My 9 inch goldfish that I bought as a tiny guy at Underwater Depot about 11 years earlier was sick. Yes, it was just before closing time and the store was quiet when I arrived, but I received the knowledge and advice from Mark, the owner, and 2 employees. Sorry to say, my fish didn’t recover, but not for lack of trying on everyone’s part.
BTW-​It was my second trip to Underwater Depot that evening. I was there about an hour earlier and Mark asked that I come back with a water sample and pictures so he could better diagnosis the problem.

The store is small and the selection of marine fish is a little limited, but it’s a pretty good store. The selection of frozen fish food was pretty limited as well. I had mainly been a patron of Aquarium City in Canoga Park. Aquarium City is a bigger store with better prices and better selection of fish and frozen food.
However, their aquarium maintenance was excellent. Ed came and cleaned my tank and did an excellent job. It had a lot of algae on the acrylic and he got it all off. I’ve hired them now to do a monthly maintenance service. Aquarium City wouldn’t even return my phone calls to schedule a service.

We came here looking for new fish for our saltwater tank. They were so helpful and offered great suggestions. We walked out with new fish, a new bio orb tank, and decorations for the new tank. They have a GREAT selection of bio orb plants, too.
I’m only docking a star because their fish are a little more expensive than other stores and their selection is a little limited. Otherwise, we really like this place!

This place is superb! All their tanks are crystal clear and there are several with impressive displays.
The fish are all visibly healthy and happy, guaranteed at top health when purchased by you.
Guy behind the counter, Cory, was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable.
I highly recommend this place to all who enjoy the hobby.
Extra points for the bright atmosphere (both literally and figuratively) as well as the above average cleanliness.

Came in here knowing absolutely nothing about fish. My toddler had won a goldfish which he was super happy about, but it died almost immediately. So, I took him here to buy him a beta fish, which had been recommended. The staff set us up with everything we needed, gave some great advice, and my son had a blast looking at all the fish. Granted, I’m not an expert in fish, but I feel that if I were to expand my ownership of fish into a collection, I’d be confident with their advice.

I bought my reef tank from Underwater depot and have spent thousands of dollars here, and was very pleased with the service at the beginning. I recently bought a yellow tang and it died within the first day, I was very distraught because I care for the animals. I told Chris the owner what had happened and he gave me full credit for the $ 30 fish. I then went in the next day and purchased a purple tang which is a $ 180.00 fish and used my $ 30 credit towards it. sure enough the fish died. I called the store and they told me to bring back the fish along with a water sample. I did as they asked and it turned out my levels were fine. When it came time to talk to Chris about getting store credit for the fish, he gave me the excuse that he couldn’t take that big of a hit in the wallet. I can understand where he is coming from, but given the fact that my levels were good, I was very displeased. When I told him my levels were tested and they turned out to be fine, he then gave me the excuse that it has to be something which they aren’t testing for. Again, this is not what I wanted to hear, given the fact that I have spent well over $ 2800 dollars in his store. I may not be his best customer, which is what I told him, but it is not like I do not spend hard earned money at his business. His answer to that was, I have customers who spend $ 2000.00 a month but that is not the point, I like you so I am willing to give you half of the value of the fish, but to remind him in a few weeks because he may not remember. Look, I think the guys at underwater are very friendly and they really are not bad people, but if you are not going to guarantee fish, even for 24 hours, then you need to make your customers aware of your policy. That way they can give serious thought as to whether or not they want to spend money on a fish like that. I think Chris tried to make lemonade out of a very unfortunate situation for both sides, but if it were my store, which I am well aware it is not, I would have told the customer, and in this specific instance, that I would give them the credit because I may take it in the wallet on this one, but in the future I know I would have gotten many more sales because of it. Chris can keep his $ 75, not only do I think he needs it more than I do, but I sure hope it was worth the hundreds if not thousands it cost him in business from me.
Sincerely,
A very unsatisfied customer.

5 stars for this wonderful fish store. The staff is always very helpful, educational and honest. Large selection of fish and the tanks always look clean and healthy compared to some other fish stores in the area.

Very knowledgeable staff. They’re on the pricey side, but they know what they’re talking about. Their aquarium displays are awesome and they had the galaxy rasboras that I’ve been looking for.

I needed to pick up some fish supplies and found Underwater Depot close to where I live. Parking is in the back and upon entering it is a treat. Full of all sorts of different fishes. From genetically modified, like the pastel glowed fishes that I oohed and ahh at for quite some time to the special tailed guppies that i ended up purchasing.
The tail was beautiful and they said if you buy the male you get the female for free ! 2 for 1 awesome, I am sold! They warned me that they will make babies so be prepared for that!
Def. a lot of fun… who knew looking at a bunch of fishes would be so much fun!

Good things: Nice staff. The owners are very helpful. Convenient location.
Could be better: The fish are a bit overpriced. Small selection of saltwater fish. Often the saltwater material is beat up looking.

I love this store. They have helped me with our fish crisis over the last few weeks and have saved many of our fish. They have the healthiest fish in town as well. I highly recommend this place!

I wish the guy who helped me to get my fish on my new setup tank would’ve told me that the blue hippo tang are really easily stressed and break out with ich I took him back the same guy gave me a different one but guess what my tank has already been infested with ich from the 1^st one called told the owner what happened and didn’t really care my tank is 29 gallons way to small for a tang I wish i would’ve done my research before getting it already killed my butterfly fish now I’m stuck with ich in my tank and a blue hippo with ich o btw I spent alotttttt of money here thanks u guys

I went here to accompany my nephew pick out fish and an aquarium. They have all kinds of fish from tropical to saltwater and freshwater fish. They really specialize in fish and it’s a great place to go if you’re just starting out or if you already have a collection.
Cory is very helpful and gave us great tips. He’s been in the business long and he really cares about the fish and longevity. Coz when he found out my nephew’s new fish died within a week, he gave us tips on what fish is great if you’re just starting out and how to clean the bowl, feeding, etc.
It really is great little store if you wanna start a fish aquarium and I ended up purchasing my own betta starter fish as well as my nephew (who incidentally also got me into knitting). This place is def better than going to a petco. Trust me…

This place rocks the cat box. I really enjoy the friendly attitude and helpful nature of the employees, who are outgoing and have vast knowledge on all things aquarium-​related.
Great saltwater display in the front! It’s really a beautiful tank — I don’t do saltwater tanks personally, but I was very intrigued.
Zack helped me out, I was looking around asking questions about planted freshwater aquariums, which was really useful. I also had questions about the gorgeous display tanks, too. It’s a really neat store with really helpful guys who are funny yet professional. They don’t seem terribly rushed like other stores I’ve been in, and it’s cool that they have a parking lot in the back of the store.
Beautiful blue discus in the back display tank, which I will hopefully be able to buy once my tank is fully set up and the water stabilized. There were a lot of adult discus in this store, more than you usually see, and they were really pretty and looked very healthy. I’m looking forward to adding some of those bad boys to my tank ASAP.