Aqua Exotic Coral Farm - A LFS Highlight

Aqua Exotic Coral Farm is a hidden gem located in Belmont, California just down highway 101 from San Francisco. Calling it a local fish store is a bit of a stretch for me as it is on the other side of the Bay, but recently I took the 42 minute trek to check it out. Aqua Exotic did not disappoint. This cozy 1000 square foot aquarium store is devoted to reef aquariums and their passion shows throughout from the halide on a moving track to the heavily-used frag cutting station. I was smiling and I hadn't even noticed the coral yet. Take the Aqua Exotic tour below.







Aqua Exotic thought it through. You walk through those doors and your eyes are pulled to a 4'x4' frag cube tank directly across the room. As a guy itching for new frags, it was great bait. After eyeing the very nice selection of SPS, my eye began to drift above to the lighting setup. It is a 400 watt radium halide within a very nice reflector that has ReefBrite XO LED actinics suspended on either side. The icing on this PAR cake is the track the halide mounted to that moved the light back and forth - changing the hot spot and shade as it moved. A light mover. Very nice.


400 Watt Halide on a moving track & Reefbrite LEDs





The good vibes continued as I spoke to the owner, Matt Martin. Matt is very easy going and I was taken by his honesty. He is the kind of guy you want to deal with when buying corals - and the kind of guy you don't often run into at fish stores. I got this vibe initially when I called on the phone to ask about acroporas. I was told they didn't have too many at the moment as they had an issue with alkalinity when dialing in a new calcium reactor. Adjustments were made, they are back on track and just starting to stock more. The acknowledgement was noted by me as a positive. In the store, Matt held true to this trait with little anecdotes throughout my stay such as "… that coral glue is great but is really no different that loctite." He quickly built trust. And there was none of that 'my way or the highway' mentality.

This attitude is also prevalent with Matt's partner, Matt Fearnehough of Western Reefs whom has been instrumental in setting up Aqua Exotic's shop and is currently setting up a back room aquaculture coral farm at the store itself. Matt has a serious green thumb when it comes to corals. I know this because I've been to his house thanks to our mutual friend and former 3reef moderator, Gresham. It was a few years back but I remember it well because my jaw was on the ground. His reef tank was packed with corals that were way beyond frags. They looked as though they were about to crawl out of there. Not only that, he had a huge planted tank that was stunning. And a few other aquariums throughout the house, all immaculate. No state-of-the-art light or filter were found on these tanks, just good husbandry. I was not surprised to see great corals at Aqua Exotic when I knew Matt Fearnehough was involved. Talk to Matt for 5 minutes and you will learn as many tips on reef keeping. Check out this great article he wrote for Reef Hobbyist Magazine on fragging.



Aqua Exotic owner Matt Martin with co-worker Anthony.



One of those new AquaMaxx Calcium Reactors - just dialed in.


So speaking of corals, I walked out with a few!


After seeing Aqua Exotic's great corals, I did not leave empty-handed.


I'll have to drink cheap beer for a while but these prices were actually fantastic for the size of the corals.




When I saw this huge Montipora Undata, I had to have it. And it was only $60!

My aquarium has been stable and doing well for a while now so it was time to fill in some areas on the rocks. I wanted a Birds Nest and a Stylophora and Aqua Exotic really came through with a radiant purple stylo frag and a gorgeous red Birds Nest that is colony size. I also got a green Birdsnest that just glows. And I can't forget that Montipora Undata shown above. What a great piece that is. Check them out in my tank here. My tank has never looked so good. I am psyched. They also had several reef-safe fish that I need to take a closer look at next time.


My son noticed Aqua Exotic is a fan of Marco Rocks!










Aqua Exotic has more than just the hard stuff.



Don't want that frag plug on your coral? No problem.




I really enjoyed my visit to Aqua Exotic and I feel pretty lucky that they are around. Originally they were only going to be an online retailer but decided to open up first with that store front. I am happy about that. For those of you that don't live in the Bay Area, their online store will be online soon and you should definitely check it out. Until then, I will continue to upload pics of my Aqua Exotic corals.

matt



About Aqua Exotics:

Aqua Exotic caters exclusively to Marine Reef Aquarists. We specialize in premium coral, invertebrates and reef-safe fish. As a boutique operation, we are able to rigorously maintain ideal water parameters and keep exceptionally healthy systems. These systems are not holding tanks meant to barely sustain coral long enough for it to be bought, but rather established aquarium environments able to maintain live coral indefinitely and support significant growth. We are highly supportive of aquaculture efforts and frequently carry livestock grown by local farmers.



Our Practices:

New corals always undergo a Betadine dip and visual inspection. Based on the outcome of the first dip, corals will either pass inspection and go into one of our systems or be given additional dips in Coral RX, or peroxide depending on the circumstances. We are confident in our efforts to keep all nuisance pests out of our systems, but we still recommend that our customers follow a similar procedure on new coral purchased here or anywhere else.
We favor aquacultured corals over maricultured and wild corals for not only environmental reasons, but also because of its proven track record and superior ability to thrive in aquarium conditions.
When a colony comes along that is unique or visually appealing, and does well in aquarium conditions, we always keep samples backed up in multiple locations and attempt to grow it for future frag yield.
About the Farm:
Aqua Exotic has partnered up with Western Reefs, a coral farming effort run by Matt F. Matt F. brings over 25 years of knowledge and experience to Aqua Exotic, and has provided considerable input in the building and operation of the business. Several types of corals frequently available at Aqua Exotic are from Western Reefs’ Oakland operation. Aqua Exotic will be home to a backroom aquaculture joint-venture maintained by Western Reef. In the future we hope that 10% or more of all corals sold at Aqua Exotic are grown onsite.

About The Owner (Matt M.):
I grew up in the Bay Area keeping freshwater aquariums with my dad, but I was never very interested in those tanks. I always asked if we could get into saltwater, but my dad said it would be hard and too expensive. I found out he was right because when I moved away in 2001 to attend college in San Diego, I got a reef tank. There was a learning curve and it was definitely too expensive, especially on a student’s budget, but it was my favorite thing in the world. My roommates would occasionally have sizable house parties, and I would post myself in front of the aquarium to a) keep people at a safe distance from it, and b) thoroughly educate every drunken party-goer who had been unfortunate enough to ask me about my “plants”. After college I stayed in San Diego and worked in corporate finance for a large company. My reef tank was at home and I never got to see it. I got a biocube for my office, but it wasn’t the same. I badly wanted to come back to the Bay Area and run my own business, so I left my job, moved back and founded Aqua Exotic in the beginning of 2012. I know it’s not possible to please everyone, but I hope you like it.



Aqua Exotic Web site:
aquaexotic | This is your site


Telephone:
650-516-REEF (7333)

E-mail:
[email protected]

Address:
240 Harbor Blvd. Belmont, CA. 94002

Storefront Hours:
Tue-Fri: 12:30 - 7:00
Sat: 12:00 - 6:30
Sun: 12:00 - 4:00
Monday: Closed

 

I would love to visit your place one day and check out some sticks since I'm almost done with my 120 upgrade.

Oh and maybe get some tips on how to improve my success rate with sps since this will be my first time.


Good luck with everything!

 

Great write up, what a little gem of a store. They are gorgeous big pieces of coral.

Looking forward to their on line store and thank my lucky stars they are not located near me. The force would be too great, and my tank is too small.

 

Thanks for the virtual tour Matt, nice write up. What'd they pay ya? J/K!

 

Great write up Matt, I noticed a lot of Matts involved also.

 

Awesome I would stop in every week or two. I wish

 

Great looking store they have there. I really like the fact that they said Loctite was just as good as the coral glue. That shows they have integrity. I would love to get down there.

 

Great Read..! Wish i lived in Ca..!

 

I'll have to check this place out, any good fish, clams, or anems?

 

Making a trip very soon