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Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
An oxymoron
:lol: Welcome to the city and the forum, both are great! You will surely get some good recommendations on good stores, many sponsor also this site.
Are you looking for live stock or drygoods? Barrier Reef out in Issaquah has a very healthy selection of coral for less then half of what youd pay at most of the LFS in the area. They have also helped me out with special order items that I couldn't find locally(DT phytoplankton). They have open house almost every weekend. Check them out in the sponsors forum area.
All around actually. I will check them out I have not been very impressed with the stores I have seen so far. How ever I have not been out to the issaquah way yet.
Blue sierra is my primary... but there are plenty to see, visit here:
http://thepsas.org/sponsors.html
-Josh-
http://thepsas.org/sponsors.html
-Josh-
I finally made it to blue sierra and they are a really good store I will continue to go there they are the best I have seen out here so far. I have been to quite a few stores too. There is one in kent that is nice too but it is more expinsive then I think it should be.Blue sierra is my primary... but there are plenty to see, visit here:
http://thepsas.org/sponsors.html
-Josh-
I go to blue sierra for my fish, but usually their coral are not looking that good. Thats not too say I havent bought a few from there, but for the most parte I pass on them. Barrier reef has a much healtheir selection, thugh not as large. Barrier Reef has a ton more sps if thats what your into.
Have not been there yet will have to check them out when the time comes. one thing I liked about Blue sierra was reasonably priced live rock. Most places I have seen out here have it for $7 a pound and that is crazy
When I first set up a nano reef long long ago, I bought rock from them. There were a few pest aptasia, but overall I was pretty impressed. I even got a small hitchiking enctrusting coral.
I didnt get to go to the last meeting, but apparntly http://www.thesharkreef.net/ had some really nice LR. They are a bit of a drive from seattle, but if the LR is as good as people claimed it might be worth it.
Peace
I didnt get to go to the last meeting, but apparntly http://www.thesharkreef.net/ had some really nice LR. They are a bit of a drive from seattle, but if the LR is as good as people claimed it might be worth it.
Peace
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
you people like Blue Sierra to much.... to me they suck when it comes to prices, most of the times they make me wait forever or they don't even ask me i need help.
Prices on powerheads are nuts...... i rather pay it on shipping and save in gas .
sorry to ruin the party doods but just my opinion and my experience with them.
i rather trade with people in here, there's the shark reef which i have heard good things about.
Prices on powerheads are nuts...... i rather pay it on shipping and save in gas
.sorry to ruin the party doods but just my opinion and my experience with them.
i rather trade with people in here, there's the shark reef which i have heard good things about.
you people like Blue Sierra to much.... to me they suck when it comes to prices, most of the times they make me wait forever or they don't even ask me i need help.
Prices on powerheads are nuts...... i rather pay it on shipping and save in gas
sorry to ruin the party doods but just my opinion and my experience with them.
i rather trade with people in here, there's the shark reef which i have heard good things about.
hmm... I've not had that prob...
-Josh-
you people like Blue Sierra to much.... to me they suck when it comes to prices, most of the times they make me wait forever or they don't even ask me i need help.
Prices on powerheads are nuts...... i rather pay it on shipping and save in gas
sorry to ruin the party doods but just my opinion and my experience with them.
i rather trade with people in here, there's the shark reef which i have heard good things about.
All places suck when it comes to equipment prices retail. I always order it online I refuse to pay 26 dollars for a fricken power head. I also refuse to pay $7 for bone white live rock it should not be more economical to buy live rock online with shipping there is something wrong with that to me.
I swear I am going to start doing a weekly online LFS review of all the stores I can find in this state and when I am done with that I will move on to Oregon.
I know I have been out of the hobby a while but prices could not have sky rocketed that much, could they? Online they have barely changed.
If blue sierra is not all that what do you suggest? I would love to find more good fish stores in my area. Most of the ones I have been to out her suck.
I do have to say the people at blue sierra where very attentive to me and I was in there on Labor Day weekend and they where damn busy so that was a plus for me.
alison
*Alison*
Whetther equipment, fish, or corals, you'll probably find a different favorite store for each.
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
well when i got my rock i went looking in each store to see who would have a good price and at that time (about 3 years) there was a petstore that was closing down so, i bought it for half price and i got to pick my rock from their display tanks .
hmm what i do is, i usually look on the sponsors here and compare prices and if i see something cheaper, i buy it or if someone here is selling equipment, i go check it out.
for me, i like saltwater city when it comes to live stock, so far everytime i have bought from them, they attend me right away, if i have a question they try answering it and for me some of the prices are fare.
Now like i said, i haven't check shark reef but i have heard only good things and i'm sure i'll check it out soon.
the barrier reef seem to have very nice corals.
I'm sure people have different experiences with different stores, the best thing is just to check out each store and whichever store you like better, then stick to where you know you're gonna get what you want.
.hmm what i do is, i usually look on the sponsors here and compare prices and if i see something cheaper, i buy it or if someone here is selling equipment, i go check it out.
for me, i like saltwater city when it comes to live stock, so far everytime i have bought from them, they attend me right away, if i have a question they try answering it and for me some of the prices are fare.
Now like i said, i haven't check shark reef but i have heard only good things and i'm sure i'll check it out soon.
the barrier reef seem to have very nice corals.
I'm sure people have different experiences with different stores, the best thing is just to check out each store and whichever store you like better, then stick to where you know you're gonna get what you want
.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
I'm surprised to see that nobody has mentioned Saltwater City on the eastside.
Never even heard of them whats there address? they sound promising
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
saltwater city has some good stuff, they're i believe in Bellevue and if you go to the sponsors i believe they have their adress and phone in there .
.i love me some saltwater city, they q-tine fish 2+ weeks before they hit the floor, i have friends who work there(and u should see their tanks), & all of my 'rarer' fish come from there. not the cheapest though.
price-wise: midway tropical pet in desmoines off pachwy. yes i hate to say it, but when u find huge, overgrown mushroom or other softys rocks for $20-30 retail, it's hard to say no sometimes. Yes the place makes you feel as though you'll get a disease from just breathing their air, but if u can q-tine fish, and are willing to gamble a bit, they're prices are unbeatable save for a sale at petco.
denny's in totem lake has some neat stuff from time-to-time, their fish are pretty decently priced(espeically on sale weekends) and there are some harder to find fish, their corals not so much.
if "quality" is your number one goal stay in and around seattle and the eastside(kirkland/bellevue/issaquah/redmond). But if you're looking for "deals" they're better found in south king county/pierce where rents for these stores are cheaper. 5+ years ago, I bought two $6-on-sale Occelaris from petco. I've also bought $20-$25 ones too. I could put them side by side and no one could ever tell. I hate to admit that the brightest colored clowns i ever have acquired were from petco. I would never buy from petco again, as I hate helping out big box companies, but I've also seen wholesale invoices in some of these smaller stores with $4-6 flame angels that get put out the shelf for $60, so my perspective on helping out "the little guy" has changed.
price-wise: midway tropical pet in desmoines off pachwy. yes i hate to say it, but when u find huge, overgrown mushroom or other softys rocks for $20-30 retail, it's hard to say no sometimes. Yes the place makes you feel as though you'll get a disease from just breathing their air, but if u can q-tine fish, and are willing to gamble a bit, they're prices are unbeatable save for a sale at petco.
denny's in totem lake has some neat stuff from time-to-time, their fish are pretty decently priced(espeically on sale weekends) and there are some harder to find fish, their corals not so much.
if "quality" is your number one goal stay in and around seattle and the eastside(kirkland/bellevue/issaquah/redmond). But if you're looking for "deals" they're better found in south king county/pierce where rents for these stores are cheaper. 5+ years ago, I bought two $6-on-sale Occelaris from petco. I've also bought $20-$25 ones too. I could put them side by side and no one could ever tell. I hate to admit that the brightest colored clowns i ever have acquired were from petco. I would never buy from petco again, as I hate helping out big box companies, but I've also seen wholesale invoices in some of these smaller stores with $4-6 flame angels that get put out the shelf for $60, so my perspective on helping out "the little guy" has changed.
barrierreefcf
Sponsor
[/quote]I've also seen wholesale invoices in some of these smaller stores with $4-6 flame angels that get put out the shelf for $60, so my perspective on helping out "the little guy" has changed.[/QUOTE]
Trust me...none of us "little guys" in aquarium retail are getting rich doing this. We do it because something about the hobby has inspired a passion for the animals we sell or the systems we design. I'd bet that any of the local store owners could close shop and get a job working less hours, with less stress, that would pay way better. See Kahuna Corals, Below Sea Level, Fish Store Crossroads, Dolphin Pet, Aquarium Concepts, Aquarium World
Trust me...none of us "little guys" in aquarium retail are getting rich doing this. We do it because something about the hobby has inspired a passion for the animals we sell or the systems we design. I'd bet that any of the local store owners could close shop and get a job working less hours, with less stress, that would pay way better. See Kahuna Corals, Below Sea Level, Fish Store Crossroads, Dolphin Pet, Aquarium Concepts, Aquarium World
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