whats a good LFS in Portland OR?

[Fishdude1984]

hey all you Portland OR, Vancouver WA people, whats a good LFS? i would like to find some.

[BrentN]

http://www.seahorse-nw.com/

Try these guys. I live in Kelso but work in Portland and this shop is along my commute, and just across the I-5 bridge. Good selection of stuff there and Woody seems knowlegable. There is another shop off Powell blvd at about 26th, but I can't remember the name, very reputable for quality corals. I'll get back to you with the name if I can remeber it. HTH

[luv951]

Seahorse is good, although I have never purchased from them. The guy (I guess woody, really does know his stuff, Brent is right).

Avoid Cayes - they are more interested in selling you stuff than giving you the right information. They are on Division & 135th or so.

CB's in Gresham - 181st and Burnside I think used to be OK, but the owner died a few years back. the young guy that owns it now is really nice, but I have not seen anything great there in a while and unless they have recently changed, they have no corals, just fish.

Upscales in Tualatin is great, but they seem sometimes to be a bit snobby toward beginners or those asking questions. Kind of like you can tell that when you leave they make fun of you. IMO. Nice livestock and corals though.

Soutas is the place of powel that Brent was referring to, I think. They are great. Can chat them up all day long and they have pretty good prices and are geared toward reef only. No FW.

Waves - used to be off Capital Hwy. Not sure if they are still around. I will never walk in there again. 10-12 Years ago, they outright lied to me regarding snails and took me for $100+.

I wish there were more, but thats about all I know of.

[luv951]

Cayes tried to convince me that a porc puffer whose tail had been chewed off. was hiding in the rocks and lacked color was a good buy - Yeah right!!!! Needless to say I passed, I think that they thought I knew nothing....

[luv951]

I just read my first post and think it might be too ambiguous.

Go to Soutas, Seahorse, and Upscales. Forget the rest.

[ricks]

Wave's is under new owners... His name is Joel, they have really cleaned up the shop.. Right off I-5 and Carmen drive, 2 exits north of Upscale. 503-968-3200. This is not a plug. Joel, is real easy to deal with...

[onthecourt4life]

I go to upscales and love it. they have pretty good prices and always have a good amount of fish and coral

[Fishdude1984]

thanks guys for all the help

[luv951]

Nice to hear about Waves. Is it the same Waves that used to be on Capital Hwy.....I realize new owners means new shop so I guess what I am asking is did the old one close?

To all, please disregard my statement about Waves - new owner deserves a fair chance. I am going to have to check out the new operation.

[ricks]

In name only, Shaun is gone... Although I never had a problem with him, other than the way he kept his shop and livestock. Some of that was because he had no air conditioning. And we all know 90 degree days and coral don't get along to well... The new and improved Wave's has air. The old location is no longer there..

[pledosophy]

IME

Waves is Great
Upscales is worth it just to see there display tanks
Rose City is good
Salt Watr Fantasea's are nice people but not much around.

Personally I have not been impressed with Seahorse NW for many reasons.

1. I paid them to install a ballast, I watched the guy break it, then they tried to charge me for "fixing it".

2. The wiring for the ballast was wrong and electricuted my display when I turned it on.

3. They sell taxifloria as prolifera and don't warn customers it is thee most invasive species on the planet.

4. The water they sell measured at over 350 ont he TDS meter but they claim it is the best since it is DI only.

5. They repeated warn against adding calcuim or pH buffers.

6. They instruct there customers not to use any heater, ever.

O.K. I should stop now but I could go way on. I wouldn't listen to a thing they have to say.

Saltwater Aquaticus in Beaverton is also good.

Visist the PNWMAS.ORg website for a list of local LFS's.

HTH

[luv951]

Nice, there are at least three that you just mentioned that I have never heard of - and I have been into this hobby for a while - all while living in portland.

Thanks for the PNWMAS site too!

[hyperfocal]

I'll chime in and agree with pledosophy.

Each of the shops have their strengths and weakness... I go to each for different things. Upscales, Waves and Soutas are great for SPS. Waves and Saltwater Fantaseas for fish. Etc.

Seahorse *does* seem to be trapped in the 1980s -- dismissing the need for high flow for SPS, calling Ca/Kalk reactors "toys", etc. I wouldn't follow their advice, but they do have a pretty good selection of clean-up crew, parts/substrate and some good prices on dry goods.

Check them all out, you' should find something to like at each.

[luv951]

Where is pledosophy?

[hyperfocal]

Two posts prior to mine ;-)