Sierra- Renton

[Skagit]

Overall Experience 3
Cost 4
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 4
Service 3

Have mixed feelings... Had a lot of trouble just getting someone to net my fish out for me. Also have had some staff tell me things that were simply wrong in the past. At the same time, impressed with the general care of their fish. Still prefer the Issaquah branch most of the time.

 

[janky]

Overall 5
Service 5
Cost 4
Variety 4
Quality 5

Nothing bad to say about Sierra. I love this place, more so than most of the shops out here. They have a really good selection IMO, and the staff are always really down to earth, easy to talk to, and honest. I've never had any of them BS me or try to over sell me things - they've only been up front and realistic.
The fish are a lot more colorful, vibrant, and healthy than some of the lfs I've visited - so that's a huge plus as well.

 

[TerrancePuffer]

Overall 4 (good)
Service 4 (good)
Cost 3 (avg)
Variety 4 (good)
Quality 3 (avg)

I visit them 2-3 times per month. Good selection. Fish aren't always healthy looking, but at least they are not diseased. Ratings would be higher if compared to other fish stores around south king county. I'm glad I live near this fish store because its probably the best in the area. I visit all the other fish stores once per month.

 

[Madness]

You must not have had been there lately. I visited them this past Sunday, and I saw a couple fish that I would have liked to have purchased, but the Cichlid section was seriously diseased.

 

[Gryphon]

Overall 3.25
Service 5
Cost 3
Variety 4
Quality 1

I stopped in a couple weeks ago, and noticed one of the tanks had Ich. I pointed it out to the staff member on hand and they thanked us for pointed it out. I went back Friday, and the same tank, same fish still had Ich, looked like they did nothing.

I give them a 5 for service because I listened in to them explaining to a customer about how filters work, the biological load fish put on the tank etc and they were giving great advice. Prices were ok, and they have a wide variety.

 

[Lamental Jester]

Overall Experience 4
Cost 3
Quality of Fish 3.5
Variety 4
Service 5

Neat place. Good variety. Saw a few dead and sick fish though. Staff was really friendly, one of the girls remembered me even though I had only been there once before. Prices I found were pretty standard

 

[Anonymous]

Overall Experience 3
Cost 3
Quality of Fish 2
Variety 4
Service 5

I was here today as I was in the area with my dad for something. honestly I would not go back or drive up there ever again. Fish were a bit overpriced and most of them didn't have 100% good health I actually think the majority of the fish were sick the bettas were crammed in filthy cups and you could barely see the fish at all( bad water).

The staff was wonderful except they didn't take notice when I pointed out sick or dead fish. I (1 person) could probably take better care of the fish then them almost every other tank had at least 1 dead fish.
If you aren't in the area its not worth it. The girl there (her name is Tony) was extremely helpful on the phone and in person though!

 

[anthony]

This fish store has the petsmart type tanks. I have got a fish or two from this place and then fallen victim to ick a few days later. But on the other hand I did just scored 2 10" polypterus retropinnis for $70 out the door even though they were marked $40 apiece awhile ago. Any place that will wheel and deal will get me to stop buy now and then. I have dickered $5 bucks off here and there a couple of times with these guys, the more I go there the better my experience has gotten. in the past the tanks have looked pretty neglected but the last time I was there all of them were very clean. The service is fair to good depending on how busy it is. So for me this place is hit and miss, I stop buy if I'm in the area.

overall experience 4
cost 4
Quality of fish 2
variety 3
service 3

 

[nick_76]

overall experience 3
cost 4
Quality of fish 3
variety 3
service 1

i really want to like this store....trust me. it seems like it was better 20 years ago. i used to get fish all the timme there. now i go, but i really cant bring myself to get something...what it comes down to, more than livestock or selection is service..

i prefer to educate myself before i go into a store, browse in peace, and if i need something ill ask for assistance....on one occaision i was approached perhaps by every person in the store...some of them multiple times...in one case i had just finished assuring one associate that im fine for the 20th time, if i need help ill ask...no sooner the words left my mouth another associate rounded the corner and asked if i needed help...c'mon people, give me some peace and some breathing room!
twice i went in looking for something in particular and approached the associates...i laid out my very specific reasons for wanting this particular piece of equipment or that one (two separate incidents) and the associates went on to try to sell me on something that was the opposite to what i had been looking for...once i had to stop them and say, look, youre not listening to me...item X is what i need, and ive already outlined why..

additionally, they have provided information that, according to a book purchased from them, proved erroneous and potentially hazardous to tank mates..

i really liked fish gallery, and wish they would return to the store they used to be

 

[MorganEA]

Overall Experience 2
Cost 3
Quality of Fish 1
Variety 3
Service 1
I bought an Angel and a GBR there the ram was labeled as a Bolivian Ram and the lighting was so horrible that I couldn't tell otherwise. A couple days later the ram developed fungus on his dorsal fin so I called the shop asking for advise, the person on the phone was incredibly rude and went so far as to blamed me saying that I over stocked my 40 gal and that my fish were picking on the ram. I have never seen my fish pick on each other my platys will hide from their own shadow not to mention my tank is heavily planted with tons of hiding places. I have been in the shop several times there are usually dead fish in every tank and the employees are rude, sadly this is the only LFS close to my house.

 

[Anonymous]

I come here every week just see new fishes or need fish basic essentials. I get good service at times then other days crappy service when the female employees are on their monthly visitor. Same african selections but other fishes that you dont see in others.

Overall Experience 4
Cost 3
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 3-4

 

[poffman]

Overall Experience 3
Service 3
Cost 3.5
Variety of Fish 4
Quality of Fish 3

My wife and I came in here on a Saturday afternoon around 2, we found 4 dead fish in different tanks, I could see if it was first thing in the morning and the store had just opened, but there were several that looked like they had been dead a long time, one was folded over and flapping around in the powerjet, another was being eaten by a shrimp (maybe they left him to be food??) and a few floaters... I mentioned it to someone on staff, and said well we're looking around but first thing is we saw a few dead fish didn't know if you were aware of them and he said "Okay thanks" and walked off without asking if we needed anything else, which we did. They didn't seem to interested in helping us out, we were looking at buying a 55-60 gallon tank and after seeing all the dead fish and the not very helpful staff we left. Unlikely we will come back unless there's some major change, bummer because it's close to our house..

 

[JayoValentine]

About the best store around. They don't have the best variety but the customer service is always good.

 

[Madness]

About the best store around. They don't have the best variety but the customer service is always good.

Please use the rating system when RATING the LFS.
Overall Experience
Service
Cost
Variety of Fish
Quality of Fish

 

[hose91]

Overall Experience 3.5
Service 3.5
Cost N/A
Variety of Fish 4
Quality of Fish 3.5

The boys and I stopped by mid afternoon last Wednesday. We had business elsewhere in Renton first, so took the advantage of being over in Seattle to check out another fish store I'd not yet seen. Overall I thought it was an OK experience. Initially lots of offered help, but they were ok to let us browse in peace. They seemed to have a fairly broad inventory, to include marine, plants, and freshwater. The tanks were in average shape, I thought. A couple of floaters for sure, but there was active maintenance going on while we were there, so I figured that was the price of doing business. The big display tanks were cool, as was the salt water frag tank (although I have NO IDEA what I'm looking at with respect to SW, it seemed like a good number of things to shop). The tank organization seemed to be a little lacking, and things were scattered around quite a bit more than I've seen at other LFS and the tank labels were clearly not fully up to date or otherwise inaccurate compared to what was actually in the tank. Not enough to really go ballistic, but enough that if I wasn't fully prepared and researched on buying a fish, I might be a wee bit hesitant to trust what was written on the outside of the tank.

I rated cost as N/A because I wasn't really shopping for anything, and so didn't pay any attention to the prices.

I was slightly disappointed when a young child was demanding "Nemo" from his mother, and the mother was definitely promising him "Nemo", and the sales staff seemed perfectly ok doing everything they could to sell the woman a clown fish. I don't know much about marine, but I didn't hear him ask her any questions about her tank or setup, and I was a little suspicious. I could have been totally wrong, and she was a salt water master with amazing skills and experience, but I have 3 kids, and I recognize appeasement when I see it, and there wasn't anything in her demeanor that told me she knew what she was doing. Not sure there was any thing else the sales guy really should have done, but I'd have liked to see an independent LFS take a bit more of the high road and ask some questions before selling what could potentially be a tough fish to keep, based on the few things I've read.

I'd probably come back, if I was looking for something specific, and I called them and they had them at a competitive price. Or if I was in the neighborhood, I'd stop by, but I'd probably hesitate to come over from Bainbridge just for this shop.

 

[Cadster]

overall experience; 5
cost: 4
quality of fish: 3
variety: 3
service: 4
There's a good selection of aquarium merchandise, about 4-5 aisles of fish stuff, for which I've had very good service - someone usually approaches and asks if I need help and is usually knowledgeable.
I don't want to buy fish here in general - I've only been going since 2014 so I don't know what it was like in the past but everytime I've been in there (maybe 5-6 times) I see a lot of dead fish and fish with Ich or wasting away, and the dead oneshave been there so long they are torn up bony carcasses. There are 3 aisles of freshwater fish: cichlids (mostly small, african) and small bichirs; misc. tetras/rasboras/cories; livebearers; Angelfish; occasionally some rams; and a few tanks of 'nano' fish and shrimp.
There is a decent range of aquatic plants both potted and bunch type, pretty healthy looking.
I mostly go there for aquarium foods and merchandise because of selection and price.

 

[DMD123]

overall experience; 5
cost: 4
quality of fish: 4
variety: 4
service: 5

I showed up at a wierd time on a weekday after lunch so the store was not too busy and I had a ton of help and everyone was super friendly. I bought a bichir, was a bit high priced but they were running a 25% off coupon on their website that I had printed out in advance. Very happy with my visit!

 

[Ruturaj Hagavane]

overall experience; 5
cost: 4
quality of fish: 4
variety: 4
service: 5

I showed up at a wierd time on a weekday after lunch so the store was not too busy and I had a ton of help and everyone was super friendly. I bought a bichir, was a bit high priced but they were running a 25% off coupon on their website that I had printed out in advance. Very happy with my visit!

Thank you for mentioning coupon, I am going there today, just looked at their website for coupon and found 20% one.

 

[DMD123]

Overall Experience 4
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 4
Variety 4
Service 5

Went to three stores today and this was the 2nd on the list.It was pretty clean with water changes and fish coming in. The employees were very friendly and I was asked by two different employees if I needed help. I found a plastic plant I liked and that was all I bought.

 

[Madness]

Overall Experience 4
Cost 3
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 4
Service 5

Nice to see that the tanks all looked clean and healthy. The young lady that heads the fish department was very pleasant to talk fish with. She is willing to order in fish for me if they are on the list.

Picked up a nice piece of wood as well.