The Wet Spot - Portland
- Thread starter Zerc
- Start date
Overall Experience 4
Cost 4
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
I made a second trip to their store on Sunday and I am glad that the air wasn't as humid as before. I took my time looking at all the fish, and was saddened to leave with only two. The store wasn't that busy this time around and it only took a minute for someone to help me.
Cost 4
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
I made a second trip to their store on Sunday and I am glad that the air wasn't as humid as before. I took my time looking at all the fish, and was saddened to leave with only two. The store wasn't that busy this time around and it only took a minute for someone to help me.
jettej
Well-Known Member
At least you got something. I went there last 4th of july and i got 3 people and my dog waiting in my car while im browsing and found out that they ran out of the pleco i was looking for. And i got overwhelmed with their store i dont know what to at least buy/search until i ran out of time and idea because they gotta close early.CrazedAce said:
Salzabar
Member
Overall experience 4
cost 4
quality of fish 4
variety 5
service 5+
Made my first trip from Snohomish. Dropped off the wife at the miniture show and the chitlins and I headed to Voodoo donuts for some crazy goodies. Then to the Wet Spot for some shopping. Huge selection for which I would expect seeing that they have a ton of tanks. All the tanks clean and fish healthy. Prices are on par with any LFS in Washington so I would have to say I'm glad I drove down but I'm glad I didn't do it just for the store. I would have been disappointed slightly. As far as helpful staff, everyone who was working asked me if they could help me with anything. That shows me that they care about their customers and that's what brings customers back to their store time and time again. One thing I don't appreciate is the skinny isles between tank rows. I understand they are maximizing the square footage for the stocking benefit but when you have to stand up and turn sideways every 10 seconds to let someone by when you have your face in a bottom row tank deciding on the fish you want it can get annoying. If you haven't been to this store yet then I encourage you to make the trip so you can see a top notch LSF.
cost 4
quality of fish 4
variety 5
service 5+
Made my first trip from Snohomish. Dropped off the wife at the miniture show and the chitlins and I headed to Voodoo donuts for some crazy goodies. Then to the Wet Spot for some shopping. Huge selection for which I would expect seeing that they have a ton of tanks. All the tanks clean and fish healthy. Prices are on par with any LFS in Washington so I would have to say I'm glad I drove down but I'm glad I didn't do it just for the store. I would have been disappointed slightly. As far as helpful staff, everyone who was working asked me if they could help me with anything. That shows me that they care about their customers and that's what brings customers back to their store time and time again. One thing I don't appreciate is the skinny isles between tank rows. I understand they are maximizing the square footage for the stocking benefit but when you have to stand up and turn sideways every 10 seconds to let someone by when you have your face in a bottom row tank deciding on the fish you want it can get annoying. If you haven't been to this store yet then I encourage you to make the trip so you can see a top notch LSF.
hose91
Member
Overall experience 4
cost 4/NA
quality of fish 4
variety 5
service 5
Drove down to see my Pop over Easter weekend in Vancouver across the river. On our way home Sunday, we ventured over and did nearly the reverse of Salzabar above, Wet Spot first, then Voodoo for a box of goodies on our way out of town. I'm still cycling my first tank (waiting for Nitrite consuming bacteria, now on day 17) and so didn't get any fish. I've been planning my stock from their online availability and I was able to lay eyes on my desired Perlmutt, Rusty and Membe deep stock, which was nice. The Malawi and Tangynikan aisle were excellent, and the sheer variety was quite impressive.
I'm new to fishkeeping, and I think it's interesting how the big boxes might have spoiled me in terms of store atmosphere. Bright and spacious is not the wet spot's strong point. The 500G Mbuna tank is pretty cool, but I'd have liked a zoo-like guide to what's in there, and the tank itself was pretty scratched up. I guess I had greater expectations. Still, was nice to see lots of well cared for adult stock, and the tanks were all clean and to my mostly untrained eye, the fish looked healthy and well cared for. The staff was appropriately helpful, but not overpowering. The wife and kids waited patiently in the car for me to get my fill, and I could have stayed longer just to watch the fish, but I'm also glad that I didn't necessarily make the trip just for the store. I WILL be ordering from them online, though. Prices are reasonable and shipping much more reasonable than most, and the juvenile stock looked great. Their dry goods section was also quite extensive, although that alone wouldn't be worth the drive from Seattle. I got my souvenir coffee cup and we headed out.
Definitely my first choice for an online order, and when we're back down there to visit family, I'll make another visit when I can browse longer without family pressure to go get donuts, but probably wouldn't go just for this store.
cost 4/NA
quality of fish 4
variety 5
service 5
Drove down to see my Pop over Easter weekend in Vancouver across the river. On our way home Sunday, we ventured over and did nearly the reverse of Salzabar above, Wet Spot first, then Voodoo for a box of goodies on our way out of town. I'm still cycling my first tank (waiting for Nitrite consuming bacteria, now on day 17) and so didn't get any fish. I've been planning my stock from their online availability and I was able to lay eyes on my desired Perlmutt, Rusty and Membe deep stock, which was nice. The Malawi and Tangynikan aisle were excellent, and the sheer variety was quite impressive.
I'm new to fishkeeping, and I think it's interesting how the big boxes might have spoiled me in terms of store atmosphere. Bright and spacious is not the wet spot's strong point. The 500G Mbuna tank is pretty cool, but I'd have liked a zoo-like guide to what's in there, and the tank itself was pretty scratched up. I guess I had greater expectations. Still, was nice to see lots of well cared for adult stock, and the tanks were all clean and to my mostly untrained eye, the fish looked healthy and well cared for. The staff was appropriately helpful, but not overpowering. The wife and kids waited patiently in the car for me to get my fill, and I could have stayed longer just to watch the fish, but I'm also glad that I didn't necessarily make the trip just for the store. I WILL be ordering from them online, though. Prices are reasonable and shipping much more reasonable than most, and the juvenile stock looked great. Their dry goods section was also quite extensive, although that alone wouldn't be worth the drive from Seattle. I got my souvenir coffee cup and we headed out.
Definitely my first choice for an online order, and when we're back down there to visit family, I'll make another visit when I can browse longer without family pressure to go get donuts, but probably wouldn't go just for this store.
Oh then your not getting it then. 
The idea of a fish store is exactly what they have, it allows you to spend hours admiring every tank and seeing what is in them. This is how a true fish store looks. Maybe when you have more time to look at every tank you will see that it was worth the trip. And that tank in the front is like 30 years old, looks pretty good considering its age.
Overall experience 5 (always a pleasure)
cost 4.5 (the fish I wanted were just a bit to pricey)
quality of fish 5 (tanks are looking very nice)
variety 5
service 5 (Travis is always helpful)
The idea of a fish store is exactly what they have, it allows you to spend hours admiring every tank and seeing what is in them. This is how a true fish store looks. Maybe when you have more time to look at every tank you will see that it was worth the trip. And that tank in the front is like 30 years old, looks pretty good considering its age. Overall experience 5 (always a pleasure)
cost 4.5 (the fish I wanted were just a bit to pricey)
quality of fish 5 (tanks are looking very nice)
variety 5
service 5 (Travis is always helpful)
hose91
Member
Right, so I didn't mean to imply that big box was better, or that Wet Spot was in any way, shape or form deficient as an LFS, and in retrospect, the second half of my last statement "probably wouldn't go just for this store" was overly harsh, given that it's not a tremendously lengthy trip, but the first half "I'll make another visit when I can browse longer without family pressure" is exactly what you're saying. I do get the concept of the LFS, and can appreciate the value of a place like Wet Spot. My point was more that the big box stores with their big, bright areas (and generally deficient staff knowledge/healthy stock/ intriguing variety) misrepresent what the fish hobbyist is really looking for in a store, and as a newcomer to the hobby, I got suckered by my own misguided expectations of what such a highly rated store would actually look like. My wife (and kids) came along, which is sort of like me going clothes shopping with her. I tolerate it, and I don't begrudge her the time to do her thing in any way, but she always feels like she has to be in a hurry to get done, which is sort of how I felt on Sunday. They were happy to browse for about 15 minutes, then they went to sit in the car, and I felt pressed to move along, instead of standing in front of every tank and really taking it all in.
Good insight though, and something I'll keep in mind when I make my next visit.
Good insight though, and something I'll keep in mind when I make my next visit.
Overall Experience 5
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 4.5
Variety 5
Service 5
Good 5 star experience all around and I came home with an L114 pleco and a few pieces of driftwood.
I did a 4.5 on quality of fish because there were a lot of issues in the various large cichlid tanks. Clouded eye on one, some laying on their side (granted one was an oscar who totally perked up when my wife put her hand up to the tank, but their was another that was totally unresponsive), some beat up looking fish for sure in quite a few tanks. In other words normal cichlid behavior, so really should I even rate this?
Service was excellent. Had to wait since they were packed out but not too bad. Worker remembered me from before and knew I had a long drive back so he made sure to bag it up in a larger sized bag with lots of air in it. Great experience!
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 4.5
Variety 5
Service 5
Good 5 star experience all around and I came home with an L114 pleco and a few pieces of driftwood.
I did a 4.5 on quality of fish because there were a lot of issues in the various large cichlid tanks. Clouded eye on one, some laying on their side (granted one was an oscar who totally perked up when my wife put her hand up to the tank, but their was another that was totally unresponsive), some beat up looking fish for sure in quite a few tanks. In other words normal cichlid behavior, so really should I even rate this?
Service was excellent. Had to wait since they were packed out but not too bad. Worker remembered me from before and knew I had a long drive back so he made sure to bag it up in a larger sized bag with lots of air in it. Great experience!
SonicsDC25
New Member
Overall Experience 4
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 2.5
Wife had a last minute pick-up down in Portland, so I got the pleasure to drop by the store. It was about 1 hour before closing, so I didn't get to browse as much as I'd like to. I did pick up a sub-adult Placidochromis sp. Jalo, but the customer service wasn't that great. I asked them how come I didn't see the tag for this fish and they said that it doesn't matter since everything in the tank is the same price. That's somewhat true, but I for one like to know WHAT I'm buying and if I were a beginner fish keeper, saying that doesn't help. I told them that it was a Placidochromis sp. Jalo, and she's like, "oh there he is" and pointed at the tag that read Aulonocara Jalo. I told her it wasn't it and asked if this was an F1 or not and she said it was a wild caught, but I doubted it since they had all their wilds against the wall behind us. At that point I gave up and just checked out with my fish, my beef with it is that I rather have them tell me that they didn't know and their cichlid expert wasn't there than to have them tell me wrong information. It just confused my wife when I told her all the info she said was wrong, so for beginners this doesn't really fly. Great selection though and would come back again.
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 2.5
Wife had a last minute pick-up down in Portland, so I got the pleasure to drop by the store. It was about 1 hour before closing, so I didn't get to browse as much as I'd like to. I did pick up a sub-adult Placidochromis sp. Jalo, but the customer service wasn't that great. I asked them how come I didn't see the tag for this fish and they said that it doesn't matter since everything in the tank is the same price. That's somewhat true, but I for one like to know WHAT I'm buying and if I were a beginner fish keeper, saying that doesn't help. I told them that it was a Placidochromis sp. Jalo, and she's like, "oh there he is" and pointed at the tag that read Aulonocara Jalo. I told her it wasn't it and asked if this was an F1 or not and she said it was a wild caught, but I doubted it since they had all their wilds against the wall behind us. At that point I gave up and just checked out with my fish, my beef with it is that I rather have them tell me that they didn't know and their cichlid expert wasn't there than to have them tell me wrong information. It just confused my wife when I told her all the info she said was wrong, so for beginners this doesn't really fly. Great selection though and would come back again.
Overall Experience 5
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
My review is actually based on an online order I recently did with them. I got a hairy puffer in last week and everything went great. With Anthony no longer handling this department and other people being involved, I wasnt sure how it would go, but it turned out great. The service was outstanding with emails getting answered quickly, the price was reasonable considering the fish is not that common and shipping also reasonable. For those wanting something they just cant find locally this is not to bad a deal. Minimum order is like $24 in product and shipping is $15 for ground and $20 for next day with 10:30am delivery. This includes all the packaging materials in the cost, no extra box fee or anything. With the fact there is also no tax your dollar stretches a bit. Very happy with my experience!
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
My review is actually based on an online order I recently did with them. I got a hairy puffer in last week and everything went great. With Anthony no longer handling this department and other people being involved, I wasnt sure how it would go, but it turned out great. The service was outstanding with emails getting answered quickly, the price was reasonable considering the fish is not that common and shipping also reasonable. For those wanting something they just cant find locally this is not to bad a deal. Minimum order is like $24 in product and shipping is $15 for ground and $20 for next day with 10:30am delivery. This includes all the packaging materials in the cost, no extra box fee or anything. With the fact there is also no tax your dollar stretches a bit. Very happy with my experience!
Overall Experience 5
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
Just came back from a weekend in Portland with a little stop at the store while there. I will begin with the fact I was warmly greeted as I walked in. Pretty important to me since I went to a small family shop too (Caye's) and had zero interaction with the staff and they seemed they could care less that I even came in. Any way back to the review, great experience as usual. I was not buying anything this time but enjoyed the visit.
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 5
Service 5
Just came back from a weekend in Portland with a little stop at the store while there. I will begin with the fact I was warmly greeted as I walked in. Pretty important to me since I went to a small family shop too (Caye's) and had zero interaction with the staff and they seemed they could care less that I even came in. Any way back to the review, great experience as usual. I was not buying anything this time but enjoyed the visit.
They had a tank full of crassipinnis... I was so tempted. If I did not get the Bumblebee already I would have been coming home with one for sure. Love the vertical banding, Also it seemed to be out all the time whereas my Bumblebee only shows his on occasion and looks black most of the time.
I know they are already doing some sales through their email-newsletter. New fish on sale each week leading up to the date. as well as currently having a discount on shipping if you spend enough.
Can turn this into a review later if there's an issue time for bed at the moment but I went last month XD
Can turn this into a review later if there's an issue time for bed at the moment but I went last month XD
Lisa C
New Member
Over all experience 5
Cost 5
Quality of fish 5
Variety 5, no saltwater, but plenty of Cichlids, Livebearers, Rainbows and fish for Nano aquariums. The Wet Spot also does a nice job with plants and planted tank supplies.
Service 5, outstanding, both in the store and mail order. I enjoy visiting the store when possible but have done mail orders a number of times.
Cost 5
Quality of fish 5
Variety 5, no saltwater, but plenty of Cichlids, Livebearers, Rainbows and fish for Nano aquariums. The Wet Spot also does a nice job with plants and planted tank supplies.
Service 5, outstanding, both in the store and mail order. I enjoy visiting the store when possible but have done mail orders a number of times.
ZeusAlmightyShortLegs
Well-Known Member
I like this store just because they have some of the rare fish and plecos but recently they pissed me the F off, i bought a $140 pleco from them online and they sent it to me overnight. Came in quickly and alive but it had a heater burn on its head,m which somehow made it through their 4 people inspection like really, after a week of them trying to tell me what t was and meds even though i told them i knew exactly wat it was and this was unacceptable they said ok fair we will offer u 10% discount on your next shipping which was bullshit since i live in seattle anything i order from them would only be $20 meaning their discount to me on a damaged rare fish that couldbt died and not guaranteed would have been a measly $2 hardly laughable. Up till now they still wont own up to this passing 4 people even after i sent them the pic time stamped on the fish in bag 10min within delivery.
FishBeast
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear that... The 10% shipping discount is almost insulting.