Sand Bar Pet Shop

I'm an employee at a local animal hospital in Irvine. A client brought in a puppy purchased from this store on Saturday- the owner had noticed blood in the animal's stool. I simply called to find out if the animal had been pre-treated with any kind of medication, so we would know how to proceed with this patient. The staff member who "helped" me was extremely unpleasant and offered absolutely no assistance, saying that the owner would have to bring the puppy back to their shop in order to receive care (this is at the close of the business day, meaning the animal would have to wait until tomorrow for treatment). Please be cautious when purchasing a puppy/kitten from stores such as these... and make sure you are given documentation of ANY treatment your pet has received prior to purchase!

Posted 09/16/09 | Report Abuse

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I went to sand bar to purchase pre mixed salt water. I never had any serious problems with the salinity being off, but there had been a few times i was lied too. So i asked a store worker to barrow there salinity meeter (Hydrometer), and he refused me the meter and assured me that it was (1.025) when i got home i realized that the water was (1.014) way bellow what i was told! unfortunatly i had allready did the water change in my tank without checking to make sure the salinity was what they claimed. I so i went to my best friends house who also purchased the same water at the same time. I tested it and it made me so mad because i was refused a hydrometer! I should of known there was something fishy when this happend. Sand bar denies having there water this low, but its very obvious that they are just trying to pinch pennys by selling water at a unreasonable salinity. Any other aquarium store ive ever been to sells there salt water at 1.025-1.024 that way they can add fresh r/o to make it less salty if desired. Sand bar claims that they need to sell there water at a lower salinity because most of there customers dont need salt water at 1.025 this is bull$hit because they just want you to have to buy a bag of salt to make it stronger when your allready paying extra for salted water in the firstplace! Shouldent the water be salty enough for a desired application such as a reef aquarium. Now i have my own r/o and make my own salt water myself, my tank has never been better!

I have been very happy with the corals i have purchased from them! they are also not over priced. I still do shop at sand bar and buy corals from time to time out of there display tank. I do respect that they are willing to sell just about any coral out of there display tank, witch most LFS (local fish store) will not do. Most of the people there are friendly but i would not take the advise of anyone at sandbar when it comes to reef keeping, you should do alot of research and come to your own conclushions. You cant please everyone in the business, so im not going to give a buyest review. Just an honest one. I am giving Sand Bar pet shop 3 stars since i still see nice corals in there main display, and i have been very pleased with just about every coral i have purchased there. Also one time by accident me and my friend where so stoned that we left bolth of our jugs running and forgot about them! We flooded the whole aquarium section by accident (This really was an accident) i guess they had it comming to them!

Posted 08/24/09 | Report Abuse

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They cram their birds in small cages.
I saw about four big fish tanks there, the rest of the tanks were so small, I would not put my Betta there!
Some of small tanks were crammed with fish, plecos and incorporated with oh so small African dwarf frogs!
Place is crammed, hot, and smelled awful.
Terrible service.
Poor quality pet food.

Posted 07/26/09 | Report Abuse

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I have been going to the sandbar pet store since i was young. I have never had any problems with anything purchased there. The owner has been there every time i am in and answer whatever question that i may have to the best of his knowledge. For the reviews that say that they sold them defective fish, turtle, or puppy ..that is just not believable. I have bought too much there and have all the confidence in their ability to sell just as good if not better of animals than all the other pet stores. I was given the price for a bird cage that was not necessary for the size of bird that i had. The owner at Sandbar told me that was too big... We ended up looking at another option. But if i had listened to the other pet store i would have bought a $300 cage intended for a Parrot and my bird could have gotten hurt. These people care about giving the appropiate knowledge and do not under any cercumstance try to over sell. they only show you ideas and they do tell what is necessary for caring for your animal.

Posted 03/25/09 | Report Abuse

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I go to Sand Bar Pet Shop all the time, while they don't have the biggest store around, they are always willing to put an order out for whatever you're looking for. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. You'll fall in love with all the little animals in the store, especially the puppies!

The aquatic plants I purchased were healthy and vibrant, and did not infest my tanks with snails, which is always a plus.

Posted 03/20/09 | Report Abuse

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I worked at PetTown in El Toro for years. There is something special about locally owned shops. I have purchased many things from the shop, and always try to buy from local businesses. I call for feeder mice and they are always happy to check for me.

It is small, and maybe that is how overhead stays low.

Some of the reviews seem bogus to me, as I have always had a good experience there!!

Posted 03/06/09 | Report Abuse

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A friend of mine bought a rat here recently. He wasnt able to keep her so I have taken her in and I absolutly love her! She is the sweetest thing ever and I owe it all to Sandbar. She is such a good rat im going back to get her a playmate. :]

Posted 11/17/08 | Report Abuse

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We purchased a saltwater tank over 20-years ago from Sandbar. They were very helpful then and were very helpful now when we purchased a new puppy. Our mini-dachshund is now 4-months old and very healthy. Before we could purchase the puppy, Sandbar made us bring our older dog to the shop to make sure there would be no conflict. They also sent us with a week's worth of parasite medicine to make sure the puppy stayed healthy. Our first visit at a local vet was free and the puppy checked out as 'very healthy'. The owners run the place and are very knowledgeable with reptiles and birds to tropical fish and puppies.

Posted 04/18/08 | Report Abuse

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I just wanted to throw in a review some of the reviewers.

All My Fish Died Person:
First off I am sorry to hear all your fish died. But you must know that Local Fish stores buy fish from distributors and parasites are common. I always make sure to inspect all fish I am about to buy at the fish store, then when I get home I inspect the fish again to make sure a parasite is not going to wipe out my tank. Now if your dad has been doing Salt water tanks for 30 years or whatever he would know this. I have had salt water tanks for over 10 years and this doesn't happen to me because I don't buy sick fish. Don't get into the aquarium hobby if you don't understand the risks of buying fish from a local pet store.

My turtle died person:

Ok lets just set this straight. They didn't miss inform you you just never took the time to READ about your pets diet. Do you feed a Cat hay? or do you feed a Dog oats? No. If you had took the time to read about your tortoise then you would know what they eat and that poor box tortoise would not have had to suffer under your care.

It really irks me that people are blaming their ignorance on a local pet store. Most local "Family Owned" pet stores are out of business. You have Petco who charges 35$ for the same exact Brand of Aquarium sand that is at this petstore for 16$.I have been to many of the Local Pet Stores in the area, the Husband and Wife who own Sand bar pets run a great shop, they have always been able to answer hard uncommon questions about the fish they sell, and were even willing to special order me fish considering they were in good health at the distributor!! This really says something. PETCO/PETSMART never check they quality of fish they order. In short this is a great local pet store.

Just because 10% of the population are idiots and don't know that when you buy pets you have to know something about them shouldn't make you write a completely biased review.

Posted 01/11/08 | Report Abuse

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Recently my sister and dad bought a few tropical fish and brought them back to our tank. Within a week all of the fish in our 200 galloon tank were dead from a parasite. We even had a vet pathologist over to help our tank before they all died. It was too late, every fish died; our butterflies, angels, tangs, triggers, even all the clown fish. Fish that we have had for over 8 years are no longer. This has never happened once in the 30+ years my dad has had the tank and was very tramatic for my parents. You could blame my dad for not buying the fish from a reputable store. But, I personally blame Sand Bar. They do not treat the fish that arrive at their store, they do not wait to see how healthy they are, they immediately turn around and sell them. This makes for very unhappy customers like my family. I feel it is my duty to my community to highly discourage you from ever shopping there. My family and friends will definitley not, especially because of how rudely they treat customers, but more importantly, because of how poorly they treat animals.

Posted 10/05/07 | Report Abuse

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Years ago, I went to the Sand Bar Pet Shop to purchase a box turtle. The staff was extremely helpful and informative, or so I thought. It was my fault for not researching about the breed prior to my purchase, and relying too heavily on the pet store's staff; Yet, you would think that they would be knowledgable...wrong! I was misinformed, and eventually, my turtle became very ill. Because I was misinformed about something so serious as to jeaporadize and endanger my pet(she is healthy now), I would never recommend any purchases made from this store.

They also sell puppies and kittens, most of which are now the fashionable "designer" dogs. I try to steer clear of pet stores that sell animals, especially puppies and kittens, as much as possible.

Posted 08/19/07 | Report Abuse

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Sand Bar sold me a very expensive puppy that grew up to be a different breed than they claimed it was. They did nothing to accommodate me. Be suspicious if they try to sell you a second generation mixed breed dog. This is because when the dog turns out like neither of the breeds it is supposedly from, they have a built in excuse that second generation dogs are "unpredictable." They either don't know what kinds of dogs they are selling, or they are misleading customers.

PROS: healthy puppies
CONS: puppies may be different breeds than they claim

Posted 11/05/06 | Report Abuse

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Real people running a real pet store. A good variety of merchandise and good prices. Especially good and sincere advice from knowlegeable employees is the capper!

The building is small and a bit cramped, so leave non-essential personell at home.

Posted 05/26/05 | Report Abuse

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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I was so happy to be referred to the Sand Bar Pet Shop. Their prices were hundreds below other pet stores. Part of the reason they can do this is that they don't include papers. That was perfect for me because I'm not planning on breeding my puppy. I probably saved $300-$400 dollars. they also offer great discounts on pet products after your pet purchase as well as great veterinarian discounts from a local vet.

PROS: Great prices-great service-great pets
CONS: none

Posted 05/23/05 | Report Abuse

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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