Shipping Info

We ship all of our packages out of our warehouse located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

UPS 2 Day is a premium service that has two day delivery to nearly every address in the United States.

UPS 1 Day is an overnight service to all continental addresses. We have been able to negotiate excellent rates with UPS. Shipping rates will vary depending on your location and the box size necessary to ship an order.

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- Dry Goods Only Shipping

Dry goods will ship for FREE if you spend $50. There will be an $8 shipping fee for dry goods for any amount less than a subtotal of $50 on dry good only orders.

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- Cancellations: As of January 1, 2025, a 15% cancellation fee will apply to all cancellations, regardless of when the order is placed or canceled. Please keep this policy in mind when finalizing your plans. If you need to edit your order, we can help! Please email us ASAP at info@aquaticarts.com and we will help with any adjustments. Thank you for understanding!

- Shipping Details

UPS 2 Day and UPS 1 Day is a description of the shipping time and service. Please refer below for up to date handling times. Using UPS 2 Day and 1 Day does not guarantee the package will be shipped on the second or next day from which the order was placed.

All of our packages are shipped via UPS 2 Day or 1 Day if animals are included in the order. USPS is an option for dry goods and plants only.

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- Shipping Rates

Shipping rates will vary based on shipping service, how far the package has to travel from our location in Indiana, and how big the package is. We currently offer three shipping price rate tiers for small, medium, and XL size packages. All rates are calculated automatically at checkout.

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- Extreme Cold Shipping Advisory

Winter temperatures are here and parts of the country may be too cold for us to safely ship using UPS 2 Day Shipping services. If the overnight lows in your location or here in Indianapolis, IN where we are located are too cold, we will suspend shipping as needed for the safety of our animals and your investment. (we reserve the right to hold an order in extreme weather if we deem it is unsuitable to ship for the safety of the animals) You may always contact our Customer Service team via email at info@AquaticArts.com with any questions or concerns.

Delays in shipping may occur when temperatures in shipping destinations or here in Indianapolis, Indiana where we are located reach 90 degrees or more, overnight lows are 30 degrees or below, or when postal holidays occur for both UPS and USPS shipments. The temperature cut offs for UPS 1 Day are above 110 degrees or overnight temperatures are below 20 degrees. We will send you an email when we print your shipping label, and that will be the day we ship your order out. This email will include your tracking number as well. Your package should take 2 days to arrive after that if you chose UPS 2 Day or if you chose UPS 1 Day your order would arrive the next day after shipment. If your order contains only plants or dry goods then your order may ship with USPS if that is the shipping option you chose at check

 

- Our Normal Shipping Schedule by Carrier

UPS 1 Day: Monday through Thursday
UPS 2 Day: Monday through Wednesday
USPS Priority 2-3 Day Mail: Monday through Saturday
We can not ship UPS shipments to arrive on Saturdays, Sundays, or Mondays at this time. UPS does not delivery to 90% of the country on weekends.
Tracking Numbers are sent to the customer via email once an order is being prepared for shipment.

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- Shipping Options & Handling Options
UPS 2 Day (2-day transit time once shipped)
     - Our current handling time is 1-9 business days
     - Pricing is by size of package needed to fill order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.
UPS 1 Day (Delivery within 18 hours of being packed) 
     - Current handling time is 1-9 business days

     - Pricing is by size of package needed to fill order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.

USPS 2-3 Day Mail (Only available for Dry Goods)
     - Handling time 1-9 business days
     - Pricing is by size of package needed to fill order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.
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- Signatures are not required for any package (this includes both UPS and USPS shipments) but we highly encourage customers to be present to receive the package upon delivery if at all possible for the safety of our animals and plants.

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- Payment is immediately processed upon placing an order 
Because we are dealing with live products payments are processed before an order ships in order to reserve the live products. At Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We also must check the weather for the delivery area before scheduling a shipment. This is why we state on our website, at checkout, and on our order confirmation email that the processing time is 1-9 business days.

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- PO Boxes We do not ship Live Animals to PO Boxes. If you enter a PO Box address during checkout, you will receive a message that says: "There are no shipping methods available for your cart or destination". 

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- Handling Time

Our current handling time is 1-9 business days, although they can occasionally be longer. If you order with UPS 1 Day (which is STRONGLY recommended during the winter as well as summer), your package will almost certainly ship within 1-9 business days. The only exception would be if temperatures are too extreme to safely ship the animals out. The handling time for a UPS 2 Day order is variable based on outside temperatures, postal holidays, and the size of the order. During the summer and winter, UPS 2 Day orders as well as USPS orders may have significant delays (up to 60 days in severe cases) before we can ship them to you due to extreme temperatures.  (we reserve the right to hold an order in extreme weather if we deem it is unsuitable to ship for the safety of the animals).

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- Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico Customers
Shipping to Hawaii and Puerto Rico is not available due to severe governmental restrictions as well as a significant likelihood of delay. 
Shipping to Alaska is by UPS Next Day Air only. If you are ordering only plants or non-live products, please email us and we will make a custom invoice for you with either USPS or UPS Shipping. During the winter months we may have to cancel an order going to Alaska if it contains live animals as the weather can be too unpredictable and most shipments take longer than one day even with UPS next day air shipping. Before placing an order to Alaska during the winter please contact us at info@AquaticArts.com to see if we will be able to ship to your area or not.
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- Final Note

Orders are shipped in our choice of boxes in order to custom fit each order so shipping rates can very pending on what exactly is ordered. UPS rates are based on size of package needed to ship an order, distance the package must travel, total weight of the package and which UPS shipping service is being used. We will also include heat packs  or cooling packs with orders when temperatures warrant a heat pack or cooling pack to be included at no cost to you.

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In the event of any problems with your shipment, please CONTACT US via email at info@AquaticArts.com - We will be happy to help!

All orders come with our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee at no charge. You can read more about that HERE, on our Live Arrival Guarantee page. 

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