Shipping Information

Priority shipping is $9.99 or FREE after $74.99 of goods are placed in your cart. Overnight shipping is $39.99 or FREE after $134.99 of goods are placed in your cart. Your shipping day depends on your shipping method. I send overnight packages out on Mondays. Priority packages are sent out on Saturdays and Mondays. Your order must be in the night before my shipping day by midnight, although same day shipping is not unheard of. You will receive tracking information by 6 pm Eastern the day they go out.

Why is Saturday a good day to ship priority mail?

Weekend days are moving days within the United States Postal Service System. Meaning boxes given to them on Saturday make their way through the shipping system over the weekend just as if it was a weekday. This makes Monday the delivery day for most if shipped on Saturday.

How is temperature managed?

Shipping is done in a styrofoam cooler with 2 inch thick insulation. I include 48 hour heat packs in overnight shipments and 5 day heat packs in priority shipments. If it is very cold in Michigan, you may find an additional, small, 24 heat pack to get it through its first night in my state if shipped priority. This heat pack will be cold and inactive by the time your package arrives. In summer, lots of water and thick insulation provide extra protection. These methods works very well in any weather situation. I also stay informed of the weather around the country and make adjustments as needed. If Michigan temps are close to 0 with wind chill, I may choose to postpone packages. I ask for a little patience in this case. Information about guarantee once your shipment arrives can be found on my 7 Day Health Guarantee Page.

Some information about breather bags. When water and air contact each other, they exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide to balance out. When a fish breathes in a normal bag, it uses the oxygen in the water, and oxygen from the air inside the bag dissolves into the water to replace it. With normal plastic fish bags, the fish will run out of oxygen if the package is held up. YIKES! While the oxygen level is dropping, carbon dioxide will also begin to build up. Because carbon dioxide is slightly acidic, this will actually drop the PH of the water in the bag. Because your tank is sure to be a bit different then this lower PH water, this makes the transition harder for fish and why I prefer breather bags over poly bags. The ph does not drop significantly with these bags. Have no fear with these bags. Breather bags are meant to be filled entirely with water and no air. The plastic they are made from has the magic ability to draw oxygen from the air outside of the bag, and diffuse it directly into the water inside. Pretty awesome. As long as you know how much water each fish needs, the fish can stay in the bags indefinitely without suffocating. Breather bags also exchange out the CO2 breathed out by each fish. This limits how low the PH can get, making the transition to your tank easier for them. My fish are mostly bagged individually (one fish per bag). Exceptions include small schooling fish and invertebrates. With these shipping protocols, the fish do well even when delayed for a week or more.

Please note, fish with sharp fins or spines ARE NOT shipped in breather bags. You cannot double bag a breather bag, so these fish are packed with pure oxygen with 2 or 3 layers of protection. Many catfish, large angelfish, any fish that breathers air, and oddball fish are shipped this way.