OUR LIBERAL RETURN AND EXCHANGE POLICY

Our return policy is a flexible one based on your exact circumstance and history, but in general we guarantee all of our livestock to be healthy and free of disease at time of purchase. If your purchase should die within 7 days due to sickness or disease we will replace same at no charge.e We may ask you for a water sample from your tank to check your parameters so we do not subject another fish to improper conditions and so these deficiencies can be corrected before introducing a replacement animal. Death due to poor water quality, aggressive tank mates, jumping, etc. are not covered. For tanks regularly serviced by Life Aquatic, the guarantee is 30 days.

Besides guaranteeing our livestock against sickness or death, there are times when you just wish you could return a recent purchase for an assortment of reasons. Perhaps the fish is a little too big for your tank. Perhaps it is bullying other fish or is being bullied itself. Perhaps you've got your eye on a dream fish, but there is no room in your tank or you know that it would not get along with a certain fish you've already got. Or maybe the fish just clashes with the drapes. Whatever the reason, we want you to be happy with your purchase. If you would like to return your livestock for any reason, just bring it back to Life Aquatic anytime within 3 months of purchase for a refund or credit. There are, of course, limits to this policy. The animal you return must have been purchased at Life Aquatic and it must be in good health and sellable conditions. After 3 months, we can also, with prior approval, take your livestock back to hold for sale on a consignment basis.

OUR LIBERAL RETURN AND EXCHANGE POLICY

In a perfect world, all wild fish would be left in the ocean and all aquarium fish would be Aquacultured in controlled, humane environments. Unfortunately, the world is far from perfect and though strides are being made every day in the understanding and ability to breed marine fish, there are still a very few species that are currently being commercially bred. This means that, by necessity, the majority of the species commonly sold for aquariums still come from the ocean.

When looking to purchase a particular species, Life Aquatic prioritizes its search as follows:

A) If at all possible, we buy Aqua Cultured and Mari-Cultured fish.

The following categories fall under the term Aqua/Mari-Cultured:

Our first choice is:
Tank/Captive Bred-Breeding pairs spawn in captivity and their offspring are raised from eggs in captivity. They are then grown out to an optimum size prior to shipment. When we receive these fish we know they are young, will eat and have not suffered the long-term stress of improper collection practices. We also know that the purchase of this fish had ZERO negative impact on our environment.

Our second choice is:
Tank/Captive Raised-Raised from juveniles in captivity. These fish are net collected from the wild in the very earliest stages of life when they are very small and typically have a <1% chance of survival to adulthood (due primarily from predation). In a controlled environment, these fry are safe from predation, weaned to accept prepared foods and grown out to a size most suitable for shipment. When we receive these fish we know they are young, will eat and have not suffered the long-term stress of improper collection practices. We also know that the purchase of this fish had a negligible negative impact on our environment.

Our third choice is:
Captive Conditioned-These fish are net collected from the wild at various stages of development following strict collection quotas. They are “conditioned” in captivity in a controlled and monitored environment for a period of time to adjust to captive life, prepared foods, etc. When we receive these fish we know they will eat and have not suffered the long-term stress of improper collection practices. We also know that the purchase of this fish has minimal negative impact on our environment.

The following categories are not considered Aqua/Mari-Cultured:

Our fourth choice:
MAC Certified-MAC stands for Marine Aquarium Council – Originally created to provide an industry wide standard for the responsible collection, housing, shipping, acclimation and bringing to market of marine organisms, ensuring a completely documented supply chain from ocean to retailer. Unfortunately this organization as struggled with vision, feasibility, cooperation and funding and has languished for several years now. Nevertheless, many improvements were made along the supply chain and some fish do still carry MAC certification. Though far from perfect, purchasing a MAC certified fish is still preferable to purchasing one of unknown origin.

Our fifth choice:
Responsibly Wild Caught/Collected-These animals are net collected, housed and shipped in a monitored, humane and sustainable manner. For this we are at the mercy of business ethics and economies. Our policy here at Life Aquatic is if a particular species of fish is not currently being captive bred, captive raised, captive conditioned or MAC certified that we, at the very least, buy our fish from just a few of the most highly respected wholesalers in the industry. These typically larger wholesalers have reputations to protect and will not chance damaging these reputations by dealing with collectors that do not follow their strict guidelines and that cannot or will not subject themselves to oversight and monitoring. These particular wholesalers have been around a while, do large volume and got that way by being honest, ethical and environmentally responsible. They will not throw all this away to make a “quick buck”.

We will not, under any circumstances, purchase fish that were gathered in an: Unknown collection method-Subject to Irresponsible Collection methods.

Or

Irresponsibly caught or collected-Collected using Cyanide, Dynamite or other inhumane methods. Housed in unsanitary, overcrowded or unmonitored holding facilities. Shipped using inhumane, prolonged or inadequate methods.

It is also Life Aquatic’s firm policy not to sell fish that have poor captive survival records, will outgrow even the largest aquarium, or are endangered in the wild. You will never find fish such as Moorish Idols, Orange Spotted Filefish, Wild Caught Banggai Cardinals or all but a very few species of Shark at our store. For the same reason, we are proud to sell only Aqua-Cultured Live Rock and not any that has been removed from our Coral Reefs.