Our Commitment To Excellence!

Thank you for choosing Arizona Aquatic Nurseries as your aquatic supplier. We are a family-owned farm and only operate on the basis of Good Faith, Integrity & Old-Fashioned values. 

We have proudly been in business since 1987. You know you can always trust the quality of our products and expertise in educated aquatic gardening and environmental consulting. Rest assured we will do everything we can to make each customer happy, and we will treat you like you’re part of our own family. If you ever have a problem, we will do everything possible to resolve it. 

If you ever have a problem, concern, or question, please communicate with us through email at info@azgardens.com so we can help you. You can also scroll to the bottom of every page to use our Contact Us link easily. We respond to all respectful emails promptly, but remember we are also human ran, so allow for weekends and after hours emails to responded to by the next business day. Please do not leave bad reviews online because you have a problem. Please give us an opportunity to respond to your email. We care about assisting you. We are a small family business committed to helping our customers. Thank you for your consideration.

No Walk-In Retail Business. Arizona Aquatic Gardens does not have an open-to-the public retail store to browse. We are not a retail pet store. We are a wholesale mail order only farm. Shop online 24/7 right here since 1987.

Ordering Guidelines Terms & Conditions

By placing any order online, fax, or over the phone, you have completely read, agreed to, and understand all of the terms of this Ordering Guidelines page, Terms of Use, and our Warranty Notice. Agreeing to these terms voids any right to a chargeback or cancellation.

1. Place your order by Shopping Cart or Email
Please do not leave orders on our voicemail system. 1st time buyers MUST place orders online or in writing via email to info@azgardens.com. For fastest service and order turnaround, placing your order online will be the quickest and most efficient method.

2. Shipping Costs
Shipments costs will be determined accordingly to current USPS rates  Shipping costs are calculated based on your zip code and order total at checkout.

3. Box Fees/Heat/Cold Packs
There is a cost for adding insulated styro-foam, ice or heat to your order as it is not free to us. It could make quite a difference in the shipment of your order. Ice or Heat, and insulated boxes are added at your own discretion at checkout but always highly recommended. We suggest opting in for the Styrofoam insulation to protect your investment from extreme heat or cold. In most cases, if we see an order is going somewhere where a styro box will make a critical difference and you didnt choose to add it, we will contact you to advise adding it on.

4. Substitutions & Out of Stock Issues
Sometimes, when needed, we may make subs, but only sometimes, and only with ‘similar or like’ items. If you don’t want any subs made, please tell us on your order’s shopping cart checkout notes: “NO SUBS” and we will honor your request. We do not call or email customers during our busy time of packing orders that something is out of stock. Please understand that it is just not possible for us to inform customers that something is suddenly out of stock as livestock may change day to day, even hour to hour especially when we are packing many orders and dealing with our daily carrier deadline pickup schedule.

5. Order Deadlines
Each week we have an order deadline for same week delivery. Miss our deadline and your order will usually get shipped the following week. Our deadline for placing orders is on Monday mornings before 9am for orders to be shipped out the same week generally….usually every Tuesday or Wednesday pending availability.  We have a Monday AM deadline because we begin the final collection process for all of the plants/fish/shrimp sold for the week. We must pull, divide, count, and sort plants and fish every week, let’s not forget accounting, paperwork, box building, and final packaging MUST be completed by our shipping dept as we must meet deadlines given to us by the carrier. The end result is you, the happy customer getting your order the same week you place it. If you place your order after Monday morning chances are likely it may have to ship the following week. We are happy to take your order anytime or any day, but if you get it to us after our deadline it may need to ship the following week. We will always try to ship your order out as early as possible, whenever possible!

6. Shipping Services
All LIVE ANIMALS shipments qualify for our live arrival guarantee only if you choose our fastest Express shipping option. Shipments sent Priority Mail do not qualify for this guarantee and losses will be a gamble on the customer’s part. Shipping fees will vary based on your zip code and order amount. The closer you live to Arizona the cheaper the rate, the further you live from us, the more expensive the rate will be. We ship most orders USPS. We ship most perishable items Next Day or 2 Day Air delivery so that you will get them the fastest route after we pack them pending your service area. The US Postal Service comes to our farm and uses special trucks to transport our packages to the airport with care. All USPS personnel are aware of the high priority and fragile handling of our commodities. Please click the “SHIPPING POLICY” Tab below to better understand our shipping days. Your perishable order will likely arrive fresh and without incident.

7. SMART BUYING TIPS & INSIGHTS!
Our family’s farm has been shipping livestock for over 3 decades, so leave all the worries to us! We will get your order to you promptly and in good health. Yes, you are getting healthy plants & animals that are grown by compassionate American workers, and packaged with love. Our family has pioneered many aspects of the aquatic industry since 1987. Don’t be fooled by impostors, Arizona Aquatic Gardens is America’s #1 source for farm-raised stock at the lowest discount pricing anywhere. When you call here, you are talking to the same people that packed your order, and raised your livestock. We are educated English speaking folks and we do not read from a script. Our family believes in Science! We use a science-based philosophy to manage agriculture and aquaculture through use of beneficial microbial bacteria in place of using harmful chemicals or medications. We are an organic company! We care about our Planet and strive to conserve and preserve anywhere and everywhere possible! Many competitors don’t even touch the products they sell. In fact, many have 3rd party trans-shippers pack you stressed out or weak livestock. Make smart choices when purchasing anything live. No matter who buy from, you could always have the risk of some losses/casualties, it is just part of shipping livestock through the mail. Smart tip would be on some of the cheaper animals, let’s say you want 10 red cherry shrimp for your 5 gallon aquarium, and you also want 3 Endler’s Male Guppies. Don’t just order 10 Shrimp and 3 Guppies, buy more like 12 or 14 shrimp and 5 or 6 guppies. It will make more sense if a few die during transit or even acclimation to your tank. The cost of shipping won’t be worth for you to pay again to replace a couple fish or shrimp. More details on DOA’s on #12 below. Commercial accounts such as zoological societies purchase higher qty precisely for this reason and understand that there can be losses. Plants are resilient! So you don’t usually need to order extras. In our history of shipping plants, very rarely do they come in poor shape. Order with friends in the same hobby. This will help you split the expensive cost of shipping. WE DO NOT OFFER GENDER SPECIFIC SEXING ON FISH BECAUSE WE ARE A FISH FARM, NOT A PETSTORE. PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST MALES OR FEMALES OF STOCK. ONLY EXCEPTIONS ARE IF THE ITEM SPECIFIES GENDER IN THE DESCRIPTION SUCH AS: MALE BETTA, FEMALE GUPPY, ETC.

8. Tracking numbers
When your order ships, if we have your valid email address, you WILL get an email from the shipping carrier indicating the tracking number and the ETA (estimated Time of Arrival). Those emails are sent on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursdays. If you don’t get an email, your order probably did not ship, or with all of the spam blockers blocking email, you may want to make sure that emails aren’t getting deleted or are going into a spam or deleted file folder. We cannot ship an order without an email address; our system requires one to print the label! Tracking numbers come from our email “noreply@azgardens.com”

9. Payment of Order:
We accept Debit Cards, American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover,  PAYPAL

10. C.O.D.’s & Prepays
Sorry, we do NOT ship out COD orders. Do you need to prepay for an order with a check? This can be done if you call us to make arrangements. We will accept cashier’s checks & money orders only. No personal checks please. Prepay orders must be phoned in.

11. Cancellations/Returns/Refunds
We Offer NO MONEY BACK GUARANTEE expressed or implied resulting in losses of Live Animals or Perishable Products. NO cash refunds on losses or credits to cards will be given on live good losses. Please Read #12 below for our complete LIVE ARRIVAL GUARANTEE offer details. Cancellations are NOT accepted so please make sure before you place the order and commit to the order that it is what you want.  This is because entering and putting together an order (large or small) is very time consuming and we put a lot of love, time and effort into our orders and our time is valuable. Orders can be postponed as long as you notify us in time.  We can postpone orders up to 4 weeks if needed to meet your schedule. “Refused” orders, or “Return to Sender” orders will result in rejection of all future business, no exceptions, and no refund will be granted. Refused shipments or unclaimed shipments are not entitled to a refund. Even if an order is refused or unclaimed the customer will still be liable for all costs of the order. By placing any order with our farm, you are entering into a business contract of services and accept these terms completely. We DO NOT and CANNOT accept returns on live products due to the nature of our those products. Live Goods may not be returned or cancelled once ordered.  In the event you provide us an INCORRECT address and we ship your products and they get returned to us, you are still responsible for the shipment costs nevertheless. It is your responsibility to provide our company with the proper and correct shipping address for your order.  We COPY & PASTE all addresses.  We do not type them, so whatever address you provide, is the address we will ship to.  In the event an order is returned to us for Insufficient Address by the USPS, yes, you will STILL BE LIABLE for ALL shipping and handling costs involved in your shipment.  We have to take the time to process, collect, pack & ship your order. So, please make sure there are no typos in your address at checkout.  This is YOUR responsibility 100% If we receive a package sent back as Refused, NSF address, Undeliverable or No receptacle to the address that a customer provides us, YES, you are still responsibe for the costs of shipment even if it isn’t delivered. Don’t place your order then leave town or take a vacation with a live fish shipment assembling and heading your way. If there are any delays you are responsible for your shipment.

12. REPORTING DOAs (DEAD ON ARRIVALS)
Losing fish or any living organism is never good, however, it is a part of the risk involved when shipping any livestock from anyone. In the unfortunate event you have a loss of our live goods, please refer to our  Loss Reporting link located at the bottom of every page on this site or click this link. https://azgardens.com/reporting-losses/  PLEASE DO NOT CALL TO REPORT A LOSS. We require a picture because we cannot go by verbal reports. Please report your items immediately upon arrival (within 4 hours of receiving your shipment is acceptable). You must provide your original order name so we can locate/reference your order. We will provide a one-time courtesy in-house credit for your qualified loss(es) that can be used toward a future purchase with our farm. Losses on secondary replacement shipments will not be credited twice. We Offer NO MONE Y BACK GUARANTEE expressed or implied resulting in losses of Live Animals or Perishable Products. NO cash refunds or credits to credit cards will be given on live good losses, only In-house credits. We offer NO Free replacement Shipping services on any DOA orders, all shipping costs must be paid for by the customer.   Animal loss pictures MUST be CLEAR, not blurry or questionable. Fuzzy or blurred pictured will not be accepted. DO NOT delay your pic submission because you think we are closed. Email your clear pictures to info@azgardens.com as they will be date stamped when you sent it and we will provide the credit when we return to the office.   We offer our “live arrival guarantee” only when you choose our “FASTEST”  Express shipping option at checkout. We are not responsible for losses resulted in the customer not being home to accept their delivery. We will not honor claims for DOA losses for fish delivered on a 2nd attempt delivery because you were not home on the 1st delivery attempt. If you are ordering goods from our company, you must be on alert that something is coming. You will get emails  you will need to read so your know about your shipment progress  Please do not order and then go on vacation. It is your responsibility to properly acclimate your new aquatic life, and make sure your tank has all of the appropriate water parameters and environmental requirements the particular species needs to thrive. We suggest acclimating your new arrivals with the lights off your aquarium for at least 12 to max 24 hours. It will help reduce stress. DOA’s that occur after your animals are installed in your water are not covered under our warranty as it is your responsibility to keep your items alive. Once in a while we will get a customer that thinks we offer a lifetime warranty on a plant or fish, this is NOT the case. We ship living, healthy, viable products from our organic farm. Once you get them delivered, you must keep them alive. If you are “short” a live animal in a bag, please take a picture of our unopened bag and submit your info so we can correct any errors. Please also read the bottom of your packing slip as there may be a mention of items coming the following week… We accept no claims for “not as described” or “plant died” chargebacks because you were unable to care for them properly. Perhaps a leaf is bruised on a plant in shipping, or a fin is damaged on a fish, perhaps even a claw missing from a lobster? This does not constitute a loss, claim or credit. Claws, fins, and leaves are no more life threatening than you losing a fingernail. They grow back. This is one of the main reasons why we make sure you agree to our terms before checkout so there is NO question on either end. We do not and cannot accept returns on any live animal orders. We are not responsible for losses that occur due to incompatibility of your fish or shrimp. Our limits of liability are for the value of the item shipped and nothing more. There are absolutely no refunds for shipping costs.

12a. Delivery Times/Services We are not responsible for losses due to delays by the carrier such as damage from heat, cold, breakage, weather, riots, war, or your inability to get an email from the carrier. These losses are the sole responsibility of the carrier only. Most claims that are weather related are considered an “Act of God” and will typically be denied by most any carrier. Please understand that NO carrier offers a money-back guarantee for service failures or delays if your package has live animals included in the package, so please do not request your money back if your package is delivered late. The only claim we can file is if your box is not delivered or lost. We offer one of the easiest and best live good warranties in the industry. Please understand these terms before you order as by placing any order with our company you are hereby agreeing and understanding these terms completely. We are a decent, small, family-owned company and have put these guidelines in force because we have heard just about every story imaginable, and we had to make strict guidelines for our customers to follow, so that we could operate our business efficiently, and you cannot finalize your order without accepting these terms. Agreeing to these terms voids your right to any chargeback or dispute.

12c. How to Redeem your In-house credit If you ever have a credit due back to you for losses reported on a previous order, your coupon code will always be sent to your email from info@azgardens.com. 

12d. Having trouble using your in-house credit for your new order?  If you have any problems using a credit at checkout, please let us know on the “comments/notes” section at your checkout and we will look into the matter when we process your next order. We can apply any due credits manually. 

13. Chargebacks or Fraud Orders
This is absolutely not tolerated. If you have an issue with an order we will make every effort to fix it. We back behind what we ship,  reach out to us,  interact with us, don’t react to a problem that is easily fixable. The back of your packing list has helpful information to guide you in the event of a loss.  If you email us and haven’t gotten a reply, try sending your email with a receipt so that you are sure we are getting it. There is no need for you to go to your credit card company and refuse to pay your bill. This ends up costing us, the “merchant” and you the “consumer” more money in the long run. Chargeback customers will be blacklisted from our company for life. Disputing any charge from our company through your credit card or through PayPal will result in legal collection services that you will be liable for 150% of the original amount of your transaction to recover all fees associated in the return of your funds and rejection of fulfilling any future orders for life.

14. Back-Orders on LIVE GOODS
When you get your order from us, look at the bottom of your invoice. It may indicate: “You have a back order” (B/O), or Your order was shipped in more than 1 box, other box(es) may follow . B/O are done when items are not available when your order was placed or at the time it was physically packed. Please accept our apology, this is non-intentional. We want to ship you everything complete, but this is just the nature of the nursery industry. Those items will be shipped to you when they become available. Because live inventory can change day to day, hour to hour, and we may not be able to fill your order completely immediately. Live good back orders are only created when the value is about $30 dollars or more. Back orders don’t usually remain in our system for more than 4 weeks, unless requested by the customer. If you do not wish to wait for a back ordered item, please call to inform us “cancel back order”. Our turnaround for most back orders is an additional 7 days.

15. Hawaii Shipments containing live animals require a permit!  To help protect Hawai`i from potentially invasive species, the state’s importation rules and laws allow certain species of plants and animals to enter the state under permit from HDOA’s Plant Quarantine Branch. Hawaii shipments containing live plants/animals may require an import permit. Please contact your local Hawaii Ag Dept to obtain one. We will not ship animals to HI without a permit. Permit fee is usually about $20/single-shipment use or $100/annual multi-shipment use permit fee. Here is a link to help point you in the right direction:  https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/pq/import-program/plant-quarantine-application-for-permits/

Communicate with your local Gov’t. They are happy to assist and only want what is best for the environment! If you are ordering non-perishable or dry goods, you are not required to have a permit. Once you have your permit, you can email it to us at info@azgardens.com and we will include your paperwork on your box when it ships from our farm. Thank you

16. …..click, click, click, submit, Read before you click!
This website is very straight forward & informative. There are no hidden messages, there is no FINE print, and you don’t need to be a professor at a university to understand the terms herein, so there should be no question about our policies as it is written in a easy to read, precise and accurate form. If you cannot accept our terms above, or our very clear way of explaining them, you should not click the “submit your order” button out of haste. We are a loving family company, we love what we do, we really love our customers and want nothing more than to make everyone happy, but from time to time we get customers that just don’t read and want to make up their own rules for our company and that just doesn’t work here. THANK YOU.

PRIVACY NOTICE – YOUR PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT TO US.
All personal information obtained is held in strict confidence within our family’s company only! Your profile, credit info, email address, or anything for that matter, will not be sold, shared, or released for any reason to anyone outside of our company. Our company has worked too hard to build our customer database and we would never sell you out. We will never share your email address with anyone. From time to time we may send you a courtesy email coupon for you to use on a future purchase but our emails are infrequent. We may also send you emails so we can send you tracking numbers and ETA of orders you have placed with us. You are now part of our private family and will be safe and cared for here.

17. International Shipments Import/Export. Sorry.  We do NOT ship any international orders outside of the USA since 2020.  We ship only customers located within the USA only. Yes, we ship to Puerto Rico & Alaska without issue.  Hawaii will require a permit see #15 above.

18. Image Disclaimer:  Please note that the appearance of ALL living organisms will ALWAYS vary based on the Species, Age & Gender of the animal. We provide photos of animals to help our customers see examples of what that animal may look like at maturity, or additionally pics of juveniles as well. As we all know, no two living organisms are exactly alike so there will always be some variations between species and gender, etc. Let us be clear, you are not buying the actual specimen example from the picture. We generally ship younger or juvenile fish specimens. We do not sell baby fish (frye). Only fish standard for the pet industry size are shipped and sold.

19. DO NOT request Livestock Gender: We do not honor any customer requests for a specific gender of any living organism we sell unless specified such as: Male Betta, Female Guppy, etc.  Everything otherwise is shipped as straight run/unsexed organisms. Thank you.

Protect our Ecosystems & Know your Aquatic Animal Responsibilities
It is important to make sure living things in your aquarium or  pond are kept away from our oceans and natural waterways. Be responsible. Never dump fish, plants or snails into or near waterways, lakes, canals, washes, stormwater drains or the ocean. Donate unwanted fish to friends, other hobbyists, schools, your petshop, or dispose of them humanely by putting them to sleep in an ice slurry and then freezing them. Use care when cleaning tanks or ponds. Dump wastewater or excess unwanted plants into your garden, compost or trash. Design ponds so that plants, snails, fish or eggs can’t escape during heavy rains, and screen all overflow areas. Consider keeping species native to your local area. Most fish, snails, and plants you keep will not typically be native to your local area. If released, they are difficult to eliminate and pose a serious threat to fragile ecosystems and important industries. So don’t dump that fish incorrectly! Setting fish free may mean they die from starvation or disease, however, fish that do survive and breed will compete with local native species for food and space. They may also spread disease and parasites, and damage natural habitats.

We as a seller of live aquatic species promote the above statements and cannot control or assume any liability for those that do not want to protect our environment. This is a personal choice made by the consumer. Please make a good choice when disposing of your pets.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE BUSINESS TO ANYONE. We only deal with nice people. After 3 decades in business, we have a zero-tolerance policy for drama, conspiracy theorists & Yelpers! We are a fact-based, zero hype, always transparent farm, ran by hard working & kind folks that lovingly hand-pack every order. You are dealing with a reliable & trustworthy people, (our family) in Arizona providing only the finest products for our beloved industry.  Thank you for trusting in us.