Shipping Policy – discusdirect

Our Shipping Policy

We ship all orders through UPS Next Day Air.

Overnight shipping

For Next Day Air shipping, UPS will ship to your door overnight and you can expect to have your package delivered by 10:30 am the next day.

5 Day Acclimation Hold

Once payment has been received, we will contact you via email to arrange for a delivery date of your discus. Once we agree on a delivery date, we’ll begin to condition your discus over the next 5 days to ensure your discus are ready for shipping. We ship Wednesday and Thursday for deliveries on Thursday and Friday. Questions or concerns regarding this process, please email me at gill@discusdirectonline.com and I will be more than happy to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have.

Arrive Alive Guarantee

We take exceptional care and pride in the health of our discus to include the high-level of standards we place on ourselves to provide you with the best packaging & delivery service possible. Therefore, if for any reason, your discus fish does not arrive alive, you may qualify for a 100% Arrive Alive Guarantee provided you comply with the restrictions below.

Our arrive alive guarantee will permit you to receive a store credit or replacement discus fish of the same strain and price (subject to availability) or choose a different discus for the same price (subject to availability). To qualify for the arrive alive guarantee, take a picture of the dead fish in its unopened original shipping bag within 2 hours of receiving the shipment.

Attach the picture of the dead discus within the same 2-hour block with your order number, your name and email me at gill@discusdirectonline.com. Upon receipt of your email, we will prepare your replacement or issue a store credit depending on your choice of reimbursement within 3 business days. Our arrive alive guarantee expires 12 hours after you have received your discus fish. At which time, Discus Direct LLC relinquishes all responsibility.

Restrictions:

1. You must receipt for your delivery on the first attempted delivery, this includes Airport to Airport and hold for pickup.
2. Your photo of your dead fish must be date stamped within 2 hours of your receipted delivery.
3. We cannot honor those deliveries receipted for on a subsequent attempt other than the original delivery date.

**** Please read: Postage or freight is non-refundable and will not be honored on the claim request. ****

Acclimation

You’ve invested valuable time and money researching the habitat requirements of your new fish. Naturally, you want to protect this investment by executing a proper acclimation process once the fish arrive at your door. The purpose of acclimation is simple: the water that the fish are packaged in has different temperature and pH parameters than your aquarium. Tropical fish are very sensitive to even minor changes in these parameters, so proper acclimation is the key to ensuring their successful relocation.

There are two acclimation methods explained below, we recommend the Drip Method and wish to remind you the acclimation process should never be rushed. Also, remember to keep your aquarium lights off for at least four hours after the fish are introduced into the aquarium to help them further adjust. And do not feed your new fish for at least 24 hours after receiving them. They will beg you for food, but it is best for them not to eat for 1 day after they are placed in their new home.

Drop method

Turn off aquarium lights.
Dim the lights in the room where the shipping box will be opened. Never open the box in bright light – severe stress or trauma may result from sudden exposure to bright light.
Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for no more 15 minutes. Never open the shipping bag at this time. This step allows the water in the shipping bag to adjust slowly to the temperature in the aquarium, while maintaining a high level of dissolved oxygen.
Lift the shipping bag from the aquarium
Use a very soft net to gently catch the fish from the bag and release them into your aquarium.
Remove the filled shipping bag from the aquarium and discard the water. Never release shipping water directly into the aquarium.

Drip Method

This method is used when a shipment was to arrive, and the PH of your tank is much lower than the PH of the fish in their shipping water (usually 6-6.5) You will need airline tubing and must be willing to monitor the entire process. Gather a clean 5 gallon bucket designated for aquarium use only that has never been used with any kind of cleaning agent or chemicals of any kind or if you have several fish to acclimate you can use the shipping box as long as it is one single mounded piece and water tight keep in mind holes are punched towards the top of the box for ventilation to allow air to the heat packs. If acclimating your new fish from different bags, use a separate bucket for each.
Carefully empty the contents of the bags (including the water) into the bucket or box. Depending on the amount of water in each bag, this may require tilting the bucket at a 45-degree angle to make sure the animals are fully submerged. You may need a prop or wedge to help hold the bucket in this position until there is enough liquid in the bucket to put it back to a level position.
Using airline tubing, set up and run a siphon drip line from the main aquarium to each bucket. You’ll need separate airline tubing for each bucket used. Tie several loose knots in the airline tubing or use a plastic or other non-metal airline control valve to regulate flow from the aquarium. It is also a good idea to secure the airline tubing in place with an airline holder.
Begin a siphon by sucking on the end of the airline tubing you’ll be placing into each of the buckets. When water begins flowing through the tubing, adjust the drip (by tightening one of the knots or adjusting the control valve) to a rate of about 2-4 drips per second.
When the water volume in the bucket doubles, discard half and begin the drip again until the volume doubles once more in about one hour.
At this point, the fish can be transferred to the aquarium. Gently scoop them out of the drip bucket with the specimen bag, making sure they’re fully covered in water. Submerge the bag underwater in the aquarium and gently remove the specimen from the bag. Next, seal off the bag underwater by twisting the opening, and remove it from the aquarium. Discard both the bag and the enclosed water. A tiny amount of the diluted water will escape into the aquarium; this is O.K.

Important Facts

Be patient – never rush the drip acclimation process. The total acclimation time for your new arrival should take no longer than one hour.
NEVER place an air stone into the shipping bag when acclimating your new arrival. This will increase the pH of the shipping water too quickly and expose your new arrival to lethal ammonia.
Keep aquarium lights off for at least four hours after the new arrival is introduced into the aquarium.
Do not feed your fish right away. We suggest waiting at least 24 hours for them to settle down before feeding them. They will look like they are hungry, but it is best for them to wait a full day before their first feeding.
Never pour the bag water into your aquarium.