Returns & Live Arrival Guarantee

It doesn’t need to be polished. An iPhone or Android video shot vertically with good lighting is perfect. Just follow these five steps:

1. 1Start recording before you open anything. Show the outer parcel still completely sealed, with the courier label clearly visible for a second or two.
2. 2Cut the tape on camera. Keep filming in one continuous take — don’t stop and restart, and don’t edit.
3. 3Show the polystyrene box being opened, then lift out the fish bag (or bags) so they’re clearly visible. You should be able to see the fish inside the sealed bag before anyone touches the bag knot.
4. 4Pan the camera over each bag so we can see the water, the fish’s condition, and whether there’s any leak, blood, or cloudy water. A close-up for each affected fish helps.
5. 5Stop recording and email the video to hello@tropicalfishco.co.uk the same day, with your order number (a WeTransfer link is fine if the file is large). Don’t acclimate or release any of the affected fish until we’ve replied — we may ask for one more angle.

Tip: film vertically with good overhead light, don’t cover the lens with your hand, and don’t worry about the background. Short and honest beats polished and staged.

Once your video is approved, you choose one of two remedies:

• Refund of the affected fish — processed within 3–5 business days to your original payment method
• Replacement with your next order — the replacement fish travel in the same parcel as your next paid order, at no extra charge for the fish

We don’t send replacement fish on their own: a single fish travelling alone is the journey most likely to go wrong again.

If you’re unhappy with the fish on arrival but they’re alive and healthy, do not add them to your aquarium — email us the same day. We can only accept returns of live fish that are still in their original transport bags and have not been introduced to a tank. Moving a fish back out of a tank is extremely stressful and often fatal, so once they’re in, they’re in.

If you experience health issues within 48 hours of delivery after acclimation, contact us with photos, a tank water test, and the fish’s symptoms. We can’t offer a guarantee in that window because we have no way to verify the tank conditions, but we will always do our best to help you troubleshoot.

Live plants are covered by the same Live Arrival Guarantee. If plants arrive damaged, badly melted, or dead on arrival, send photos (a video isn’t required for plants because they do not need the same sealed-bag unboxing check as live fish). Some melt after shipping is normal and recoverable; obvious decay isn’t, and is covered.

Non-live items can be returned within 14 days of receipt, unused and in their original packaging. You cover return shipping unless the item arrived faulty or incorrect — in which case we cover it. Contact us before returning so we can give you the correct returns address and a reference number.

Approved refunds are processed within 3–5 business days to your original payment method. Card refunds typically land within 24–48 hours after processing; Klarna and PayPal refunds are handled by those providers on their own timelines.