You can ship fish, corals, and invertebrates, as well as non-venomous reptiles and amphibians, within the United States and Canada.

You can ship dry goods related to the aquatic industry, such as food, lighting, filters, and other tank supplies.

You cannot ship illegal drugs, batteries, liquor, aerosols, firearms and ammunition, fireworks, explosives, mammals (no dogs, no cats), birds, dry ice and absolutely no venomous reptiles.

ShipYourAquatics.com is approved for the shipping of live aquatics and aquatics supplies to and from business and residential addresses.

You must follow all shipyouraquatics.com Shipping Standards.

You must also follow all UPS Terms & Conditions.

Hawaii has strict restrictions on live imports. These restrictions include:

Limited reptiles.

Limited aquatic species.

Limited plants.

And more.

Check the Hawaii Department of Agriculture's Importing Plants, Animals and Microorganisms to Hawaii web pages for more info.

Because of the remoteness of some areas, Alaska has limited UPS service. Some locations require one or more additional days for Next Day Air shipping, and there are some locations that UPS does not provide service for.

Anchorage, Eagle River, Chugiak, Kenai, Soldotna, and Homer have true overnight shipping, meaning that a shipment to a zip code within one of these cities will arrive in one business day.

For any other city, you should make sure that Next Day Air service is available before shipping. You can pre-determine the guaranteed delivery date and time by going to UPS Shipping Cost Calculator and entering the ZIP code you intend to ship to. From there you can determine if additional time will be required to deliver your package or if UPS Next Day Air service is unavailable. 

Find “Next Day Air” under the “Service” column, and look to the right under the “Time" Column. If this states “delivery date unavailable” this means that UPS does not provide Next Day service for this zip code and your package should not be shipped through UPS/Ship Your Aquatics. If you run a Quick Quote at ShipYourAquatics.com and the transit time for Next Day Air is listed as “N/A” this also indicates that UPS does not service the zip code you are shipping to.  

If you ship to a location in Alaska that is not serviced Next Day by UPS, this falls outside of ShipYourAquatics Terms of Service and insurance coverage, if available, will not be valid.

If you have any questions about whether UPS services address you are shipping to, please contact Ship Your Aquatics Customer Service at 303-730-2125 or info@shipyouraquatics.com.

Yes, but:

Puerto Rico has very limited species allowed in and there are multiple requirements beyond our typical booking procedulres. A Puerto Rico shipment cannot be booked directly from our website. 

Please contact us at 303-730-2125 or info@shipyouraquatics.com to find out more and/or to make arrangements for your shipment.

No!

Using this site, you cannot ship a package containing dry ice.

Dry ice is classified as a hazardous material by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It requires specialized packaging and identification that are not offered through shipyouraquatics.com.

Yes.

The cargo areas UPS uses to carry Ship Your Aquatics shipments are pressurized, and their temperatures are kept between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Always follow these general packaging guidelines:

Use a rigid box with flaps intact. If using your own supplies, your box must be rated at least 275lb burst strength, and include at least 3/4" thick insulation panels.

Remove any labels, hazardous materials indicators, and other previous and now irrelevant shipment markings from the box.

Use adequate cushioning material.

Use strong tape designed for shipping. DO NOT USE DUCT TAPE, SCOTCH TAPE OR MASKING TAPE to seal your package.

Do not use string or paper over-wrap.

Use a single address label with clear, complete delivery and return information.

Place a duplicate address label inside the package.

We recommend dropping your package off at a UPS Store. There are plenty of these locations, and they are generally convenient to where you live. This makes them perfect for afternoon drop offs.  

We recommend using the actual UPS Store, not a UPS Access Point (inside CVS, Michael's stores, for example). All UPS locations can take our shipments, but those retail outlets are independently owned businesses and may refuse live shipments. To find the nearest UPS Store, use this link.

Your package should be all taped up and ready to ship, and the prepaid shipping label should be securely fastened to the top. Your Lacey Act/IATA labeling should also be clearly visible.

Call SYA to verify how late you can drop off your package at the chosen location.

All UPS facilities are supposed to accept live shipments through us. ShipYourAquatics is a certified third party shipper with UPS for live animals, and when you book your label through us, our certifications carry over to you. Providing they realize this, you should not have any issues dropping off your package at any UPS facility.

If possible, we recommend using actual UPS Stores rather than their Access Points inside of other businesses (CVS and Michael’s stores, for example), but all of them have been directed to accept our shipments.

We also recommend bringing this UPS Approval of Live Animal Shipping letter with you. The letter is a reminder that UPS does allow shipments of live, non-venomous animals.

Our Customer Service Team is also more than happy to call the UPS facility on your behalf and explain to them who we are and what we do.

If you call or walk into a UPS facility and ask if you can ship live aquatics, they may tell you no. This is correct in most cases.

It takes a special UPS account to allow shipping of live aquatics through the UPS system. UPS offers a Live Aquatics Certification that you have to pass in order to ship live aquatics. This can be a time consuming process. Ship Your Aquatics has a specially created UPS account that not only allows for the shipping of live aquatics, but specifically allows for SYA third-party shipping of live aquatics.

When you book a live aquatics shipment through the Ship Your Aquatics site, you will be shipping under the Ship Your Aquatics UPS certification. When using the shipyouraquatics.com, you are agreeing to meet our Shipping Standards, including temperature parameters and packaging requirements that meet the UPS standards. 

In addition, Ship Your Aquatics allows for shipping to and from residential addresses (which is not allowed under the typical UPS Live Aquatics account).

We do not recommend you require a signature for delivery of live aquatics, but this is your own individual choice.

If the recipient is not available to accept the Signature Required package from the UPS driver, the package will go back onto the truck for later delivery, most likely the following day. UPS does charge a small, Delivery Confirmation fee (up to $5 depending on their route).

In the case of live aquatics, it is preferable to have the driver leave the package at the address — in a location that’s protected from weather and extreme cold or heat.

NOTE: Be sure your customer/recipient is alert, ready, and watching for the imminent arrival of their package.

In general, no. Please plan your shipments around the UPS Holiday Schedule.

UPS observes these holidays:

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Day

No.

Live aquatics shipments must be shipped Next Day Air, Monday through Thursday only. A next day shipment on Friday won’t arrive until Monday. That is not acceptable and not permitted.

If you want to have your package held for pickup at a UPS facility, be sure to enter "The UPS Store" in the Organization field and "HOLD AT FACILITY" when you book your shipment on this site.

All UPS Access Points are authorized to accept and recieve live shipments with Ship Your Aquatics, though we recommend using The UPS Stores when available.

You can find your nearest The UPS Store location here.

UPS Air shipments (Next Day and 2nd Day) are expedited via their air network, and most (about 70%) pass through their massive central air hub called Worldport in Louisville, KY, for sorting and redistribution before heading to a regional or local hub near the destination. Regional hubs (like those in Ontario, CA; Rockford, IL; or Columbia, SC) handle some shorter routes to optimize efficiency, but the central hub is the default for cross-country or complex paths. Packages are at times rerouted for expediency.

Yes. However...

Ship Your Aquatics has a UPS exception and provides an approved way to ship live aquatics to and from residences with UPS.

Typical UPS-certified aquatics shippers are operating under the standard UPS Live Aquatic Certification. This standard agreement says the following:

"Company acknowledges that all shipments tendered to UPS under this Agreement are for Business to Business delivery only. No residential deliveries are allowed under this agreement."

The unique agreement between Ship Your Aquatics and UPS specifically allows shipments of live aquatic animals to and from residential addresses.

While a residential address is fine when shipping through SYA, a PO Box is NOT. Only US Postal trucks can deliver to a PO Box. UPS cannot complete a delivery to a PO Box address.