Emails we send

Underground Aquarium only emails you about things that involve you directly: a message from another member, your Society membership, a new bubble tier, or alerts about a shop you run. We don't send members newsletters. This guide lists every email and explains what you can switch off.

Which emails will I get as a member?

Each email ends with a line explaining why you received it, like "You're receiving this because another member messaged you on Underground Aquarium."

The new message email

Every time someone sends you a message on the site, you get an email.

• Subject: "[Name] sent you a message" for a direct message, or "[Name] messaged you about "[listing title]"" when it's about one of your classified ads.
• Inside: "New message from [Name]", a preview of the message (up to about 300 characters), and a Read and reply button that opens the conversation.

Reply on the site, not by replying to the email. New messages don't appear in the bell; they show on the Messages icon. See Message notifications.

Bubble emails

• "You reached [tier name]": sent once when your bubbles carry you into a new tier. It shows the tier, your balance and a See your profile button. See Bubble tiers and milestones.
• "You earned [number] bubbles" or "Your bubbles were adjusted": sent when our team adds or removes bubbles by hand. It shows the amount, the reason, your new balance and your current tier.

Everyday bubble earns (logging in, posting and so on) don't send email.

Society and club emails

If you apply to or belong to The Society (or a club), you may get:

• Approved: "You're approved for the [club]. One step left." with a Pay [amount] and activate button, or "Welcome to the [club]" if there are no dues to pay.
• Honorary membership: "You've been made an Honorary Lifetime Member of the [club]".
• Dues request: "Membership dues for [club]", sent when an officer asks you to pay, with a Pay your dues button.
• Dues reminders: 10 days before your membership's paid-through date ("…dues renew in 10 days"), 3 days before ("…renew in 3 days"), on the day ("…dues are due today"), and 3 days after if you haven't renewed ("…membership has lapsed"). Each has a Renew your membership button.
• Dues receipt: "Your [club] dues receipt", with the amount and the date your membership is active through. Keep it as your receipt.
• Club invite: "You're invited to join [club]", with a Join the club button, when an officer invites your email address.

Dues reminders aren't sent to family members whose dues are covered by a main member, or to the club's owner. See Society dues and renewal.

Shop owner emails

If you manage a claimed fish store, you get an email for each shop alert:

• New review: "New [rating]-star review for [shop]", with a Reply to this review button.
• Listing fix report: "A shopper says [what's wrong]", with a Check your listing button.
• Milestone: "[shop] just passed [number] views" or "[number] people now follow [shop]".
• Weekly report: "[shop]: [number] views this week", sent Monday mornings (Pacific time), with an Open your shop dashboard button.

Each one says at the bottom: "You're getting this because you run [shop] on Underground Aquarium," with a link to notification settings. See Shop notifications and emails.

Which emails can I turn off?

You can turn off: the four shop alert emails. On Notifications, open Choose what you get notified about and switch off Your shop: new reviews, Your shop: listing reports, Your shop: milestones or Your shop: weekly report. Each switch stops both the in-app notice and its email.

You can't turn off from settings: new message emails, bubble emails, Society and club emails, and sign-in emails. The other notification switches only control the bell, not email.

If you want any of these stopped, email support@undergroundaquarium.com and we'll take care of it. Be aware that stopping email to your address stops all of our emails, including message alerts and dues reminders.

Is there an unsubscribe link?

Only on outreach emails, which go to shops listed in our store directory. Those have an Unsubscribe link at the bottom.

Clicking it takes the address off our list straight away, with no login and no confirmation screen. You'll see "You're unsubscribed" and "We won't email [address] again," and you'll get one short email confirming it. Clicking the link twice doesn't send a second confirmation.

If the page says "That link didn't work", email support@undergroundaquarium.com and we'll take you off by hand.

What happens if I unsubscribe or mark an email as spam?

Once an address is unsubscribed, marked as spam, or keeps bouncing, our system stops sending to it entirely. That includes emails you'd normally want, such as message alerts, dues reminders and receipts. Your account keeps working, and you still see everything in the bell and on the Messages icon.

To start getting emails again, email support@undergroundaquarium.com from that address and ask us to turn email back on.

Where do emails come from and what do they look like?

Emails come from "Underground Aquarium" and have a dark header with the UNDERGROUND AQUARIUM wordmark. Buttons in them always point to undergroundaquarium.com.

We never ask for your password by email. If you get something asking for your password or payment details that claims to be us, don't click it. Forward it to support@undergroundaquarium.com.

Do I get an email for forum replies, likes or comments?

No. Forum replies, feed likes, comments, trophies, shop updates and review replies only appear in the bell. See Notifications.

Common problems

I'm not getting any emails. Check your spam or junk folder and any "Promotions" or "Updates" tabs. Make sure the email on Account & data is right. If you ever unsubscribed or marked one of our emails as spam, your address may be blocked from all our emails; email support@undergroundaquarium.com to turn it back on.

I didn't get my sign-up confirmation email. Wait a couple of minutes and check spam. If you typed the wrong address, use Use a different email on the Check your inbox screen and register again. See Confirming your email.

I didn't get a password reset email. For privacy, the site says a link is on its way whether or not an account exists for that address. Make sure you used the address you signed up with. If you signed up with Google, you don't have a password; use Continue with Google. See Signing in and passwords.

I get an email for every single message. Message emails can't be switched off in settings. If they're too much, email support@undergroundaquarium.com, but note that stops all our emails to you.

I turned off Bubbles but still got a tier email. The Bubbles switch controls the bell only. Tier emails still go out.

I get shop emails but I don't own the shop anymore. Switch off the Your shop alerts on Notifications, and email support@undergroundaquarium.com so we can remove you from the shop.

An email arrived late. Occasionally we pause and queue email for a short time; queued emails go out automatically afterward.

I want to stop outreach emails to my store. Click Unsubscribe at the bottom of the email, or reply and ask. See Stopping shop emails.