Safe local pickup

Classified ads on Underground Aquarium are free, and the site doesn't handle payment or shipping for them. You and the other person arrange the pickup and payment yourselves. This guide covers what the site does to help, plus practical tips from the hobby for meeting safely and getting livestock home healthy.

Does Underground Aquarium handle payment or delivery?

No. Every listing page says it plainly: Underground Aquarium doesn't handle payment or shipping for classified ads. The site connects you with local keepers. You agree on a price, a time and a place between yourselves, usually through on-site messages, and meet in person.

Because the site isn't in the middle of the deal, it can't refund money or settle disputes. That's why the tips below matter.

What does the site do to help keep me safe?

• Private messaging. On-site messages never show your email address. The other person sees your username. See Contacting a seller.
• Accounts for messaging. Only signed-in members can message sellers, so every conversation is tied to a real account.
• Optional phone and email. Sellers decide whether to show a phone number or email. Nobody's contact details are shown unless they chose to.
• Seller profiles. The name under Posted by links to the person's public profile, where you can see when they joined, their tanks and their other listings.
• Society seal. A small seal next to a seller's name means they're an Underground Aquarium Society member.
• Report. Every listing has a Report link for scams, prohibited species and misleading ads. Our team reviews every report. See Reporting content.
• Block. You can block someone from your conversation with them or from their profile, and they can no longer message you. See Blocking and safety in messages.
• Listing rules. The listing rules ban endangered, protected and locally illegal species, sick or mistreated animals, banned chemicals, stolen photos and fake prices.

Tips for meeting someone safely

These are common-sense tips, not site rules:

• Keep the conversation on the site until you agree to meet. It keeps a record, and your email and number stay private.
• Meet somewhere public. A store parking lot works well. Your local fish store's lot is even better, and many shops don't mind. See Finding a fish store.
• Meet in daylight if you can, and somewhere with people around.
• Bring a friend or tell someone where you're going and when.
• Trust your gut. If the story keeps changing or you feel pressured, walk away.

For large items like tanks and stands that can't easily go to a parking lot, consider having someone with you, and keep the visit to the garage or front room.

How do I avoid scams?

The listing page puts it simply: never wire money to someone you haven't met. A few more tips:

• Pay in person, when you pick up. Don't send a deposit, "holding fee" or shipping money to someone you've never met.
• Never pay with gift cards. A request for gift cards is a scam, every time.
• Be wary of prices that are too good to be true, especially on rare fish, coral or big tanks.
• Be wary of anyone who won't meet and insists on shipping livestock from a "local" ad.
• Watch for stolen photos. Ask for a current photo with something specific in frame (today's date on paper, your username) if you're unsure.
• Don't move to another app just because someone asks. Keep it on site until you've agreed to meet.

If something looks like a scam, tap Report on the listing and choose Scam or fraud. You can also report the person from their profile. Then block them.

Checking livestock before you pay

These are general hobby tips:

• Look at the fish in their tank if you can, not just in a bag. Healthy fish are active and alert, with clear eyes and fins.
• Watch for warning signs: white spots, clamped or ragged fins, cloudy eyes, heavy breathing, sores, a pinched belly, or dead fish in the tank.
• Check the count in the bag before money changes hands.
• Ask about their water: temperature, pH and hardness. It helps you acclimate the new arrivals.
• Ask what they've been eating so you can offer something familiar at first.

The listing rules don't allow selling livestock the seller knows is sick, and ask sellers to say plainly if something is being treated. If a listing misrepresents livestock, report it.

Checking tanks and equipment before you pay

General tips for used gear:

• Tanks: look along every silicone seam for peeling, gaps or bubbles, and check the glass for chips, especially at the corners. Ask whether it held water recently. Many buyers do a leak test at home in the garage or yard before setting it up.
• Heaters, filters, pumps and lights: ask the seller to plug them in so you can see them run.
• Canister filters: ask whether all the hoses, seals and fittings are included.
• Stands: check for water damage, swelling or soft spots in the wood.

Condition on gear listings (New, Like new, Good, Fair or For parts) is the seller's own description, so check for yourself.

Getting fish home safely

General hobby advice for transporting livestock after a pickup:

• Bring a cooler or an insulated box. It keeps bags at a steady temperature and in the dark, which keeps fish calm. This matters most on hot or cold days.
• Keep bags upright and out of the sun. Never leave them in a hot car.
• Go straight home. Plan the pickup for the end of your errands, not the start.
• Spiky fish like plecos and some catfish can poke through bags. A rigid container or double bag helps.
• Coral and inverts are often more sensitive to temperature swings than fish. Keep the trip short.

If you're the seller, the Where to sell your fish page covers how to bag fish well for a pickup: skip feeding for a day, fill bags about one-third water and two-thirds air, double bag and round the corners, and keep them dark.

Settling new fish in

General hobby tips once you're home:

• Acclimate slowly. Float the bag to match temperature, then add small amounts of your tank water over time before moving the fish.
• Quarantine new arrivals in a separate tank if you have one, so you can watch for problems before they reach your main tank.
• Lights low for the first day helps new fish settle.
• Never release aquarium fish, snails or plants into local waterways, even if things don't work out.

Is it legal to buy this species where I live?

Rules for which species can be sold, moved or kept vary by state. The listing rules don't allow species that are illegal where either the seller or the buyer lives, and sellers are reminded when posting live animals and plants that checking the rules is their responsibility. As a buyer, it's worth checking your own state's rules too, especially for invasive fish, snails and plants. See Livestock and restricted species.

What if the other person doesn't show up?

It happens. A few tips:

• Confirm the day before and again an hour before, in the same conversation.
• Agree on a specific spot ("by the front doors"), and share a description of your car.
• If they don't show, send one message and move on. You can block them if they keep wasting your time.

What if a deal goes wrong?

Since payment happens between you and the other person, Underground Aquarium can't refund money or force a return. What you can do:

• Report the listing with the Report link, choosing the reason that fits (for example Scam or fraud or Misleading or inaccurate), and add details. Our team reviews every report and may remove content or suspend accounts.
• Report the person from the Report link at the bottom of their profile.
• Block them so they can't message you again.
• If you were the victim of fraud or theft, contact your local authorities as well.

For anything else, email support@undergroundaquarium.com.

Common problems

The seller wants payment before we meet. That's a common scam pattern. Pay in person at pickup. If they insist, walk away and consider reporting the listing.

The seller asked me to text or email them instead of using site messages. That's up to you, but keeping it on site until you agree to meet protects your contact details and keeps a record of what was agreed.

The fish I picked up were sick. Isolate them from your main tank if you can. Let the seller know in your conversation. If you believe the listing was deliberately misleading, report it.

Someone is harassing me after a pickup. Block them from your conversation or their profile, and report their profile. See Blocking and safety in messages.