FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about Elmer’s Aquarium.
Products & Animals We Sell
We specialize in aquatic livestock; we sell freshwater and marine livestock including fish, snails, plants, aquatic African frogs, anemones, and invertebrates.
We no longer sell rodents, birds, amphibians, reptiles, axolotls, or hermit crabs.
We carry a variety of products for hermit crabs and reptiles, we also sell ABBA brand bird food.
To special order a fish we do not have or are not common, call us at 412-372-6535 and speak with a sales associate. Our buying manager will enter your request and do their best to fulfill it. We will call you when the animal comes in. Note that availability varies with types of fish/livestock along with the time of year.
Shipping & Online Ordering
Elmer’s Aquarium is a small family owned business, we do not have a shipping department. Items that you see in our online catalog can be ordered through our website for in-store pickup only. We hope that if you are ever in the Pittsburgh area you will stop in our store!
Yes, we offer delivery and installation of freshwater and saltwater aquariums within a 60 mile radius of our store. Please visit our Services page for details and to request a quote.
Yes! You can order from our online catalog for in-store pickup only. Items that are in stock will be available within 2-4 hours of placing your order. However, we do recommend that you give us a call when you are on the way to pick up your items.
For items that are not in stock we will email you with the approximate time and date in which it will arrive and hold it until you can pick it up.
Yes! Any of our sales staff would be happy to assist with making an order over the phone. Give us a call at 412-372-6535 and let us know what you are looking for.
If you are looking for a specific item that we do not stock related to fish keeping and aquarium equipment, please send us an email at contactelmers@gmail.com directed to our product buyer.
Our website does not offer online order cancellation. To cancel an order, please call us at 412-372-6535 and speak with an associate.
To check on the status of your order, please give us a call at 412-372-6535 or email us at contactelmers@gmail.com
All online orders are processed securely on our website, and must be paid in full.
Our website does not support our gift cards at this time. You may use a gift card for an order over the phone.
In the shopping card page, there is an option to “edit comments.” Click this button and enter your 5 digit rewards card number or type in your phone number/last name associated with the account.
Returns, Warranties, & Customer Service
We can give half credit back for anything that dies within 14 days of the original purchase. Please save your receipt or sign up for an Elmer’s Rewards card so we can look up your receipts. If you are unable to stop in the store, call or email us at contactelmers@gmail.com and we will put your name in our Credit Book so that you can get credit on your next visit to our store.
These credits last for 4 months and can be applied to any item purchased in the store. Credits for livestock are not available for use for online ordering.
We can take returns of any unused items purchased from our store within 90 days of the original purchase.
Special order items or items returned past the 90 day period may be subject to a handling charge.
We can take returns on healthy fish within a week of the original purchase date. We do take a 20% handling fee for returned fish.
Fish that are returned after a week of the original purchase date can be taken for a donation.
Donations & What We Purchase
We do not purchase or offer credit for used equipment, however we will accept items as a donation.
If you are looking to remove a fish from your tank we can accept it for adoption as long as it is in good health and it is legal to sell in Pennsylvania. We will quarantine the fish when it arrives before finding it a new home. We do not offer credit for fish that we take in. When you want to bring in a fish, place it in a large enough container with tank water.
Reminder: Never release any fish into the wild!
If you have fish that you have bred and raised and would like to sell please contact us at contactelmers@gmail.com with pictures and descriptions of your fish. Our freshwater department buyer will contact you.
