Terms of Service

1. Using TankBud

TankBud helps aquarium hobbyists track tanks, water parameters, livestock, plants, equipment, and maintenance routines, plan future tanks, and browse species and plant care guides. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you record and for keeping your account credentials secure. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account.

2. Your content

You retain ownership of the data and photos you add to TankBud. You grant us the limited permission needed to store, back up, resize, and display that content as part of providing the service: to you, and to people who open a share link you created.

Sharing is off by default. If you turn on sharing for a tank or plan, anyone with the link can view that page, including its photos, until you turn sharing off or replace the link. You are responsible for what you share.

Only upload content you have the right to use. Do not upload anything unlawful or anything that infringes someone else's rights.

If you use TankBud for business, some of what you enter is personal information about other people: your clients' names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses and any notes you write about them. You decide what to enter and why. You are responsible for having a lawful basis to collect and store it, for telling your clients how you use it, and for handling any request they make about it. We hold that information on your behalf and process it only to provide the features you are using; our Privacy Policy explains this in section 6. TankBud is built for businesses operating in the United States. If your own compliance obligations require a formal data processing agreement, email us before you rely on TankBud for that data so we can tell you what we can offer.

3. Acceptable use

TankBud is for personal aquarium record-keeping. Do not attempt to break or probe the security of the service, interfere with its operation, access data that does not belong to you, bulk-copy or scrape the species and plant catalogs, or resell access to the service.

4. Guidance is informational

Any ranges, care guides, stocking estimates, suggestions, or reminders provided by TankBud are informational starting points, not a substitute for professional veterinary or aquarium advice. Species needs vary with the individual animal, the tank, and your water. You are responsible for the care of your animals and plants.

5. Catalog photos

Photos in the species and plant catalogs come from a mix of sources: openly licensed photos, such as Creative Commons, photos used with the photographer's permission, and our own photos. We show the credit alongside each one. Openly licensed photos may be reused under the license named in their credit; the rest may not be reused without the rights holder's permission.

6. Retailer links

Care guides sometimes link to third-party retailers that stock the species or plant on the page. Retailers are independent businesses: anything you buy from them is between you and the retailer, under their terms. Some links are affiliate links that pay TankBud a small commission at no extra cost to you; our affiliate disclosure explains how that works.

7. Emails

We send emails that are part of running your account, such as email confirmation and password reset. Reminder alert emails are optional: you can turn them on or off any time in Settings. If you subscribe, we also email you about trial and payment problems, and those are not optional because they affect your account.

TankBud for business also sends email to the people you choose: invoices, payment receipts and service reports go to the client you addressed them to, and recurring invoices go out on the schedule you set until you pause or delete it. These are sent from a TankBud address showing your business name as the sender, with replies going to your own contact address. You decide who receives them, and you are responsible for having the right to email those recipients.

8. Fees

The hobbyist product is free. TankBud for business is an optional paid subscription for people who maintain tanks for clients; current prices are listed on the pricing page. If pricing changes, we will let you know before anything changes for your account.

Subscriptions renew automatically each billing period until you cancel. You can cancel any time from the billing portal in Settings; your subscription then runs to the end of the period you already paid for and does not renew. Except where the law requires otherwise, fees already paid are not refunded, including for partial periods.

The business trial does not convert to a paid plan on its own. We do not collect a card during the trial; when it ends, your business workspace becomes read-only until you subscribe, and nothing is deleted.

9. Payments you collect from your clients

TankBud for business can show your payment handles on invoices and, if you enable it, take online card and bank payments from your clients. Payments are between your business and your client: TankBud is not a party to them, and the money moves to accounts you control.

Online payments are processed by Stripe. To enable them you create a Stripe connected account, and you agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Services Agreement. Processing rates for online payments are listed on the pricing page. Refunds, chargebacks, and disputes for online payments are handled through your own Stripe account under Stripe's rules.

10. Availability and termination

TankBud is a young product and still evolving. We may add, change, or remove features, and we may suspend or close accounts that violate these terms. You can stop using TankBud at any time and ask us to delete your account and data, as described in our Privacy Policy.

If your subscription lapses or you cancel, your business workspace becomes read-only rather than disappearing: you keep access to your records, your exports and your invoice PDFs, and nothing is deleted. Invoices you already sent stay viewable to the client you sent them to, so a bill in someone's inbox does not go dead, and they stay payable by card for a limited period before only your own payment handles remain. Reminder emails and recurring invoices stop.

If we suspend an account for fraud, abuse or a legal requirement, we turn off online payments immediately and the workspace is unavailable while we look into it. Records are not deleted, and invoices remain readable so nobody loses a receipt.

11. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

TankBud is provided as is, without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from your use of the service, including loss of data, livestock, or plants. Keeping independent records of anything critical is always a good idea.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any dispute that ends up in court will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Kentucky, and both sides consent to their jurisdiction.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as TankBud evolves. When we make material changes, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, let you know in the app. Continuing to use TankBud after a change means you accept the updated terms.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email us at [email protected].