What to look for when buying Koi fish and how to introduce them to your pond

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Koi ponds are very popular features in today’s world. These Japanese carp are colorful, lively, and make great pets. However, there’s a little more care that goes into creating their habitat than most people are aware of. You can’t simply fill up a pond from the garden hose and toss the fish in. Moreover, you shouldn’t attempt to go pick out just any old fish. There’s a proper way of doing things that will ensure your fish lead long and happy lives. Take care to start your habitat correctly and all your future work will be cut in half.

Let’s start out talking about the fish. First and foremost, you want to wait until your water is ready for fish before you go and purchase them. This means that you must have the pond construction done and your water must be tempered to the right conditions before you toss the koi in. Once you’re done with that, you will want to purchase any type of cultivated farm-raised koi.

The variety of koi you select is totally up to you. There are dozens of popular varieties, all ranging in colors and scale patterns, with new varieties popping up all the time. What you pick out for your pond depends on your personal taste. Since they’re all the same species, any cultivated koi will do.

There are three main reasons you wouldn’t want to catch wild carp and put them into your pond: One, they’re usually unspectacular. One of the main reasons people use koi has to do with their great colors. Wild koi are usually a solid brown, and even if you catch an orange or blue one, the odds are that its offspring will be brown. Two, removing a fish from its natural wild habitat and bottling it up in your pond will most likely kill the fish, no matter how well your pond is setup. And three, cultivated koi will be disease and parasite-free, whereas wild koi may bring in harmful disease and damage the colony.

Check your water’s chemical levels and make sure that the habitat is suitable before you put new fish in the water. Your pond will need to be dechlorinated and also have the proper pH, nitrite and ammonia levels. You can purchase supplies to help you read this. There’s no way to do it without the proper tools. Once your water is ready to go, you’re ready to introduce fish into the environment.

This advice is for a beginner koi pond only, bereft of fish. If you have a koi pond that currently has fish and want to know how to introduce new fish into the colony, you will need to follow a separate set of rules. For putting fish into brand new waters, you want to keep them in the bag at first. Do not simply plop them down into the water. Place the entire bag into the pond, opening the bag slightly to let the water in. This will allow the fish to slowly adapt to the pond’s chemistry. Follow this process for at least an hour before carefully removing your fish from the bag and placing it in the pond.

Start off with only two fish. Why not only one? Well, if that fish dies, it may give you a false result. It could have been sick when you bought it. Two will give you a gauge. Also, refrain from feeding your fish for the fist day. Let them adapt naturally. When all looks well, add the other fish.

If the water is at the proper levels and your fish have had time to adjust, everything should be fine from here on out.