Published in the Spring 2005 Issue
Shopping for Koi
The beginners guide to choosing the best without getting gauged

By Scott and Ann Springer

If you are a beginning pond enthusiast then buying koi can be an overwhelming task. When you gaze into the tanks you become mesmerized by all the beautiful fish of many colors and beautiful colors. How do you pick which ones to buy?

A flood of questions swim through your mind. Which are better: imported or domestic? How many should you buy? Because the prices vary greatly, you ask yourself, “If I spend more will I get a higher quality fish?”

As a beginning koi keeper, you need to find good sources to answer the many questions you have.

Location, Location, Location
First, you have to choose the right store for you. Koi can be found in many retail outlets ranging from large chain stores to garden centers to koi dealer shops.

In smaller areas, your places to shop may be limited, but in larger metropolitan areas you’ll certainly have more options to choose from. It is best to seek out a fellow koi club member to find out which shops more experienced keepers use in your area.

“Visit these stores and develop an opinion where they sell the best quality, have the best prices, and have the best care,” says Mary Oxman, president of the Ventura County (California) Koi Society. “Some people may favor one store over another. It is a matter of opinion.”

An important factor to consider in choosing a store is the health of the fish being sold. “You want a dealer that is honest and that quarantines fish properly,” says Oxman. “You don’t want a dealer selling deformed sick fish.”

Susan Boland, editor of Mid-Atlantic Koi, a magazine for members of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club, advises koi keepers to steer clear of stores that don’t specialize in koi. “They don’t really have the time to devote to take care of koi and the understanding needed to know what the koi need,” Boland says.

As the hobby has grown, more dealers have sprouted up in metropolitan areas. “People feel safer in their neighborhood pet store,” Boland says. “You have to venture out a bit and do a little bit of research to find a dealer.”

However, where store choices are limited, you may have to keep your eyes peeled for a diamond in the rough. Carol Sindelar, editor of Beneath the Surface, a newsletter for members of the Eastern Iowa Pond Society, bought one of her most popular and prized koi for $2 from a pet store, she says.

Not all pet shops may yield such great success, Sindelar says. “I hate to buy fish from the dog groomer, or from the guy who is in-charge of fertilizer.”

The Pick of the Litter
The health of the fish is first and foremost. If you unknowingly bring home an ill fish it may spread disease to your entire pond.

“Beginners are captivated by the pretty colors, but the very first thing you have to look at is whether you have a healthy fish,” Boland says.

Signs of bad health include a fish that is not eager to eat, looks thin, has sores or lesions, and swims abnormally or close to the bottom of the tank for long periods, says Boland.

“The No. 1 factor in selecting a fish, of course, is whether or not the fish is healthy,” Oxman says. Oxman suggests observing how the employees care for the fish, noting whether the majority of the fish are free of deformities, or looking for dead fish in any of the tanks.

You want to look for a koi that is not misshapen, has all of its fins, and that has a mouth free of any kind of deformity, Oxman says.

A sick fish can wreak havoc on your pond. “If you have to struggle to treat a sick fish, that can be very discouraging for someone new in the hobby,” Oxman says.

There are other key questions you should ask before purchasing a koi to determine its health. These include, Where did it come from? How long has it been quarantined? and Was it treated with medication to be free of disease and parasites?

“Be aware of a store that will sell you fish and bottles of medication for fish and that tells you fish need chemicals to stay healthy,” Oxman says. “This is like taking antibiotics as a preventative health measure.”

Oxman warns that this practice may actually compromise the immune system of a fish. Because the fish was exposed early on to antibiotics, future treatments will not be as effective.

Quarantining is important because it keeps potentially infected fish from unknowingly spreading infection to the rest of the tank. “A good dealer shouldn’t be selling the fish right away,” Oxman says. “For those shops, it’s not a matter of selling healthy fish – it’s just a matter of sales.”

The point of origin of the fish can tell you how long the fish has traveled to get to the shop. “Fish, like humans, get jet-lagged and stressed from a long trip,” Oxman says. “A fish that has been in transit is stressed-out because a long trip can literally make a fish sick.”

However, some enthusiasts prefer to purchase imported fish. “The Japanese have been breeding koi for a long time” says Boland. “They understand the blood line. They have refined the art of breeding koi.”

Stick to the basic principles of choosing a healthy fish and then see what catches your eye. “Choose a healthy one, one to your liking, and one that is reasonably priced,” Oxman says.

Keep in mind, though, that the colors and patterns of fish may change as the fish grow. “You may like the colors at the moment, but it they are not going to stay that way,” Oxman says. “With experience and learning from others, you can learn how to make an educated guess about how that fish will change.”

A variety of colors and patterns is also important in showcasing your prized possessions. “If you have a nice variety then all of them stand out,” Sindelar says. “If you put them all in a pond and they look the same, it takes the splash out of it.”

Nature draws from a wide color pallet, and so should you in choosing koi for your pond. “Someone once advised me that two-thirds should have red coloring on them to have a good balance,” Boland says. “You want a complimentary balance to your pond.”

Let’s Make a Deal
Buying from several good dealers will help to ensure that you are choosing koi from the most high-quality tanks in your area and getting the most for your money.

While shopping for koi is not like shopping for a DVD player, you can still shop around a bit to find the best prices in town. Be careful not to compromise quality for price, though.

Enlist the help of others to help you become a smart shopper. “When you are new to the hobby, it helps to go shopping with a more experienced koi keeper,” Oxman says. “They can point out all the little details.”

For example, you may select three or four koi you think would compliment your pond. An experienced pond enthusiast may look them over and notice a few things you don’t see because he or she can look past the beautiful colors.

It may also help your budget to bring a koi club member with you. Dealers typically offer a discount of about 10 percent to club members. Or if you buy more than one fish you may have more bargaining power.

“You are at a great advantage to shop with an experienced person who has a good relationship already with a dealer,” Oxman says. “The dealer wants to get a new customer; someone who will tell others about their business.”

A more experienced koi keeper may also help you negotiate the price if less desirable markings are found on the koi. While these markings do bring down the value of the fish, a beginner who doesn’t intend to show the fish won’t be less satisfied with tthem
Just like shopping for clothing, if you find a flaw in the product, you can ask for a discount.

“If you are knowledgeable enough you can look at a fish and see that it has some undesirable markings or characteristics that make it less than prime,” Oxman says. “Then you would say to the dealer, ‘This isn’t a very good example but I kind of like it. Would you be willing to sell it for less?’” Oxman says.

A beginning enthusiast can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $60 for each fish in the four- to six-inch size, depending on where you live in the country. “It depends on the color and other characteristics,” Oxman says.

You can also plan to pay more if the fish is imported, Boland says. But don’t be tempted to spend a lot on fish as a beginner. There is definitely a learning curve and beginners often lose fish as they learn to properly care for them.

“Be educated, so you won’t overpay,” Oxman says. “In some cases there is no price posted, and there are some cases where a dealer will take advantage of someone who is less knowledgeable, and may quote them a higher price.”

Some beginners mistakenly believe that size is most important in determining the price, Oxman says. “In reality it is the quality of the koi that determines the value,” Oxman says.

Sometimes Less is More
Another common mistake beginning enthusiasts make is buying too many fish for their pond. A beginner may not realize that a four- or six-inch koi grows rapidly to become 18 to 20 inches in size.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘How many koi will my pond hold when they are full-grown?’” Sindelar says. “Some people want it to look full, but you can’t convince them.”

Oxman recommends a novice koi keeper buys a small number of four- or five-inch fish to begin with, Oxman says. She warns against fish smaller than that because “when they are that small, no matter how well you take care of it, some of them aren’t going to make it,” Oxman says. “A six-inch fish has a good chance of surviving.”

Because the fish are so beautiful, and they start off so small, it may be tempting to keep adding to your collection. “Don’t overbuy because the fish grow rapidly and then you could be overpopulated,” Boland says. “If you think you can start with five, you should buy two.”

It is difficult to estimate how many fish per gallon you should have because there are so many factors to consider. Boland recommends looking carefully at the filter’s capacity, the size of the pond, and the potential growth of the individual koi.

“It takes a lot of volume and a highly-efficient filter to handle the waste of a large fish,” Boland says. “We’ve had to give away some of our fish to accommodate our pond as the fish have grown.”

Breeding can complicate crowd-control in your pond also. “They are going to have babies and you are going to naturally have more fish in your pond,” Sindelar says.

Join The Club
It’s important to do your homework before you walk into a dealer’s shop and fall in love with more koi than your pond can hold or your pocketbook can afford.

The first step is to hook up with your local koi club members. It is cheaper and easier to learn from the mistakes of others. “We’ve all been there and made mistakes,” says Boland. “We are trying to share information so they don’t have to make the same mistakes we’ve made.”

Ponds in different regions of the country require slightly different methods. “Because the water and climate is different in different areas, you need to know how to make different things work,” Sindelar says. “There’s a lot of knowledge in your area to find out how to keep your fish healthy.”

Koi clubs also act as a support system for novices, Oxman says. “You need to enjoy the hobby so it isn’t a burden or a challenge. To do this, you need some knowledge and help to begin with.”

Reading up on being a savvy shopper can save you lots of time and frustration down the road. There are numerous books, magazines, and reputable internet sites to investigate koi further before choosing the future inhabitants of your pond.

“There’s an old adage that says, ‘If it’s in print, then it must be true,’” Oxman says. “But this is not always the case.”
While the Internet can be a convenient location for information you should be wary of information that you can’t verify from other sources.

“If it is information from a known specialist in the field, I would give it more weight,” Oxman says. “Read as many sources as possible and if they all say pretty much the same thing, you can be pretty sure it is accurate.”

Oxman also recommends verifying information with other enthusiasts in your koi club. Draw on their pooled knowledge to be sure the information you have is the most accurate and up to date.

Often you will find two opposing opinions on a topic. “You have to question what is right and what is not,” Oxman says. “A lot is just a matter of preference because there is more than one way to do something right.”

Many websites proclaiming to be educational sites may be primarily promoting sales. “Personally, I would not recommend buying fish on the Internet,” Oxman says. “I would want to see the koi and examine them.”

Oxman cautions against buying online because of shipping costs and the added stress to the fish. “The less the fish has to be transported, and exposed to new environments, the better of it will be,” Oxman says. “They are very sensitive to change.”

Some hobbyists may have fewer options to select from and may have more success buying koi online. “There are several reputable dealers for buying and selling koi online,” Boland says. “It’s the whole ‘buyer beware’ concept before buying anything. You want to be sure you know who you are dealing with.”

Scott and Ann Springer are freelance writers living in Southern California.