What to expect and where to purchase koi

Koi Prices: Domestic or U.S. raised koi can be purchased at most of the popular pet stores. For more vibrant and exiting color patterns, higher quality koi can be purchased at pond and water garden or aquarium specialty stores. Like the popular saying however, you get what you pay for. Koi can range from a few dollars up to several thousand dollars depending on size and color pattern.

At Masterson’s Garden Center, we pride ourselves in having beautiful and vibrant koi at affordable prices which range from $15 for 3-4in lengths up to $100 for 10in lengths. We also have a selection of larger more expensive koi ranging from $300-$700.

What to expect when picking up koi: Plan on spending some time at the tanks, color patterns on koi are pretty well developed by the time they are 3-4inches, so you are looking at a small version of what will one day be a 36in giant. With a life expectancy of 75 years, you want to be sure that you are picking out fish that you would like to look at for a long time.

After you have picked out your fish, they will be carefully placed in a bag with oxygen so that they can be transported home in your vehicle. Be sure to go straight home though, as they are turning that oxygen into carbon dioxide within the bag. They can travel safely for about 1-2 hours. Longer trips require some additional precautions.

What to do when you get home with your new fish: Koi are cold blooded and can be very sensitive to dramatic temperature swings. You never want to move koi to a body of water more than 10 degrees different from where they came from. Any time you are adding new fish to your pond, you will have to acclimate them. This means opening up the bag, and scooping a small amount of pond water to mix in with the water inside the bag. Let the bag sit in the pond for ten minutes, then scoop a little more water. Do this three times making the process take about 30-40 minutes. Then set them free!