Can you ship koi? How long can a koi live in the bag?

 Yes, koi are shipped all over the country and all over the world.  Shipping koi domestically is much easier as there are no international customs to deal with.  Simi Koi ships thousands of koi every year!  The trick is the pure oxygen in the bag.  Oxygen is actually more important then water.  The koi only need enough water to cover the body and the rest is pure O2.  Generally its 1/3 water and 2/3 oxygen.  With a little water conditioner the koi can be in the bag over 24 hours.  I have had koi get delayed in shipment and arrive over 48 hours late and in perfect condition.


The koi will produce large amounts of ammonia while in the bag but a surprising thing happens at the same time, the pH drops very low.  And the lower the pH the less toxic the ammonia becomes.  This allows the koi to live in the bag water even though there are very high levels of ammonia.  That is also why, after shipping, you NEVER want to mix any bag water with regular pond water.  The result will dramatically increase the pH and in turn instantly make all that ammonia highly toxic to the koi.  I have seen koi go belly up within minutes because somebody mixed pond water into the shipping bag.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you breed koi?

  Koi carp are egg scatterers with slimmer, smaller males chasing the larger females before pushing them into weeds and expelling thousands of eggs and sperm together. Do nothing in a large planted pond and your koi may spawn of their own accord when the water warms in spring and summer. They eat their own eggs after spawning so wait to see if a few survive or remove the plants they spawned on and raise separately.  If you want to deliberately breed koi, separate a ripe female and two males and move them to a spawning vat containing only water, an airstone, and koi spawning brushes. On a sunny morning if the temperature is right they will spawn before the parents are placed back in the main pond and the eggs and fry are raised separately.  Professional breeders may even hand strip selected males and females, squeezing the fish’s flanks by hand and mixing eggs and sperm in a bowl. Fry can be placed in a growing pond consisting of green water and live Daphnia or raised on n...
Read more

Are Koi easy to take care of?

  Contrary to common belief Koi are not made of porcelain and are very forgiving animals. The key to maintaining a happy and healthy Koi pond is a combination of good practices and routine. This includes but is not limited to, cleaning your filter frequently, partially changing the water and water testing. If you have any concerns with your Koi do not hesitate to contact us.
Read more

How long can Koi go without food?

  During winter months when the water is cold, your fish might begin to refuse food and sit low to the bottom of the pond, in these instances Koi can go for long periods of time not needing to feed and can rely on naturally occurring food in the pond. However if your fish still surface for food during cold periods it is advised that you continue to feed them a suitable food such as wheatgerm.
Read more