Buying Kodama Koi — What to Expect?
1. Shipping & Safe Arrival
Your Kodama koi is flown from Kodama Koi Farm to your nearest cargo airport for pickup — not to your door. Because this is a living animal, it is hand-packed in an oxygen-charged, insulated box and moved on a coordinated, scheduled basis. After your purchase, our team coordinates the flight and airport pickup details with you by email, and we hold shipments during extreme heat or cold until there is a safe weather window. A flat $150 shipping charge applies to each live koi order to cover specialized live-fish packaging and air-cargo handling.
2. Live Arrival Guarantee
We guarantee your koi will arrive alive and in good health. In the rare event it doesn’t, we’ll make it right with a replacement at no additional cost. To honor the guarantee, please contact us within 24 hours of pickup with a photo or short video, and acclimate your koi right away using the steps below. Full terms are in our Refund & Live Goods Policy.
3. Acclimating Your New Koi
A calm, correct acclimation is the most important 30 minutes of your koi’s life with you:
- Float the sealed bag in your pond for 15–20 minutes to equalize the temperature.
- Add a cup of pond water to the bag every few minutes for about 15 minutes.
- Gently net the koi into your pond — do not pour the shipping water into your pond.
We strongly recommend a 2–4 week quarantine before introducing any new koi to an established collection. Full guidance: New Koi Care & Acclimation Sheet.
4. What to Expect: Size & Coloration
Each koi is photographed and measured at the size listed in the product details, and because every fish is one of a kind, the koi you see is the exact koi you’ll receive. Your koi will keep growing with good water and feeding, and its color and pattern (sumi, hi, shiroji) will deepen and shift as it matures. Slight differences between a screen and your pond’s natural light are normal and never affect the guarantee.
5. Setting Your Koi Up to Thrive
Premium koi reward stable, well-filtered water. Before your fish arrives, make sure your pond is fully cycled with clean, well-oxygenated water and ammonia and nitrite reading zero. Feed a quality diet suited to your water temperature, and keep a basic test kit and pond salt on hand for the first few weeks. If anything looks off after arrival, send us a photo and we’ll help you diagnose it.