Transferring koi fish

[bandita]

I'll be donating my 3 koi fish to a huge public koi pond. They currently live in 425 gallons. The pond they'll be moving to is 10's (maybe hundreds) of thousands of gallons. Do I need to be concerned about the clarity of the water, or could a drastic change be harmful? My little pond has very clear water. The public koi pond is a typical murky green that's common in big ponds (but still clear enough to see them). I also realize the importance of keeping the PH level the same because a drastic change would kill them too. How much different can it be? My pond is currently at 8.2. I plan on bringing my test kit to the public pond and test it before transferring the kois. What if their PH level is different? I was thinking that if it's different, I can put a little new pond water to their transfer tub, let it sit for a while, then add a little more, until they're equal. If so, how often should I be adding a little water? The landscape manager will probably be too busy to quarantine and care for them, so I hope to be able to transfer them in the new pond the same day I bring them to the site. I'm willing to stay with them all day if that's what it takes.

I plan on bringing my PH test kit with me to the site. Do you think it's necessary to also test the new pond's ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? The pond owners are professional koi owners and their fish appear big and healthy, so I'm assuming they're water are at safe levels. My water is at safe levels too. Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0. My nitrate is about 10, but there's a big range of what's considered safe (0-40). So if their water turns out to be 20-40, would the drastic change be harmful, even though that's still a safe level?

 

[Delapool]

Did you end up testing?

 

[Cecibella123]

I've found koi to be generally as hardy as any member of the carp family. We have a decent sized pond (6'500g) so once in a while friends will bring out koi that have gotten too large for their patio ponds. I transition them by adding my pond water a quart or so every 15-20 minutes over the space of a couple hours, then dump them in. Never had any trouble. I'm not, however, saying that what I do is correct.

 

[bandita]

Looks like I've been over-reading too many articles about the requirements of transferring koi. Cecibella123, I think you're right about them being very hardy. When I got to the site, I had my test kit with me. The landscape manager said he's never had anyone test the water when people donate their koi's and they all make it just fine. So I didn't. My water was cold because I had placed a bottle of ice in it. It had all melted by the time I got there, but it was still colder then the pond water (I brought a thermometer with me), so all I did was wait until the temps were the same, and then I transferred them. I sat with them for about 4 hours, and they looked the happiest and calmest they've ever been. They were swimming right along with all the other koi's and checking out their new environment.

 

[Delapool]

That all sounds good. I think it is great as well that they will take your fish in. There is nothing like that here.