until you can tell the difference between a $10, $100, and $10,000 dollar
koi, get the $10 one. HOWEVER.... what is even more important is to find a
place sells healthy koi and you wont get one from petsmart for sure, and it
is unlikely you will get one from any old pond store. You need to find the
place that quarantines their koi for at least a couple weeks after getting
them in, and before they sell them to the public. of course you dont tell
them you are looking for quaratined koi, you ask them when they got the fish
in, or "when are you getting the fish in so I can be first in line to pick
the ones I want" and see if they bite on that.

Now, if what you want is a pond with koi, then that is really all you need
to know. If what you want is a koi pond, then you are going to have to
search on the net for discussions about the different types of koi, color,
desirable shape, etc. there are a lot of badly bred and raised koi out
there with bent backs, huge heads, etc. If your pond does well then
consider that you are going to be looking at that same gorgeous (or ugly)
koi for 50 years. Ingrid


"©anadian Ponder" " wrote in message
.com...
why can I buy koi at petsmart for under $10 and if I go to a pond store
they charge me over $50.

Does this have to do with pure breeds and mixed breeds ?