In this tutorial, we will mainly discuss some tips about fish ponds and the top five fish species to raise in them. If you’re interested, let’s dive in!
Building a Fish Pond
First, we can build a fish pond with 200 stones, 5 seaweed, 5 green algae, and 5,000 gold at Robin’s Carpenter Shop. However, for beginners, we don’t recommend constructing a fish pond early in the game due to its low income. Instead, build it when you have sufficient funds or need to complete the movie theater’s offering quests.
Fish ponds can house most fish species, including those from the Night Market, crab pots, and foraged beach creatures like sea urchins and coral. Fish in the pond will reproduce up to the pond’s capacity, except for Tiger Trout. Note that the five legendary fish (Legend, Mutant Carp, Crimsonfish, Glacierfish, and Angler) cannot be raised in a fish pond. As clams are not classified as fish, they cannot be placed in a fish pond.
Each pond can only house one type of fish, and we can increase their numbers by throwing more fish into the pond. We can also cast a fishing rod into the pond to automatically catch fish without playing the fishing mini-game. Fish caught from the pond will be of regular quality.
When the pond reaches its capacity, an exclamation mark will appear above it, indicating a pond quest. Completing the quest will increase the pond’s capacity, with a maximum of 10 fish.
Different fish species have different quests. Sea urchins and coral won’t have any quests and have an initial capacity of 10, but we usually don’t raise them in a pond. If we want to change the type of fish in the pond, simply emptying the pond by fishing won’t work. Instead, we must select the “empty pond” option in the pond menu. This will remove all fish and reset the pond to its initial state, requiring a new fish species to be raised and upgraded to the maximum capacity again.
A few more tips:
* Four fish species (Slimejack, Lava Eel, Sea Cucumber, and Void Salmon) can change the color of the pond, but only after the first pond quest is completed.
- We can place Dark Signs, Wooden Signs, Stone Signs, or Warping Totems on the pond to display the fish icon and count.
- When the watering can is empty, left-clicking the pond can refill it.
- Lastly, raising 10 crabs in a pond and talking to Willy will trigger a special dialogue and reward us with a pearl.
Top 5 Fish Species to Raise
Now let’s continue with the top 5 fish species I recommend for beginners to raise in Stardew Valley.
- Sturgeon – If you go the community center route, you’ll trigger a cutscene on the first rainy day or stormy night after repairing the community center. After that, you’ll find a missing bundle in the abandoned JojaMart containing a fish roe, which is used to make caviar — the only item that can be made from Sturgeon roe. So, raising a single Sturgeon should be sufficient for this purpose.
2. Lava Eel – Its roe is the most valuable among all fish, selling for 380 gold. After pickling, the caviar sells for 760 gold, and if you choose the Artisan profession, it can go for 1,064 gold. Additionally, there’s a chance to produce Magma Geodes, Spicy Eel, and Gold Ore. In my opinion, raising Lava Eels is quite profitable.
3. Blobfish – Its roe ranks second in terms of value, selling for 280 gold. After pickling, its caviar sells for 500 gold. Moreover, its fish pond can produce Pearls and Warp Totems. Pearls are quite valuable, worth 2,500 gold each, suitable for gifting to villagers or making a wedding dress. Raising Blobfish is one of the few ways to obtain pearls, so it’s worth considering.
4. Tiger Slimefish – It produces a variety of valuable items, including Magma Cap, Cinder Shard, Dragon Tooth, and Battery Packs. After unlocking Ginger Island, if you’re not having much luck finding Dragon Teeth in the island’s volcano, you might want to try raising Tiger Slimefish, as there’s a 5% chance of producing Dragon Teeth.
5. Crab – It’s a necessary ingredient for Crab Cakes, which are perfect for cooking when exploring the desert mine. Crab Cakes provide a 16-minute buff with +1 Speed and +33% Movement Speed. Moreover, raising 10 Crabs unlocks a special dialogue with Willy, who will then give you a Pearl as a gift. So, raising Crabs is a good option as well.
In the late game, when money is no longer an issue, you can also raise fish like Sea Cucumber and Lobster for their culinary value. That’s all for this tutorial, happy farming in Stardew Valley!