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Overview
Fish pond breeding allows you to raise and breed fish on your own property in Starsand Island, producing eggs that can be hatched into new fish. This system works alongside the main fishing profession and the Aquarium feature, giving you a passive source of fish without needing to visit fishing spots. Setting up a fish pond requires progress in the Angler profession and specific crafting materials.
Getting Started
Prerequisites
Reach at least Intermediate Angler certification from Delphin at the AquaBlue Outpost.
Purchase the Small Fish Pond blueprint from the AquaBlue Outpost shop.
Purchase the Chopper II blueprint to craft Fish Feed (the basic Chopper cannot produce the correct feed grade).
Have available land on your property (Hopeland, Cloudrest Lake, Blue Beach, or Windflute Island) to place the pond.
Placing the Fish Pond
Open Build Mode (C key) and place the Small Fish Pond on your property. The pond requires a flat area and cannot overlap with other structures. Once placed, you can interact with it to access the pond management interface.
Adding Fish
Interact with the pond and select the stock tab to add fish from your inventory. Fish you have caught while fishing can be placed into the pond. Each pond has a capacity limit based on its size. The Small Fish Pond holds up to 5 fish, while the Stone Pond (unlocked later) holds more.
Place at least one male and one female fish of the same species into the pond.
Fish gender is shown in the item tooltip when you hover over them in your inventory.
Different species can coexist in the same pond, but breeding only occurs between fish of the same species.
Installing the Incubator
To enable egg production, you need to upgrade your pond with an incubator.
Interact with the fish pond and switch to the Incubator tab.
The incubator upgrade requires specific crafting materials (check the interface for current requirements).
Once installed, the incubator allows your fish to produce eggs when properly fed.
Feeding and Egg Production
Crafting Fish Feed
Fish Feed is crafted at the Chopper II station using fish or other aquatic materials. You will need at least 10 portions of Fish Feed to start the breeding cycle. Place the feed into the pond through the management interface.
Egg Production Timeline
After placing feed in the pond, fish will begin producing eggs within 1 to 2 in-game days.
You will receive a morning notification that there is "something extra" in the pond.
Interact with the pond to collect the eggs from the stock tab.
Eggs are placed in your inventory and can then be loaded into the Incubator tab to begin hatching.
Hatching Eggs
Once you have collected eggs, switch to the Incubator tab on the pond and place the eggs there. Hatching takes a set amount of time depending on the fish species. When hatching is complete, the new fish appears in the pond automatically.
Common fish species hatch faster than rare or deep-sea varieties.
The incubator can process one batch of eggs at a time.
Hatched fish count toward your Islandpedia collection.
Stone Pond vs Small Fish Pond
Players have reported that the Stone Pond produces eggs more reliably than the Small Fish Pond. If you are not seeing eggs after a full in-game day, consider crafting a Stone Pond, upgrading it with the incubator, and transferring your fish. Community reports suggest eggs appear the very next morning after switching to the Stone Pond.
Feature | Small Fish Pond | Stone Pond |
|---|---|---|
Capacity | 5 fish | 8+ fish |
Egg reliability | Moderate | High |
Unlock requirement | Intermediate Angler | Senior Angler |
Crafting cost | Lower | Higher |
Tips for Fish Pond Breeding
Keep feed stocked: Fish stop producing eggs if the feed runs out. Check and refill every few days.
Breed valuable fish: Rare fish from deep-sea zones can be bred in ponds, providing a renewable source of high-value fish for selling or gifting.
Use ponds for quest fish: If an NPC requests a specific fish species via the Bulletin Board, breeding that species in your pond saves time compared to fishing for it.
Expand your operation: Place multiple ponds on your property to breed different species simultaneously. Each pond operates independently.