Those of you that have played Stardew Valley for a while will know that there is a constant, unending drip feed of content that continues to arrive. ConcernedApe is a workaholic it seems, continuing to improve the game despite the untold wealth and satisfaction it has no doubt garnered him already. We’re not complaining of course, especially when the new content is consistently great stuff, and it’s said content that we’re here to write about today. Specifically we’re going to be detailing something added a little while back in the 1.4 update: Fish Ponds. There’s plenty of factual information out there about these of course, but precious little personal experience and anecdotal pieces of advice to help out the prospective Pond owner – hence this article. Plus we just really like writing about Stardew Valley, so let’s get into it shall we?
How to get a Fish Pond
To get yourself a Fish Pond you will need to speak to Robin the Carpenter, and the materials and resources required to complete this are as follows:
- 200 Stone
- 5 Green Algae
- 5 Seaweed
- 5,000g
You can get the Stone portion of the recipe by breaking all kinds of Rocks around the map and in your farm. The Green Algae can be found when fishing in freshwater locations, and the Seaweed can be found by fishing in the ocean. Whilst it may not look like a building of sorts, these are created in the exact same way to others that are available to you. Once you have paid, you’ll be able to choose the location in which you would like to build it, which will take up a 5 x 5 square portion of the ground. Once you have done this, the Fish Pond will take two days to complete building.
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What does the Fish Pond do?
By and large the fish pond is used to multiply any fish that you require, by providing them a place to breed. They will also produce certain items for you during their time living within the fish pond. Almost any fish that you catch, including those from the Crab Pot, can be placed within the fish pond and they will both multiply and provide items, though there are a few exceptions to this rule, as follows:
- Tiger Trout will not reproduce.
- Clams cannot be placed in the Pond.
- Legendary Fish cannot live in the Pond.
Whilst each Pond can only hold one type of fish at a time, so you cannot mix and match, they will slowly produce items that appear within the Chum Bucket. These can be collected each day, and it’s worth noting that an increased amount of fish will increase the likelihood of more rare items appearing. A full list of these items can be found at the Stardew Valley Wiki HERE.
There is an upper limit for the amount of fish that you can place within the Pond. For the vast majority of fish this number is 3, after which you will need to complete a quest to increase the capacity. These quests often require the turning in of a few items, and up to 4 quests will need to be completed to increase the capacity of the Pond to the maximum – 10 fish. These quests and their capacity thresholds change depending on the rarity of the fish, so you’ll have to work a little harder to completely fill your Pond with a rare variety.
Once your fish have multiplied or produced the items that you require, it is possible to remove them by simply fishing at your Pond. By casting your line you will be able to capture any fish that you have living there, though it’s worth noting that whilst this does not require bait or the normal fishing mini game, you will earn no Fishing experience points for doing so. Conversely, you will gain Fishing experience for gathering items from the Chum Bucket.
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Fish Pond Tips
- Multiple Fish Ponds are a great idea. As pictured above, if you can set up more than one of these, you can continuously receive some excellent rare items from the Chum Bucket. Lava Eel is a great example, because these can produce Mega Bombs and Iridium Bars.
- They might take a bit of setup, but these effectively act as a regular source of income and require a relatively small amount to set up.
- Always place a sign on your Pond. This will show a picture of the fish inside and also display the exact amount of fish currently contained within.
- Rare fish will change the colour of the water, but be aware that this change happens overnight once 3 fish have been added. Don’t panic if it doesn’t happen immediately!
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Categories: Stardew Valley