Best Fish For Fish Ponds In Stardew Valley

Key Takeaways

• Slimejack fish ponds yield valuable Slime Eggs with a 2% chance daily, making them a reliable choice.
• Spook Fish ponds offer rare Treasure Chests with a 0.4% daily drop rate.
• Blue Discus ponds produce unique items like Golden Coconuts.

In Stardew Valley, a Fish Pond is an aquaculture item that enables fish reproduction. Each pond can hold up to ten fish of any type, but its maximum capacity is unlocked after the player completes a few quick objectives. As farm buildings, Fish Ponds can be purchased from Robin, the local carpenter. Each pond costs 5,000 gold and requires 200 Stones, five Seaweed, and five Green Algae to build.

In addition to fish reproduction, Fish Ponds can produce random objects based on the type of fish they contain. This can make it challenging for players to determine the best fish for their ponds, as they may want to know which species will be the most lucrative in the long run. To simplify things for all Stardew Valley farmers, the following list ranks the best fish for Fish Ponds in Stardew Valley and explains why they offer the highest return on investment.

Updated on November 30, 2024, by Mohsen Baqery: Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update brought new life to the game, drawing many players back. However, it didn’t change much about fish ponds, and the popular fish choices remain the same. With this in mind, we’ve updated the list to include Squid and Midnight Squid as budget options for beginner players. These two fish are easy to catch, and the items they produce are quite practical.

9 Squid or Midnight Squid

Best Item: Squid Ink

• Reproduction: 3 Days
• Base Price: 80g to 100g

Squids are a great addition to a fisherperson’s pond due to their high drop rates of Squid Ink. While Squid Ink isn’t worth much when sold, it’s essential for crafting Seafoam Pudding, one of the best fishing buffs that significantly boosts your fishing skills, perfect for farming legendary fish.

Squid Ink can be a bit tricky to farm in Pelican Town, but a Squid or Midnight Squid Pond makes it much easier. With ten Squids in the pond, you have up to a 69% chance to get Squid Ink per day, making the process much more efficient.

8 Slimejack

Best Item: Slime Eggs

• Reproduction: Every 3 Days
• Base Price: 100g

While the Slimejack may not be the most lucrative choice for a Fish Pond, its ability to drop Slime Eggs makes it a reliable option. Players can either hatch these eggs into Slimes using a Slime Incubator or sell them immediately for 1,000 gold.

Prospective Slimejack owners should note that this fish typically drops the most common type of egg, the Green Slime Egg. Specifically, there is up to a 2% chance that a Slimejack pond with nine to ten fish will yield one Green Slime Egg per day.

7 Spook Fish

Best Item: Treasure Chests

• Reproduction: Every 4 Days
• Base Price: 220g

Spook Fish can be caught on the Submarine ride at the Night Market. For players who want to get Treasure Chests daily, placing Spook Fish in a Fish Pond is the best option.

Treasure Chests can be sold for an impressive 5,000 gold, offering a fast way to boost your profits. However, obtaining these chests is rare, as each Spook Fish pond has only a 0.4% chance of dropping one per day. More commonly, the pond yields Roe, which is significantly less profitable than Treasure Chests.

6 Blue Discus

Best Item: Golden Coconut

• Reproduction: Every 3 Days
• Base Price: 120g

The Blue Discus is a beautiful tropical fish found on Ginger Island. It can be caught in freshwater bodies on the Island’s North and West sides during any season. When placed in a Fish Pond on the farm, the Blue Discus reproduces every three days. Additionally, they drop items that can’t be found in Pelican Town – things like Bananas and golden Coconuts.

The likeliest item a Blue Discus Fish Pond will yield is its exclusive Roe. Each day, there’s up to a 76% chance that the player will get this product. However, there’s also a 4% chance that the pond will produce a Golden Coconut, which is a relatively rare and valuable item. (Cracking Golden Coconuts can reward players with Golden Walnuts, Banana Saplings, Mango Saplings, Pineapple Seeds, Taro Tubers, Mahogany Seeds, Fossilized Skulls, Iridium Ores, and Golden Helmets.)

5 Ice Pip

Best Item: Diamond

• Reproduction: Every 5 Days
• Base Price: 500g

Ice Pips are a rare fish species that can thrive in freezing conditions, making them an easy catch on Floor 60 in the Frozen Earth section of the Mines. When placed in a Fish Pond, Ice Pips reproduce every five days. They’re a valuable fish, with a base selling price of 500g, which can be doubled to 1,000g for iridium quality.

Lucky players may also receive free Diamonds by keeping this fish. When the pond’s population reaches nine or ten, there’s a 0.7% daily chance of getting one. However, it’s best not to rely on this item, as it is a relatively rare drop.

4 Rainbow Trout

Best Item: Prismatic Shard

• Reproduction: Every 2 Days
• Base Price: 56g

Found swimming in freshwater bodies around the Valley, the Rainbow Trout is the ultimate fish to place in fishponds on the farm in Stardew Valley. They can be effortlessly caught in the River flowing through Pelican Town and Cindersap Forest and the Mountain Lake on sunny summer days. Rainbow Trout reproduce quickly (about every two days) in a Fish Pond.

The most valuable item a Rainbow Trout pond can produce is the Prismatic Shard. However, like other rare drops, it is quite unlikely for the average player to obtain one. The chance of receiving a Prismatic Shard from this pond is just 0.09% per day, which translates to approximately a 10% chance per year.

3 Blobfish

Best Item: Pearl

• Reproduction: Every 4 Days
• Base Price: 500g

Blobfish are rare creatures that can only be caught while fishing in the Submarine at the Night Market. Players have a 10% chance to hook a Blobfish in the Submarine ride from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Placing Blobfish in Fish Ponds is a good option since they reproduce every four days. They sell for 500g for regular fish to 1,000g for iridium-quality fish. Additionally, they yield valuable items such as:

2 Sturgeon

Best Item: Caviar (Roe)

• Reproduction: Every 4 Days
• Base Price: 200g

Sturgeon are fascinating fish that can be caught during summers and winters in The Mountain Lake. They’re quite challenging to catch as these fish are only available on rainy summer days but are the least common during rainy winter days. However, players can purchase them from Krobus’s Shop on Wednesdays for 200g.

Sturgeons reproduce every four days when placed in a Fish Pond. They are highly valued for their Roe, which can be processed into Caviar through a Preserves Jar. Caviar is a luxurious delicacy priced at 500 gold.

1 Lava Eel

Best Item: Roe

• Reproduction: Every 5 Days
• Base Price: 700g

The best fish for a Fish Pond is the Lava Eel because it’s an in-demand creature with a high retail price (700g for regular quality and 1,400g for iridium quality). Lava Eels reproduce every five days and yield several valuable items, such as Spicy Eels and Magma Geodes.

Players looking to catch these creatures should search the scorching-hot Floor 100 of the Mines and at the Volcano Caldera during any season in Stardew Valley.