Fish Pond
| Fish Pond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Building |
| Cost | 5,000g |
| Materials | Stone (200); Seaweed (5); Green Algae (5) |
| Size | 5x5 |
The Fish Pond turns a caught fish into a small factory. Drop one in, let it breed up to the pond's limit, and it starts leaving produce in the chum bucket every morning: usually Roe, but at a healthy population some species hand over gems, geodes, Pearls and other things that have nothing to do with fishing. Roe is the real prize, because a Preserves Jar ages it into a far more valuable good, and a Sturgeon pond is the only reliable way to keep Caviar flowing. Each pond takes one species and nothing else, it fills itself without further effort, and the fish occasionally ask for a gift in exchange for letting more of their kind move in.
Construction
Robin builds the pond at the Carpenter's Shop for 5,000g with 200 Stone, 5 Seaweed and 5 Green Algae, and it takes two days. The two water ingredients are the awkward part for a farmer who has not fished much, since Seaweed comes from the ocean and Green Algae from fresh water, but both turn up quickly on a morning at the beach and a morning at the river.
The pond needs a five-by-five square of ground, which is a bigger bite out of a farm than it first appears. A row of ponds eats a surprising amount of space, so they are usually tucked along an edge or in a corner that crops cannot use.
Use
Stocking a pond means holding the fish with the menu closed and clicking on the water to throw it in. Anything caught with a Fishing Rod or a Crab Pot can live there, Legendary Fish included, and Coral and Sea Urchins can go in as well even though they are strictly forage. Green Algae, Seaweed and the various jellies cannot, despite counting towards the fishing achievements.
A pond holds one species at a time. Throwing in something different brings up a message saying that fish does not want to live in a pond of another kind, so the pond has to be reset first.
Capacity starts low and grows. Most fish begin at three, the rarer ones such as Sturgeon, Lava Eel, Blobfish, Ghostfish, Ice Pip, Slimejack, Stonefish, Void Salmon and Woodskip begin at one, and Tiger Trout, Coral and Sea Urchins begin at the maximum of ten. Tiger Trout are the exception that never breeds. Legendary Fish are capped at one and stay there.
Breeding takes between one and five days per fish depending on the species, with the expensive fish slowest. When the population reaches the current limit, an exclamation mark appears over the water and the fish ask for something: a few Coral, a stack of Hardwood, a Diamond, whatever that species wants. Delivering it raises the cap, pays out some Fishing experience and resets the breeding clock, which is why a pond takes much longer than the raw breeding times suggest to reach ten.
Harvesting a fish back out is done by casting a rod into the pond. There is no minigame, no bait is used and no tackle wears down, and the fish comes out at ordinary quality however good the one thrown in was. Those fish do not count towards the Fish Collection and give no fishing experience, though collecting the pond's produce and completing its quests both do.
Upgrades
There is one permanent improvement. A Golden Animal Cracker thrown into the water doubles the pond's output and turns the chum bucket gold. It can only be used once per pond and it is lost if the pond is ever fully reset, so it belongs in a pond that has been settled on for good.
Population is the other lever. The chance of any produce at all climbs with the number of fish, from roughly a quarter at one fish to almost certain at ten, and the valuable extras are gated behind high populations: Rainbow Trout only has a chance at a Prismatic Shard with nine fish in the pond, and an Octopus pond only pours out Omni Geodes at the same number. A half-empty pond is therefore not half as good, it is much worse than half.
Notes
There are two ways to clear a pond and they are not the same. Fishing every fish out by rod reduces the population but leaves the pond's identity and all its hard-won capacity increases intact, so only the same species can be put back. Choosing the empty pond option in the menu resets it completely to the state of a new build, flopping any remaining fish out onto the ground and destroying a Golden Animal Cracker that was used on it.
A few species change the colour of the water. Lava Eels, Super Cucumbers, Slimejacks and Void Salmons do it once the population reaches three, Lava Eels after their first quest is met, and a Legendary Fish does it overnight.
A sign placed on the pond turns it into a counter. A Stone, Wood or Dark Sign, or a Sign Of The Vessel, will show the species and the number inside, which saves clicking through a row of identical ponds to find the one that needs attention.
The decorations around the rim can be changed once at least one fish is swimming, and the starting style is picked at random when the pond is bought. The water can also be used to refill a watering can, which makes a pond a reasonable substitute for a Well.
Willy has something to say about one particular pond. Raising a full ten Crabs and then talking to him within a fortnight earns a Pearl along with some special dialogue, which is one of the few rewards in the game for breeding a specific creature.
All Buildings
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Barn | 
|
- |
| Cabin | 
|
100g |
| Coop | 
|
- |
| Farmhouse | 
|
- |
| Fish Pond | 
|
5,000g |
| Gold Clock | 
|
10,000,000g |
| Greenhouse | 
|
35,000g |
| Junimo Hut | 
|
20,000g |
| Mill | 
|
2,500g |
| Pet Bowl | 
|
5,000g |
| Shed | 
|
- |
| Silo | 
|
100g |
| Slime Hutch | 
|
10,000g |
| Stable | 
|
10,000g |
| Well | 
|
1,000g |
| Witch's Hut | 
|
- |