Breeding in Pondarium

Breeding is how you get the rare looks in Pondarium. Every fish carries hidden genes, so the right pair can give you fry that look like neither parent. This guide covers how it works in the game. For the genetics behind it, read how fish genetics work.

When a fish is ready

A fish can breed once it is an adult and healthy enough. After a brood it rests for a while before it can breed again. Each species grows up and rests at its own pace, shown on its species page. For a pair, both fish must be:

• the same species, one male and one female,
• grown up, healthy and rested,
• in the same tank, with room in it for the fry.

A fish that is ready shows 💞 PAIR… in the list under its tank.

Pairing two fish

Tap 💞 PAIR… on one fish, then PAIR ♥ on a partner. Before you say yes, the breeding preview shows the odds of each colour, pattern and fin in the fry, and of each named form.

The preview only uses what you know about the two fish. Where a gene is still hidden, it guesses from how common each allele is in the wild, and marks the odds with ≈. The more of their genes you have found, the sharper the odds.

Fish that live together can also pair up on their own now and then, if they are ready.

The brood

After pairing, the mother carries the brood for a while. Her card counts down to the fry and the father's shows a quieter note. Then the fry arrive, a handful or many, depending on the species.

Clean water and room to grow matter. In dirty or crowded water fewer fry survive, so a neglected tank can't fill up with fry. Fry are small, take up room and grow up in real time, like every fish in the game.

Finding the hidden genes

A fish's Traits show what it looks like. What it carries hidden shows as "?" until you find out:

• A gene test reveals every gene of one fish, for Coins.
• A lab sample reveals one gene of your choice on one of your own fish. Samples are earned in the Gene Lab, never bought.

A fry can't be tested yet: wait until it is a juvenile. What you find stays with the fish, and buyers on the market see it too, so a tested fish shows what it can give.

Surprises

Now and then a fry gets an allele neither parent carried: a mutation. Very rarely a mutation gives a look no one has named yet, and some forms are so rare that they are only rumoured. Every look you own for the first time is stamped in your Fishdex, in the Logbook.