Caring for your tank

Your fish live in real time, even while you are away. A well-kept fish lives longer, stays healthy and breeds better than a neglected one. This guide covers how care works in Pondarium. For real fish, see getting started with a real aquarium.

The tank's meters

Next to the tank you'll see Water, Glass, Bottom, Fed, Health and Space:

• Water is the water quality: high is good. It drops slowly all the time, faster with more fish in the tank.
• Glass is the algae on the glass, and Bottom the dirt on the gravel: low is good.
• Fed shows how hungry the fish are, Health how well they are, and Space how full the tank is.

The three water meters pull on each other: dirt on the bottom fouls the water and feeds the algae.

Feeding

Press 🍽️ FEED ALL. Feeding is free: the food is part of the tank's daily upkeep. After a meal the button counts down until the fish are hungry again. Feeding again too early leaves food they don't eat, and leftovers rot on the bottom, which feeds the algae.

Cleaning

When the tank needs it, 🧽 CLEAN TANK opens the cleaning game, with your own fish swimming in it. It has three tools, and each one is optional:

• Glass: drag the scraper over the algae.
• Gravel: hold the siphon over the dirt, and let go before a fish gets too close.
• Water: drain some water, then refill it. Keep the new water at the tank's temperature: the closer it is, the more the change helps.

The better you play, the cleaner the tank. Until it needs cleaning, the Tank page tells you when it will. If you'd rather skip the game, hire a cleaner for Coins.

Help from the tank itself

• A better filter keeps the water clean longer, most of all in a full tank.
• Plants clean the water and slow the algae down.
• Some fish help too: corydoras pick dirt off the bottom, and otocinclus graze on algae.
• A heater lets tropical species live in the tank and keeps it at their temperature.

Running a tank costs Coins every day, and new equipment unlocks as your level rises.

Illness

Dirty water wears down the fishes' health, and an unhealthy fish can fall ill. An ill fish shows up on the tank: tap it and TREAT it with medicine, for Coins. An illness that isn't treated can kill the fish, so don't wait too long.

While you are away

A tank you leave alone winds down slowly. The water gets worse, more fish fall ill, and fewer fry survive, so the tank shrinks over time rather than filling up. No fish lives forever: after a long absence a tank can end up empty. If that happens, Adoption next to the Market always has free fish to start again with.