Using Fish Hatcheries
Raising fish on your farm is handy for situations where you need a lot of a particular fish and you don't want to spend your time fishing and hoping you catch the right fish. All you need to do to start raising your own fishies is to build a Fish Hatchery, place it somewhere on your farm space, and then add a fish into the water.
Fish Hatcheries can be constructed at Ludus' shop beginning in Spring of year 2. Each box requires 1400 G (980 G in Seedling mode) and 20 Lumber to construct. Then edit your farm to place the hatchery somewhere in one of your field spaces. After that, just press the A Button while standing in front of the hatchery to place a fish from your bag into the water.
The rate at which the fish multiply will depend on 1) the size of the fish, and 2) the number of times you've harvested your raised fish. The more fish hatchery harvesting you do, the better at it you become and the less time it takes for fish to multiply.
Between 0 and 29 fish:
- Small Fish: 1 fish every 1 day
- Medium Fish: 1 fish every 2 days
- Large Fish: 1 fish every 3 days
Between 30 and 69 fish:
- Small Fish: 2 fish every 1 day
- Medium Fish: 1 fish every 2 days
- Large Fish: 1 fish every 3 days
Between 70 and 199 fish:
- Small Fish: 2 fish every 1 day
- Medium Fish: 1 fish every 1 day
- Large Fish: 1 fish every 2 days
200 or more fish:
- Small Fish: 2 fish every 1 day
- Medium Fish: 2 fish every 1 day
- Large Fish: 1 fish every 1 day
You'll receive the title of Master Fish Raiser once you harvest a total of 300 fish from your Fish Hatcheries.
Each hatchery can hold up to 10 fish. Once you hit this limit you will have to remove all of the fish or leave one in the hatchery so it can continue to multiply.
While raising the fish on your farm you can increase their Star Rank. Fish Food is for sale at the Porepore booth in Lulukoko (South) for 30 G each starting in Spring of year 2. Feeding your fishies some Fish Food will increase their Star Points by +3 (0.5 star = 30 star points). There are also two Farm Circle objects that can affect your hatchery fish:
- The Bamboo Fountain unlocks once Tsuyukusa is rank C or higher and you have harvested at least 50 hatchery fish. It requires 15 Bamboo, 20 Small Stone, 1 Ancient Fish Fossil, and 5 Silver. Placing this Farm Circle will increase the hatchery's Star Points by +5 for each hatchery that is directly touching the left or right sides of the Farm Circle object (max of two hatcheries).
- The tropical Clownfish Habitat unlocks after all of the towns are Rank C or higher and you have harvested at least 50 hatchery fish. This object requires 20 Stone, 10 Coral, 1 Fish Fossil, 10 Yellow Pearl, and 10 Red Pearl. Placing this Farm Circle next to your hatcheries will increase the Star Points by +5 too, but it has a range of directly next to and up to one additional space away on either side (max of four hatcheries).
Colored Pearls
You may need to harvest colored pearls as you work on crafting Farm Circles or for increasing the volume of your watering can. You can buy Pearl Oysters from the Tsuyukusa Ninety-Nine outdoor booth starting in Spring of year 2 for 300 G each. Each Fish Hatchery can hold one Pearl Oyster.
It takes 7 days for a Pearl Oyster to produce a pearl in one of six colors. The color of pearl you receive is random, with some weight given to the season you are in. Green Pearls are more common in Summer, Red Pearls are more common in Spring and Winter, Blue Pearls are more common in Summer and Fall, and Yellow Pearls are more common in Spring, Fall, and Winter. White Pearls don't have a season preference, and Gold Pearls are always uncommon. You won't know the color that you're going to receive until the day of harvest.
You can force the Pearl Oyster to produce specific colors by utilizing Farm Circles. The object must be placed next to the Fish Hatchery before the day the oyster is ready to be harvested.
- Blue Pearl = Canoe Planter. Unlocks when Lulukoko is at Rank C or higher and you have caught at least 50 fish while fishing. 20 Lumber + 10 Pulmeria + 10 Hibiscus + 5 Beach Vitex + 5 Calla Lily.
- Golden Pearl = Giant Pearl. Unlocks when Lulukoko is Rank B or higher and you have harvested 70 pearls. 10 Pearl Oyster + 5 Coral + 5 Starfish + 5 Venus Comb Murex + 1 Pink Diamond.
- Green Pearl = Succulent Garden. Unlocks when Lulukoko is Rank C or higher and you have caught at least 60 fish while fishing. 25 Stone + 15 Aloe + 15 Ocean Primrose + 15 Prickly Pear Cactus.
- Red Pearl = Daruma Doll. Unlocks when Tsuyukusa is Rank C or higher and you have caught at least 60 fish while fishing. 15 Lumber + 10 Ruby + 10 Red Spider Lily.
- White Pearl = Ice Lamp. Unlocks when Lulukoko and Tsuyukusa are Rank C or higher and you have harvested 50 pearls. 10 Crystal + 10 Stone + 50 Ice + 5 Silver Linen Cloth + 1 Adamantite.
- Yellow Pearl = Stone Plinth. Unlocks when Westown is Rank C or higher and you have caught at least 50 fish while fishing. 10 Lumber + 10 Stone + 15 Topaz + 20 Shiny Coin.
The number of pearls you harvest can't be influenced by a Farm Circle, but it is influenced by the number of pearls you have harvested (i.e., your Pearl Cultivater rank). If you have collected fewer than 15 pearls, you will only receive one pearl at harvest. From 15 to 49 pearls collected you'll receive two pearls per harvest. After you have collected 50 pearls you will collect the maximum of three pearls per harvest.
You'll receive the title of Master Pearl Cultivater once you harvest a total of 100 colored pearls.