Fish Tycoon Strategies

Fish Tycoon is a real-time, fish-breeding simulation, genetic puzzle game. By real-time, it means that the game will continue to run, even while your computer is off, unless you explicitly pause the game. One minute in regular game time is equivalent to one minute of real time. Starting with just a few fish eggs, the object of the game is to raise your fish and cross-breed the different species until you find the 7 Magic Fish of Isola. During the game, you'll have to invest in environment research to make your fish tanks less harmful for fragile hybrid fish, fight off illness and other infestations, and remember to feed them so they are healthy and good for sale in your fish store. Proceeds from your fish sales help finance your cross-breeding activities and help restore Isola to its previous glory!

Download Fish Tycoon now from Big Fish Games! Click on the picture to begin your free trial. Click here for the Mac version.

Fish Tycoon has also been released for iPhone and iPod-touch. Just go to iTunes to buy it or download it straight to your iPhone in the Apple App store. Now you can keep track of all your fish on the go. Just whip out your iPod or iPhone and feed your fish! Enjoy!

General Strategy (No spoilers.)

• Start by putting the eggs you have into the water. If you would like, buy some more of the cheap eggs from the supply shop.
• Only breed fish that are exactly the same at this point. Those fish will be able to survive and stay healthy. Breed fish by putting one in the isolation tank, then dragging another fish over that fish in the tank.
• If your initial fish get sick, they aren't really worth curing since medicine can be expensive.
• There's a maximum fish population for each tank. When you can, get another tank. After that, focus on researching the environment so you can raise fragile hybrids.
• You don't necessarily need all those fancy ornaments for you tank, so put off buying them. They are fun, though.
• Once you find a Magic Fish, its powers will affect just the tank it is in.
• Be patient! Adjust the speed of the game from the options menu to fit your schedule. Remember to keep your fish fed at all times!

Okay, so I'm sure you've figured out by now that you really have to be patient in this game. This means, it feels like it will take forever to find all the Magic Fish. So here is THE CHEAT to help eliminate all that waiting. Highlight the white text below to find out what it is.

Change the time on your computer clock! That's right. But first, you must feed your fish and be sure they won't starve in the next couple of hours. On the fast game speed, forward your clock by 2 hours and your fish will be instantly mature. Put them in the isolation tank and breed them. Speed up your clock again and you'll have more fish! You will, unfortunately, have to wait when your fish are in your store. Forwarding the clock does not speed up sales. Note: Forwarding the clock may affect other programs on your computer.

The above space is intentionally white. Just in case you didn't want to see the ULTIMATE CHEAT. :)

The rules to breeding the fish are very simple. Breeding two identical fish together will produce more of the exact same fish, unless you have the Magical Fish of Mutation in your tank.

In Fish Tycoon, there are 21 different species of fish and 21 different types of fins. Each fish will be of a single species with a single type of fin. Hence, there are a total of 21x21 combinations leading to 441 varieties of fish.

The 21 different species are, in alphabetical order: Arrowfish, Bananafish, Beta, Carp, Catfish, Comet, Fatfish, Fire-Arrow, Flashfish, Fruitfish, Goldbulb, Goldshark, Grouper, Leaffish, Pigmy, Quicksilver, Shark, Snooper, Snout, Spotanus, and Stickfish.

The 21 different fins are, in alphabetical order: Canary, Crimson, Fanned, Finless, Flagged, Golden, Great-sail, Greenfin, Hornet, Orange, Oriental, Pink, Razorback, Silky, Snubbed, Speckled, Spined, Stubby, Tiger, Twin-fin, and Wasp.

The fins and species attributes are controlled separately, which means you can get 2 different sets of information from breeding different fish. For example, Fin A x Fin B always gives you Fin C, no matter what the species of fish. And Species D x Species E always gives you Species F. So, if you breeded AD x BE, you would get fish CF. By breeding pairs of fish that are different species AND different fins, you would learn 2 pieces of breeding information each time. This saves you lots of time, but be sure to write everything down!

For the breeding specifics of Fish Tycoon, check out this Fish Tycoon breeding chart.

There are 7 Magic Fish to discover in the game of Fish Tycoon. Each fish has special powers that affect your fish in the same tank but only if the Magic Fish is alive! The descriptions are copied from the game. You can also find screenshots of all the Magic Fish. Descriptions come from Fish Tycoon itself.

Magical Fish of Fertility
Greenfin Spotanus: With this fish in your tank, pregnant fish tend to produce an extra baby.

Magical Fish of Sustenance
Speckled Leaffish: With this fish in your tank, you won't need to feed as often.

Magical Fish of Curing
Crimson Comet: With this fish in your tank, sick fish have a better chance of being cured.

Magical Fish of Growth
Oriental Goldbulb: With this fish in your tank, young fish tend to grow more rapidly.

Magical Fish of Health
Orange Snooper: With this fish in your tank, your fish tend to be healthier.

Magical Fish of Mutation
Wasp Grouper: With this fish in your tank, pregnant fish have a chance of producing a baby not related to either parent!

Golden Guppy of Isola
Canary Fire-Arrow: This ultra-rare fish is a legend. It's not fully understood, but will most certainly make you a rich fish breeder.