2 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful surface schooler; best in ponds with plants and companions.
137 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful surface schooler; best in ponds with plants and companions.
Pond only. It belongs in a garden pond, not an aquarium.
Check your local laws. Banned in parts of North America: a prohibited invasive species in Minnesota (illegal to possess, import, buy, transport or release without a permit) and North Dakota (Class 1 prohibited aquatic nuisance species), and illegal to possess or sell live in Ontario. Introduced to more than 20 US states; FishBase lists it as a potential pest. Not CITES-listed. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Floating pellets and flake.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Mature females are fuller-bodied and grow faster; mature males develop breeding tubercles.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-scatterer · Moderate
Spawns once a year in spring or summer when the water passes about 16-18°C; males drive ripe females into dense plants, where the very sticky eggs are attached.
Group.
Pond with plants.
Spring warming.
Thousands to over 200,000 very sticky, colourless to pale yellow eggs per female, attached to plants in shallow water.
Fry eat plankton.
A hardy European fish with red fins and a red-spotted eye. The golden form is an old pond favourite that eats duckweed and catches mosquitoes at the surface.
Linnaeus described the rudd in 1758 as Cyprinus erythrophthalmus. The golden rudd is a coloured form popular in ponds. It feeds mainly near the surface.
First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Named for 'erythrophthalmus' means 'red-eyed'.
18 facts checked with sources
Golden rudd is a colour form. Often confused with roach (FishBase) and, in North America, with the native golden shiner, with which it hybridizes.
FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryMoved out of Cyprinidae into Leuciscidae; some agency pages still say Cyprinidae. Legacy has no family.
FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summarysize-pick: fishkeeper.co.uk and North Dakota both give about 50 cm (19 in) as the top size; FishBase 61.7 cm TL is a single record female (Sprem et al. 2010, new maximum length). Common length 20 cm TL; Ontario says adults are 10-25 cm. Legacy 40 cm.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) · North Dakota Game and Fish: European Rudd fact sheet · FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryLegacy 4-25.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) · FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryfishkeeper.co.uk preferred as husbandry source; FishBase 7.0-7.5. Legacy 6.5-8.5.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) · FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryFishBase 10-15 dH; fishkeeper.co.uk up to 25. Lower bound from FishBase, upper from fishkeeper.co.uk.
FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summary · Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)Legacy 5.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)Maximum recorded ages only (17-19 years). Legacy 10-15 years not directly sourced.
FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summary · Minnesota DNR: Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), quoting the USGS NAS databaseFishBase lists it as benthopelagic and USGS (via Minnesota DNR) calls it bottom-dwelling in the wild; in ponds it is a surface fish.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)Easy as a pond fish.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)Legacy (males slimmer, females fuller in spring) agrees.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)Legacy "Thousands of adhesive eggs" fits. Hatch time not found.
Minnesota DNR: Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), quoting the USGS NAS database · FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryLegacy "about" agrees.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) · Government of Ontario: RuddLegacy said "No special permits", which is wrong in these places. Other US states not checked (several more likely restrict it).
Minnesota DNR: Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), quoting the USGS NAS database · North Dakota Game and Fish: European Rudd fact sheet · Government of Ontario: Rudd · FishBase: Scardinius erythrophthalmus summaryPond-only coldwater species.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)