Tropical Fish mob in Minecraft
The Tropical Fish is the colorful reef fish of warm waters, and the one with by far the most variants. It is harmless and mostly decorative, but a Bucket of Tropical Fish is the only food that breeds axolotls, which makes it more useful than it looks.
- Health
- 31.5 hearts
- Behavior
- Passive
- Main drop
Tropical Fish- Found in
- 5 biomes
Tropical Fish stats
- Health
- 3 1.5 hearts
- Behavior
- Passive
- Main drop
- Tropical Fish
- Spawns in
- 5 biomes
- Size
- 0.5 × 0.4 blocks
- XP when killed
- 1 to 3
- Detection range
- 16 blocks
// Experience drops only when a player kills it.
Where to find Tropical Fish
Biomes where it spawns naturally, with its share of the spawns in each group.
- Group size
- 8
Tropical Fish drops
Tropical Fish and its family
Mobs built on the same base in the game code, compared on their game values.
| Mob | Health | Attack | XP | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cod | 3 | — | 1–3 | — |
 Pufferfish | 3 | 1 | 1–3 | — |
 Salmon | 3 | — | 1–3 | — |
 Tropical Fish | 3 | — | 1–3 | — |
Traits
Properties set in the game files.
What you can do with Tropical Fish
Items to use on it and what happens.
CatchWater BucketUse a Water Bucket on it to carry it alive in a bucket, pattern and colors kept. Gear and tools
Items it can wear, and items you use on it.
Command
/summon minecraft:tropical_fish ~ ~ ~Where Tropical Fish swim
Tropical Fish live in schools in warm and lukewarm oceans, around coral reefs, and in mangrove swamps. They also spawn in the water of Lush Caves, at any depth, which is handy when you are looking for them underground near axolotls.
Why no two look alike
Every Tropical Fish combines a body shape, small or large, one of twelve patterns, a body color and a pattern color, each picked from the sixteen dye colors. That gives thousands of combinations. The patterns have names such as Kob, Clayfish or Sunstreak, and a Bucket of Tropical Fish shows the exact variant in its tooltip.
To collect a variant, use a water bucket on the fish: the bucket keeps its look, and the fish you release later is identical. Fish released from a bucket never despawn, so this is the way to fill a reef aquarium.
Breeding axolotls
Axolotls eat only one thing: a Bucket of Tropical Fish. Feed one to each of two axolotls to make them breed; you get the empty water bucket back, ready to catch the next fish. Axolotls also hunt Tropical Fish on their own, so keep the two in separate tanks unless you are feeding them.
Other uses
- Food: the Tropical Fish item is edible but restores very little, and it cannot be cooked.
- Nautilus food: it is one of the fish a Nautilus eats.
- Trading: expert Fisherman villagers buy Tropical Fish, and the Wandering Trader sometimes sells them in buckets.
- Fishing: it is the rarest fish a fishing rod brings up.
✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026
Tropical Fish — FAQ
How many Tropical Fish variants are there?
Thousands: two body shapes, twelve patterns, and sixteen colors for both the body and the pattern.
What do you feed axolotls?
A Bucket of Tropical Fish. It is the only item that breeds them, and you get the water bucket back.
Can you cook Tropical Fish?
No. The Tropical Fish item can only be eaten raw, and it restores very little hunger.
Where does the Tropical Fish spawn?
In Deep Lukewarm Ocean, Lukewarm Ocean, Lush Caves, Mangrove Swamp and Warm Ocean.
What does a Tropical Fish drop?
Tropical Fish and Bone Meal.
Allay
Armadillo
Axolotl
Bat
Camel
Camel Husk
Cat
Chicken
Copper Golem
Cow
Donkey