Food-grade fish · warm-water · omnivore

Mud carp

Cirrhinus molitorella

Also known asLing (Cantonese) · Dace-carp

beginner warm-water 40% dress-out

Plan a system with Mud carp

Harvest weight

2000 g

45 cm long

Days to harvest

270–540

from fingerling

Feed protein

28%

Optimum temp

26°C

Water parameters

Temperature

0102030

15–32°C

45.578.5

6.5–8

Hardness

0102030

3–15 dGH

Minimum tank: 800 L per individual at harvest size.

Feed and growth

Feed protein: 28% target
Daily feed (warm): 2.50% of body weight
Daily feed (cool): 1.00% of body weight
Max density: 40 g per litre

A 2000 g adult eats about 50.0 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~500 g daily.

Legality

Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.

Jurisdiction	Status	Notes
us-general	check local regulations	Non-native in most countries; aquaculture/import permits likely required and invasive potential should be assessed before stocking. verified 2026-05-29
au-general	check local regulations	Non-native carp; likely restricted under Australian biosecurity rules. Verify locally. verified 2026-05-29

Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".

Origin and habitat

Cirrhinus molitorella, the mud carp or dace, is a subtropical cyprinid native to southern China and Vietnam, ranging across the river systems from the Mekong to the Pearl River deltas, in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. It is a bottom-oriented feeder, scraping algae, phytoplankton, benthic organisms, and detritus off muddy sediments, and it moves into flooded forest to graze in the rainy season. Most fish run 30 to 50 cm, with the largest to about a metre and a few kilograms. Mud carp is an important culture fish in southern China and Hong Kong, one of the traditional carps raised in polyculture with grass, bighead, and silver carp; Chinese production reached around 72,800 tonnes in 2021, and in Guangdong and Guangxi it makes up roughly a third of the freshwater fish. The flesh is white and mild, if bony, and is usually steamed or used in soups. The 'mud' in the name describes where it feeds, not the taste: from clean water the flesh is clean and mild.

Climate and outdoor ponds

✓warm-water species

!Heating required in temperate

·Cooling required in temperate

Climate: subtropical (tolerates mild cooling)
USDA zones: 8–13 (winter low around -12°C or warmer)
Heating needed: yes
Cooling needed: no

Care notes

A warm-water bottom feeder for polyculture aquaponics, at home in southern Chinese and Southeast Asian tradition. It does best around 24–30°C within a range of about 15–32°C, reaching half a kilo to one and a half kilos in twelve to eighteen months on a carp pellet of 25 to 30 percent protein or on natural pond detritus and periphyton; feed conversion runs about 1.5 to 2.5. Its job is the bottom, the same niche mrigal fills in Indian polyculture and common carp in European ponds: it eats the detrital food other fish miss, lifting overall feed efficiency and keeping waste from piling up on the floor. In Chinese polyculture it is usually stocked at a tenth to a fifth of the biomass alongside grass carp on the plants, bighead on zooplankton, and silver carp on phytoplankton; in monoculture, stocking runs 10 to 20 g/L. Water needs are moderate, with dissolved oxygen above 3 mg/L, and the fish is hardy and disease-resistant when well kept. Fingerlings are cheap from hatcheries in southern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. It is little known outside East and Southeast Asia, so for Western growers common carp or channel catfish do the same bottom job with far better local market acceptance.