Butcher a fish in Probably Stolen once it is an adult and before it reaches old age. For a Tilapia that window runs from about day 8 to day 27, for Eels from about day 10 to day 36, and from old age on a fish has a coin-flip chance of dying every night. The exception is the Sturgeon, which is worth more alive while it grows caviar.
Questing Goose Studio’s Aquafarmer update sums up the job: “Use a knife to slaughter and butcher fish for their meat.” Here is how to time it for every species, as of patch 1.0.0.12. Questing Goose Studio has not published fish ages, weights or prices, so treat our day counts and numbers as a starting point.
The Butchering Window for Every Fish
| Fish | Adult from | Adult weight | Old age from | Breeds? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilapia | day 8 | about 450 g | day 27 | Yes |
| Gutter Tilapia | day 10 | about 450 g | day 33 | Yes |
| Graft Tilapia | day 8 | about 450 g | day 27 | Yes |
| Eel | day 10 | about 1,400 g | day 36 | No |
| Electric Eel | day 10 | about 1,400 g | day 36 | No |
| Sturgeon | day 18 | about 3,500 g | day 80 | No |
Two rules shape the timing:
- Ages only count on fed nights. A fish ages only on nights when its hunger meter is at least about 37.5% full, so a hungry tank falls behind the calendar. Go by the age the fish shows, not the day you bought it.
- Old age is a gamble. From its old-age day, a fish has a 50% chance to die each night. Butcher before then.
Why Waiting for Adulthood Pays
How much meat you get depends on what the fish has eaten, and the game cuts it into the biggest pieces first. Anything left over that is big enough becomes Fish Scrap. A small fish gives you mostly tiny cuts and scrap, while a full-grown one fills out to real fillets.
| Cut | Calories | Sells for about |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny Fish Fillet | 100 kcal | 13 Credits |
| Fish Scrap | 100 kcal | 4 Credits |
| Small Fish Fillet | 200 kcal | 26 Credits |
| Fish Fillet | 400 kcal | 57 Credits |
| Large Fish Fillet | 900 kcal | 143 Credits |
| Eel Fillet | 500 kcal | 136 Credits |
The gap between a Fish Fillet at about 57 Credits and Fish Scrap at about 4 is the whole reason not to butcher early. A live fish is worth nothing to customers, so the fillets are your product.
Species by Species
Tilapia. Butcher between about day 8 and day 27. A grown Tilapia gives Fish Fillets and small cuts.
Gutter Tilapia. Its item text says it “takes heavy metal and chemical contaminants out of the tank while it lives there”, which is often worth more than its meat. Our heavy metals guide explains the trick. Keep a few alive if you clean water or reagents.
Graft Tilapia. It yields one Tilapia Skin Graft per 200 g on top of smaller cuts, so a heavier fish means more grafts.
Eels. Butcher between about day 10 and day 36. An Eel gives three Eel Fillets, the best-paying regular cut for its calories, and Eels never breed, so there is no reason to keep one past its prime.
Electric Eel. Its item text says it “charges batteries each night”, so it doubles as a power source. Butcher it only when you no longer need the charge, and before day 36.
Keep the Sturgeon Alive
Sturgeon is the fish you milk instead of kill. The developer’s Aquafarmer post says you can “use Surgery Tools on sturgeons to harvest caviar”. A healthy adult grows eggs every night, and each full jar is one Caviar worth about 240 Credits, nearly twice a Large Fish Fillet.
- Keep it healthy. It only grows eggs at 90% health or more.
- Harvest with the Surgery Toolset. It takes every full jar but costs the fish some health. The first ten jars are Caviar, and later jars turn into cheaper Sturgeon Roe.
- Butcher it late. Killing a Sturgeon turns every full jar into Caviar and gives four Large Fish Fillets, so the time to do it is once its jars have started coming back as roe, or before day 80.
Do Not Butcher Your Breeders
Tilapia breed on their own: a fed adult female can lay roe, and an adult male in the tank fertilizes it overnight. Keep at least one adult male and two females, and butcher the extra juveniles once they are grown. Feed the tank well, since a hungry Tilapia will eat its own roe and fry.
Watch the food. Fish eating mostly Gutterflow Pellets produce Trash Grade cuts worth far less, so mix in better feed. If you would rather not butcher by hand, the Auto Butcher machine can harvest a tank every night by weight or age while sparing your breeders. Our money guide shows how fish compare with the rat ranch and other trades, and the shop upgrades guide covers the Wild’s Network upgrades that bring the fish sellers.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I butcher Tilapia in Probably Stolen? Once it is an adult, around day 8, and before old age at day 27, when it starts risking death every night.
How do you butcher a fish? Use a knife on it. A blade kills and fillets the fish in one go.
Should I butcher my Sturgeon? Not early. Harvest its caviar with the Surgery Toolset while it is healthy, and butcher it late, since killing it turns full jars into Caviar.
Why am I getting Fish Scrap instead of fillets? The fish was too small or underfed. Meat depends on what it has eaten, so grow it to adulthood first.
Do fish die of old age? Yes. From its old-age day a fish has a 50% chance to die each night, so butcher before then.