Ide / orfe

The ide, or orfe, is a large cyprinid of the family Cyprinidae, native to rivers and lakes across northern Europe and Asia. The wild form is silvery with a dark back, while the popular golden orfe bred for ponds is a bright orange-yellow. It is a sleek, fast, surface-oriented shoaling fish. It is peaceful toward similarly sized fish but is an active predator of insects and smaller fish, and its need for a large shoal and long swimming runs makes it unsuitable for aquariums. This is essentially a coldwater pond fish requiring a large, well-oxygenated pond with plenty of open water; it is sensitive to low oxygen and to some pond treatments. It is a carnivore-leaning omnivore that surface-feeds avidly on insects and takes floating pellets and live foods. It should be kept in groups of several, as lone individuals become stressed and reclusive.