Buying young fish from a hatchery, rather than trying to breed your own, is how most farmers and pond owners actually stock a pond. A hatchery is a facility that breeds and rears fish through their earliest, most fragile life stages.
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The Trade-Off
Hatchery-raised fingerlings survive better than fish bred in an unmanaged home pond, since hatcheries control water quality and predation during the stage fish are most vulnerable. The trade-off is cost and, sometimes, limited species availability locally.
What to Ask a Hatchery
Disease history, water source, and how recently fish were transported all affect how well fingerlings settle into a new pond.
