Furry Diary

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Blue Orfe

Leuciscus idus

Also called Blue ide, Blauorfe, Blue-backed orfe

VarietyShort profile

From Colour form of the ide, a freshwater fish native to Europe and western Asia. It is kept as an ornamental pond fish alongside the better known golden orfe.123

At a glance the quick version

Length25 to 85 cm123
Lifespan18 to 29 years23
Sizelarge
Unusual cool blue-silver colour
Lively shoaling fish that cruises near the surface
Hardy in cool water
213

Looks how to spot one

Scaled, streamlined cyprinid

A slender, fast-looking fish with the classic ide outline. The blue form has a bluish or steel-blue back above silvery flanks, setting it apart from both the silver wild type and the orange golden orfe.21

Coloursblue-grey backsilver flanks2

Personality what they are like

Peaceful and sociable. Young fish happily form shoals and they live comfortably with koi and goldfish.13

Daily activity how busy a day looks

A very active swimmer that needs long open stretches of water. It spends much of its time in the upper layer of the pond.13

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Needs clean, well-oxygenated water, more so than koi or goldfish, so good aeration and filtration matter. Wild ides live at about 4 to 20 C with a pH of about 7.0 to 7.5.13

Home where they are happiest

A pond fish. FishBase advises against home aquariums, noting a tank over 2 m long would be needed, so a large garden pond with open water is the right home.31

Food basics what goes in the bowl

An omnivore that eats insects and their larvae, snails and other small invertebrates plus some plant matter; large adults also take small fish. In ponds it takes floating pond-fish food readily.132

Company who they like around

Keep in a group rather than alone. Juveniles shoal readily, while big adults roam in smaller groups.13

The story where it all began

The ide has a wide range from northern Europe to Siberia and was introduced to Great Britain in 1874. Ornamental orfe were the leading pond fish until koi became widely available in the 1960s. The blue form is a rarer colour variety kept alongside the golden orfe.12

Fun facts for the dinner table

  1. 1

    The ide is one of the most salt-tolerant European whitefish and also lives in brackish coastal waters.2

  2. 2

    A female can lay up to about 100,000 eggs in a spawning season.2

  3. 3

    Orfe were the most popular decorative pond fish in Britain until koi took over in the 1960s.1

  4. 4

    Ides can reach an age of around 29 years.3

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List
Wild species Leuciscus idus assessed as Least Concern (22 October 2023)3
Ornamental trade
A much rarer ornamental form than the golden orfe1

The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you

A typical home-care rhythm for a Blue Orfe. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.

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Where this comes from

Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

  1. Wikipedia: Ide (fish) en.wikipedia.orgused for ornamental forms, size, weight, habitat, diet, behaviour, pond keeping, history
  2. Wikipedia (German): Aland (Fisch) de.wikipedia.orgused for blue colour form, lifespan, size, weight, salt tolerance, spawning
  3. FishBase: Leuciscus idus fishbase.seused for max length and weight, max age, water parameters, diet, aquarium note, IUCN status

Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.