That is why I was interested in them...the free aspect. It's also kind of fun to collect them. I am experimenting with them in a small pond near my house to see if they take on to pond life well. The predator numbers in the pond are very low and should have very little effect on the minnow population so I could see how they adapted to pond living. I added about 200 1-2" fish this weekend alng with a few bigger "brood fish." Hopefully, they take to the pond environment well.