Zaldon and mog garden fish

So, I've been giving Zaldon fish from my mog garden for a while and nothing has ever been found. I'm wondering if the fish has to be one you caught.

That reminds me, when I was one of the early windurst quests, a decade ago, I was supposed to give the NPC a fish so I gave him one I bought and he made fun of me for not catching the fish myself. I want to go see if he says the same thing if you caught the fish. Or, I'd be interested to know if anyone knows.

The chances of Zaldon finding items in fish are extremely low. Regardless of where you got the fish from.

Ok. I got an Earth wand from a giant catfish. So, you don't need to have caught the fish.

Correct. You can even buy them from the Auction House and bazaars to get items. (some crazy moogle magic there to keep them fresh in AH for 9 weeks)