Anyone kept barramundi?

[moneywastedonfish]

Yeah as the title says has any one kept barramundi or any other predatory australian fish?
What was your set up, did it work out, what did you feed them?
THANKS

 

[CFC]

Ive got a gulf saratoga, or as they are known here Australian arowana. It eats all the usual predatory fish foods, fish, mussels, cockles & shrimp. Kept in a 200g tank with other predators, can be a little aggressive at times but other wise ok.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

that must be apretty impressive fish, ive only seen babies over here which go for around $200 aus.

I may be getting a juvenile barramundi and was hoping for any advice for or against my plans;

I was going to grow him up to about 5- 6 inches in fresh before slowly increasing salinity to approx half marine water over 6 months or so.
For food i was thinking pipis (also known as cockles i think in the US, they are a typical marine bivalve from marine sandy areas very common around here) as the main food, supplemented with convict fry and once monthly vitamin stuffed dead finger sized bait fish.
Do you guys think that diet is ok?

Well the tanks 180 gall 6 ft, and will have a sand substrate and maybe some giant val. with 2-3 large rocks spaced around for territory. It will have little light just enough for the val to grow.

For tankmates when i start introducing salt, i was thinking maybe 3 - 5 monos and a large crayfish (that may become a snack later as the barramundi grows)

I would like a large catfish but am unsure of any that will appear natural and not become a snack or a painful annoyance to the barramundi, any ideas?


Well any ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Glaringly obvious ommisions?
Thanks

 

[xamdarb]

cant they get like 4 feet long

 

[Paul_MTS]

I'm not sure why your thinking of adding salt. as far as i can remember there are no types of arowana which will apriciate some salt so steer clear of that idea and keep it fresh!

You should try to vary the diet a bit more, something like cockles being a marine invert wil have a high salt content and in the long run foods like this aren't too good as a stplae diet.

Tank size is fine, you should be able to stock with some larger cats and other oddballs.

it's the silver arowana which can get to 4ft xamdarb.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

um, Paul? it's not an arowana.

interesting choice of fish! looks like you're going to need one heck of a tank for that; best of luck!

 

[Dragonscales]

You should be ok keeping one of these in a tank for a while, but be prepared to move it into a pond, etc after a while. I have seen these fellas get to 2 or more meters in length.

 

[Paul_MTS]

opps i know theres a type of arowana with spotted barramundi as there common name! )

 

[Lenna]

Okay, I'm confused. Do you mean a barramundi or a saratoga (Scleropages leichardti)-These are sometimes called spotted barramundi? Dragonscales is right, they can grow to massive sizes (barramundi), however you could keep a juvenile in a 6ft tank. Even then, I don't know what you'd do with it once it outgrows the tank. A saratoga would be better if this is what you mean. You could keep an Australian native catfish with it, such as a tandanus cat (these grow over 1ft long). Good luck with your aussie native tank, it's something I've always wanted to do but can't afford yet.

 

[Warrior]

My friend had a barramundi in his 4ft tank for 8 months, it grew so fast that it couldnt turn around anymore, its now 5 years old and 3ft 6" long and is in his pond that he had to build for it. These guys can send you broke though they cant live on bloodworms and flake food, they are a predatory fish and need ALOT of feeders.

 

[Dragonscales]

I forgot to type last time, but the most common tankmate people keep with barra are murray cod. This fish can also grow massive though so the same problem occurs with needing either a pond, dam or swimming pool to house the buggers. Anything else you want to keep with it are going to want to be heavyweights in their own right though or you are without a doubt going to have predation problems.

Diet-wise you are along the right track while the fish is small. They like meaty foods and will most likely need to be provided with something a bit bigger once they are pond size. Perhaps stocking with redfin or yellowbelly would be a good option?