Anyone successfully kept Barrumundi?

Bosk · 2nd September 2006, 8:02 PM

Just curious, I've no intention of trying them myself (don't have the room!) but am keen to hear if anyone's had any luck keeping them.

They get so huge I figure you'd want at least an 8 foot tank, maybe bigger.
So has anyone tried? Is it even possible to breed them in captivity?

siamsam · 2nd September 2006, 10:50 PM

A pub in North Queensland has live barra they feed as an attraction at happy hour, but their tank is huge. I dont know what they did with them once they grew too big for the tank. Maybe served them up with a wedge of lemon, a side salad and some chips.
cheers
Sam

Strange1 · 3rd September 2006, 7:26 AM

I know a few people who have kept them. Although they are in fresh water at the pet shops they do seem to do better in brackish.

As for 8Ft tank..... try 8000ltr

Daft_Munt · 3rd September 2006, 2:50 PM

Hi All

While in Darwin a friend of mine had some. They were from a barra farm and I suspect that most are from the fish farm hatcheries. They where kept in a 6" 2" 2" tank which was slightly brackish with no other fish, I tried a few but they always died due to lack of food. The diet was local rainbow spieces around Darwin in the wet season

They didnt get much bigger than 6-8 inches in that tank. They were very aggressive and could eat 3-5 rainbows each per day. I personally didnt like it as the rainbows were a lot nicer looking than barra...stick one in with a american cichlid (red devil, jack dempsey) could be interesting just to watch the fireworks

As for breeding, not in a tank that is less than 10,000L. They get quite large before they can breed especially females (2ft from memory, hence the minimum catch sizes in Qld, NT, WA).

macros951 · 5th September 2006, 5:29 PM

Had a friend who grew a barra from quite small to about a foot long. Tank was probably about 7' long. Pretty cool fish to watch but I couldnt help but thinking it needed something a little bigger.

Feeding time was awesome. There were other fish in the tank which it didnt bother but they used to feed it live fish (cant remember what they were) which were about 1" long. When the barra was at one end of the tank they would drop the fish in the other end. It was amazing how quick it was to cover the distance & eat them

It used to engulf them whole & would swallow 3 or 4 in row without swallowing them. When it opened it mouth you could see them swimming around in there.

Jay · 6th September 2006, 4:56 AM

We've got a few in a pond out the back in Darwin. They're happily growing and are about 20cm long at last check, probably heaps bigger by now. They do get a bit territorial so size does get at an issue eventually.

As for breeding, don't think it's particularly easy in captivity.

2nd September 2006, 8:02 PM	#1
Bosk Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ballarat, Victoria Posts: 2,164	Anyone successfully kept Barrumundi? Just curious, I've no intention of trying them myself (don't have the room!) but am keen to hear if anyone's had any luck keeping them. They get so huge I figure you'd want at least an 8 foot tank, maybe bigger. So has anyone tried? Is it even possible to breed them in captivity? __________________ Politics, n: [Poly "many" + tics "blood-sucking parasites"] -Larry Hardiman *Lapped 6300 @ 490FSB Ultra 120 Extreme * P35-DS3 * 2GB OCZ Reaper * Corsair 620W * Seagate 320GB * 20" Widescreen**

3rd September 2006, 7:26 AM	#3
Strange1 Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Blaxland, NSW Posts: 2,655	I know a few people who have kept them. Although they are in fresh water at the pet shops they do seem to do better in brackish. As for 8Ft tank..... try 8000ltr __________________ OCAU Extreme Cooling Club H2O Member AMD CPU 1400MHz @ 1672MHz / 2.13V / Ambient +20°C Cyclone 2 / Inline Rio1100 / Falcon aircon core

2nd September 2006, 10:50 PM	#2
siamsam Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Townsville Posts: 494	A pub in North Queensland has live barra they feed as an attraction at happy hour, but their tank is huge. I dont know what they did with them once they grew too big for the tank. Maybe served them up with a wedge of lemon, a side salad and some chips. cheers Sam

5th September 2006, 5:29 PM	#5
macros951 Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: sydney Posts: 197	Had a friend who grew a barra from quite small to about a foot long. Tank was probably about 7' long. Pretty cool fish to watch but I couldnt help but thinking it needed something a little bigger. Feeding time was awesome. There were other fish in the tank which it didnt bother but they used to feed it live fish (cant remember what they were) which were about 1" long. When the barra was at one end of the tank they would drop the fish in the other end. It was amazing how quick it was to cover the distance & eat them It used to engulf them whole & would swallow 3 or 4 in row without swallowing them. When it opened it mouth you could see them swimming around in there.

6th September 2006, 4:56 AM	#6
Jay Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,298	We've got a few in a pond out the back in Darwin. They're happily growing and are about 20cm long at last check, probably heaps bigger by now. They do get a bit territorial so size does get at an issue eventually. As for breeding, don't think it's particularly easy in captivity.