Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have been given the OK to make a series of these 'fish profiles', please contribute pictures, first hand accounts, important or need-to-know facts... by all means PM and correct me if I am wrong.

Barramundi, species summary and useful information...

Common Size: 30-90cm (12-36"), but have been known to grow to well over 150 cm (60").

Temp: Tropical fish... Optimum temperature is 28 C (82 F), although you will have success between 25-30 C (77-86 F). The Barra will continue to thrive below these temperatures but food intake and growth rates will be lower.
PH: 7.5-8.5 is considered an ideal range
Salinity: They will tolerate a wide range of salt from fresh water to sea water.

Feeding: Barramundi are a carniverous fish, their diet consists of a wide range of foods. This species will eat A LOT and will gain mass quickly if sufficient food is available. Live food (worms, feeder fish, shrimp & yabbies), Ridleys and other commercial pellets, beefheart. Barra are a docile fish. but very active when feeding or hunting prey.

Growth Rate: Barramundi are considered to be rapid growers. Growth will be determined by the feeding rate, as they will eat basically anything you feed them. In aquaculture it is considered 2:1 growth, 2 kg of food to 1 kg of growth. It is possible to raise plate size fish ~1/2 KG (~1 pound) within 6 months.

Breeding: Barramundi are are protoandrous hermaphrodites, meaning that most juveniles are male untill they are 3-5 years old, at this age they will selectively turn female and become sexually mature. Due to the size of the fish at this age it would be very difficult to breed them in a small scale aquaponics setup.

Nutritional Facts: (per 100g)
Cholesterol 45 mg
Sodium na
Total fat (oil) 0.9 g
Saturated fat 43% of total fat
Monounsaturated fat 32% of total fat
Polyunsaturated fat 26% of total fat
Omega-3, EPA 11 mg
Omega-3, DHA 50 mg
Omega-6, AA 57 mg

Suitability in Aquaponics: Very High, must have sufficient filtration and adequate food source. Heating is essential in colder climates.
Suitability in Aquarium: Very High, again good water quality is a must and fresh food. They will become very placid and tame. Mine is trained already (5 days).

Good onya Tim. Aquagold will be very happy :-).

I do woder about the sentence which says success over 25 dgrees c. I think many of us here have seen that barra do fine at 20 plus. I reckong there is no downside, from what I've seen, provided temp is above 21 or 22 most of the time. Mine feed well at 20 for their breakfast.

I have made some changes VB...

Here is a pic of my Barra, 15 months after the above picture...

Nice idea , nice pics .
temps are usually quoted from a commercial point of view . Your Barra may be doing fine at 20C ,, but a commercial operator may find their growth rate at that temp is unacceptable.
I do fine at 10 C and 1 beer ,, but you should see me grow at 28C and 10 beers:)

Smiles.

Thanks for the great information....Tim....Great thread.

Was wondering if you still have that same Barra, now..it would be a three year old monster fish

Can they grow even faster at higher temp? Assume the water is highly oxygenated? I am planning a new home project in California desert where temp is very warm year around. Summer being super hot at over 110F days and 100F nights. Wondering if that would be too warm for barra?

I'm thinking of getting 5 Barra to put in my system - I can get yearlings that are 15-20cm or larger ones that are 30cm. What size is needed to grow them to plate size by the end of the Perth growing season, assuming I get them now (Early Dec)? (realise this is a piece of string question - just looking for general guidance - won't have any heating, will feed just pellets)

What size is plate size for a barra i.e. when is it worthwhile harvesting them from a flesh to bones/head ratio viewpoint?

I got myself the bigger ones, figured that way I will have a decent sized fish even if they didnt put on much weight now... mine have been really shy too, not really feeding yet so Ive lost a weeks feeding already.

What size systems are people running in order to keep barra successfully?

System sizes vary incredibly.. Personally I don;t like to keep large edible fish in a tank less than about 700L minimum.

sounds reasonable.

I'm looking to produce some plate sized fish with my system. currently have a basic IBC setup, but id like to upgrade the fish tank to something more suitable to the size fish I am after.

Just be mindful that the fish stocking level is based on the amount of filtration you have (ie growbed volume).


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I ran 10 in a 900l ibc this summer, 600l of grow media. Next summer I will run 20 or 30.


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I think you should include the geographic distribution in your species profiles.

The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia.

And perhaps something about their end use. Like popular food in such and such dishes, or highly popular in aquarium hobby trade.

Hi TimC,

Nice profile on the barramundi. Perhaps you could add that barramundi need to return to estuarine conditions (salinity in the range 30-32 ppt) to breed. Once the eggs have gone from egg > larvae > fry they can begin their migration upstream.

This salinity is probably one of the biggest barriers to breeding barramundi in aquaculture, although there are plenty of large operators who can do it.

I was surprised when I was living in India that the barramundi is a 'local' fish there too. I had always thought of it as uniquely Australian, but it is widespread throughout Asia, although so far I haven't been able to determine if it is available in the Philippines.

Cheers,

Russ