Barramundi
Lates calcarifer
Also known asAsian sea bass · Giant sea perch · Barra
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 500 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 45% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.30% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.50% of body weight
- Max density
- 35 g per litre
A 1500 g adult eats about 19.5 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~195 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | permit required | Aquaculture permit required outside native range verified 2026-05-13 |
| Queensland | legal | Native species in Queensland verified 2026-05-13 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Lates calcarifer ranges across the Indo-Pacific, through the coastal rivers and estuaries of northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. In the wild it is catadromous: fish spend much of their lives in fresh water and floodplains, then move down to estuaries and the coast to spawn, with maturing males running downstream at the start of the wet season. For culture the whole cycle can be completed in fresh water, with no need for saltwater access. The flesh is white, firm, and mild, and the fish carries a premium price in Australia, where it is a flagship native species, and in specialty markets in North America and Europe. It is a fast-growing predator that reaches a market weight of 2–5 kg in culture within 18 to 24 months and can grow to a metre or more in the wild. Barramundi is a protandrous hermaphrodite: fish mature first as males and later turn female, generally around three to five years old, so the larger, older fish in a population tend to be the females.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- tropical (needs warm water year-round)
- USDA zones
- 11–13 (winter low around 4°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- yes
- Cooling needed
- no
Care notes
A premium warm-water species for systems that hold 26–30°C all year. Growth is quick in the heat, reaching 400–800 g in roughly 12 to 18 months on a high-protein pellet of about 42 to 48 percent protein; feed conversion in good operations is typically reported around 1.5 to 1.8. Temperature is the catch: barramundi go off their feed below about 20°C and do not survive sustained cold below roughly 15°C, so temperate growers need heated greenhouses or insulated indoor systems, and the energy cost has to be built into the economics. They take crowding well, so cage grow-out runs near 15 g/L and intensive tank or RAS setups higher still, into the 20 to 40 g/L range with strong oxygenation; they tolerate dissolved oxygen down to about 4 mg/L better than most. They are aggressive feeders that train readily to floating pellets. Cannibalism is the major management problem in young fish, which will swallow tankmates up to about two-thirds of their own length, so grade by size often, roughly weekly through the fingerling stage, and keep size classes apart. Fingerlings come from specialist hatcheries in Australia, the United States (mainly Florida and Massachusetts), and Southeast Asia. The fish is legal to culture in most places as a non-native tropical species, with negligible escape risk in cold climates since it cannot overwinter. With a retail price around $18 to $30 per kilogram, it is one of the more attractive aquaponics species when the heating cost can be managed and a local buyer found.