Jack in a tank.

[SeaHunt]

Earlier this week I was in Clayfield Aquarium (Brisbane for the rest of ya) , and they had a 1kg Mangrove Jack in a freshwater tank for sale for $500... Firstly I didn't think they could live in fresh , especially at that size. Secondly are ppl really going to pay that for one ??, maybe I should be selling them instead of eating them. [smiley=chef.gif]

[craigie]

G'day Seahunt,

Jacks live naturally in Fresh water as juviniles, then move off to the salt has they get larger in size.
Up until recently we had one in a freshwater tank in the foyer of our office. It would have been a 1.5 to 2 kg specimen.

Not sure what the going rate is to buy one but $300 to $500 is a figure I've been told for a 30 - 50 cm model.

Any fish is worth much more alive than dead 8) ;D

Cheers Craigie.

[DaneCross]

Gday Seahunt,
Check this post from a litte while ago http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfish/board/YaBB.cgi?board=General;action=display;num=10665644 72
Dane

[DaneCross]

and heres another
http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfish/board/YaBB.cgi?board=Reports;action=display;num=10756040 17;start=0

[SeaHunt]

Thanks for that DC , interesting reading.

[basserman]

bass too are a great fish to have in a tank
much nicer to see a natrual native fish in a tank then a goldfish or one of those blasted jap carps!
my old man used to breed japans koi carp and some of them are worth there weight in gold!

[Billo]

We've had a good size Jacks, barra and sooty grunter in a fresh water tank..
They do need the salt still , use rock salt handlfulls every 4 or 5 days .
They suck it straight up , love it !
it can be done quite easy .

Thats about the right price for a Healthy Jack of that size

we had all 3 species in a 6 foot tank together at one stage , untill the barra and the jack had a blue and busted the tank .

The barramundi was a good 2kg before we had to get rid of it , no longer sitted the tank

[Dylan_Rylatt]

i work in queenslands biggest pet store and they would never sell evan a small jack for under 120 dollars. if anyone is ever chasing freshwater tank fish i can give yah prices... or ring my work on 07 3245 3393 i only work sundays

[raefpud]

Lately i have seen 5-10cm specimens close to the $200 mark. I think there is only one or two blokes that can breed them in captivity as it is very difficult to get them to breed, and it is illegal to take them from the wild.

[raefpud]

good question seahunt, i reckon there would be something that says keeping a live native specimen in captivity would be prohibitied, just to spoil your fun of course. From experience taking a fish from the wild and keeping it in a tank doesnt really work to well, unless you got a super huge tank and a super recirculation filtration and aeration system. Fish we take from the wild and keep in captivity tend to be very stressed in a small glass tank, often will not feed actively. It can be difficult to get ph and salinity of the water right if you are not constantly taking the water from a good clean source, and this can also upset the fish. I'm curious now and if i can remember I'll try to get the answer to that question for u today sometime

[SeaHunt]

It is illegal to take undersize fish, It is also illegal to sell fish you catch, but I can not see how it would be illegal to catch a legal size Jack and keep it alive, anyone know what law would be broken there.?

[setthehook]

That fish is awsome!!! i have had redfin, carp, aust bass, rainbow trout,silver perch,catfish, herring, Barramundi and heaps more in tanks and your fish looks better than the lot!!! wish we had em down here id go catch one for my tank, no way id pay that much dosh for a fish!!. Now i just have african cichlids. My rainbow trout was pretty awsome in a tank but we had a 43 deg day last year and i couldnt cool the tank water fast enough and he croaked it. :(

[Hutcho]

I have seen the jack you are talking about Seahunt in that store, and she is a fine specimen. Pity they only have it in a plain old glass tank with no structure or anything. Fiesty bugger too! I went to raise my hand to the top of the glass, and it is obviously trained that that is feeding time, it raced to the top of the water and was watching me very closely. I asked the bloke there how they got it, and he said they have raised it since a fingerling. I too couldn't believe it was in fresh water! great looking fish in any case.

Hutcho

[SeaHunt]

Yeah Hutcho fiesty alright, they have a sign there saying keep you fingers out of the tank. With all those teeth and attitude I can see why.. I wonder what they feed her on , probably starting to run out of goldfish. Actually I wouldn't mind taking a few lures/plastics down there (no hooks of course) and see what attracts her the most. ;)

[craigie]

Seahunt,

Car Keys make great lures for pet Jacks ;D ;D ;D

Cheers Craigie.