Gulf Saratoga - Jardini - Australian Arowana

Gulf Saratoga Overview:

Scientific name of Gulf Saratoga is Scleropages jardini. This fish has other names including Northern spotted barramundi, Australian bonytongue, Northern Saratoga, Toga, Australian Arowana & Exotic Australian fish. Gulf Saratoga is found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea & Australia.

They like to live in clean water & they can be commonly discovered in the upper reaches of the rivers within its distribution, in both still billabongs & moving waters. It is classified as a territorial specie.

Gulf Saratoga can be kept in ponds because they do not need high maintenance. However, they can jump outside so make sure your tank is covered. Do not put this fish in community pond because they are carnivore & may eat other fish.

Gulf Saratoga Overview

Exotic Australian fish lives in fresh waters of Australia & New Guinea. It has a long dark body with 7 rows of large scales, each of them has multiple red or pink spots organized in a crescent shape around the trailing edge of the scale, offering it a pearly look. Its appearance is similar to Asian arowana, & it has a length of up to 90 cm & it weighs up to 17.2 kg.

If you are planning to keep them in pond, then make sure to have a cover lid on top because they can escape.

Watch how I feed Australian Arowana in a video below:

Feeding Australian Arowana

Gulf Saratoga Breeding:

Size of a single egg is about 1-1.3 cm in diameter. They hatch in about 18 – 30 days & are incubated in female mouth. Babies eat small crustaceans & microorganisms. Breeding is impossible in a number of aquariums due to smaller size.

Exotic Australian fish is called mouth brooders, & according to reports female broods the young fish in her mouth. They can lay from 60 to 100 big eggs.

Gulf Saratoga Diet:

Scleropages jardini falls into the category of opportunistic carnivore because they eat a variety of other smaller fish, crustaceans & insects too.

Gulf Saratoga Diet

You can feed them smaller live fish, spiders, big flying insects, tubiflex, & they may also eat pellets & flakes.

Gulf Saratoga Tank Condition:

An aquarium of about 48 inches in length that holds 55 gallons of water is the minimum requirement for young Gulf Saratoga. They will soon need a larger tank if cared properly.

Gulf Saratoga needs a pH of 6.8 – 7.8, dH of 8 – 16, & temperature of 24 – 30 °C.

It is an aggressive specie & can harm same kind of fish or similar fish. Mix them up with robust & large fish.

Dimension of aquarium for adult fish is about 72-inch x 24-inch x 24-inch. Large fish needs 680 litres of water but if you have a bigger aquarium then it is better for them.

Gulf Saratoga Tank Mates:

Gulf Saratoga may eat smaller inhabitants but they are suitable for groups of bigger fish. However, some of them won’t tolerate not a single mate.

Gulf Saratoga Tank Mates

Tank mates of Gulf Saratoga include larger rainbowfish, large Tinfoil Barbs, Giant Gourami, Clown Knife, Cichlids, Arius catfish, Pimelodid catfish & Bagrid catfish.

Gulf Saratoga Pond Suitability:

Gulf Saratoga needs lots of free swimming area & decoration is not very important. You need a powerful filter than can clean your pond well, especially if you are keeping multiple large fish in a single pond. If you keep this fish in harsh conditions, then they may get eyes & gills disease. Make sure you change water on regular basis. The pond must have a cover that fits tightly on top, as Gulf Saratoga is excellent jumper.

Gulf Saratoga needs live food & well maintained pond. Usually they prefer to live in slow moving water, & can be found in streams, creeks, billabongs & swamps. They like clear water, & surface vegetation or overhanging branches.