Anyone have or had a Sturgeon?

[jdamian13]

I'm interested on buying one or two, but I wanna hear opinions or current or prior "owners" of them to find out their growth rate (yes, I know they grow BIG) but how big in ... 1 year, 2 years... 3?... and what did they eat when they were ... 6" to what they ate when.. 1' ?
And their behavior? is it normal to have them swim to the top and get their head out of the water?
How about tank mates?...

Any comments can help to get this thread going....

Thanks.

 

[snakeheader]

What size tank first off,or pond?

 

[new2natives]

i have had one for a month almost, and he spends a decent amount of time with his nose out of the water. he does that and a ton of backflips in the water... i have read that it is fairly normal behavior. he has put on about 3/4" already, feeding on mostly bloodworms. he is about 5"

and dont expect to get much feedback online, noone seems to respond when asking questions about sturgeon, noone has kept them, and noone condones keeping them.
i for one want to keep it, i can do a better job than anyone else who would have gotten him from my LFS!
i plan to grow him out to the best of my ability, and then he is going into a friends private lake! until then i get to enjoy him!

 

[Zoodiver]

What species of sturgeon are you looking into keeping? That will help with getting you the correct answers to your questions.

 

[Spankbelly]

There was a thread a few days ago that mentioned a smaller captive bred sturgeon species. But I don't remember the thread or species.
new2natives is right about the Sturgeon Keepers Haters Club.
I think they have a pretty good point about proper care and housing. Which is difficult to do for a giant.
But I'm tight with God, and don't think I'm going to hell for killing a fish.
As far as I know, that's what they're are for.
They certainly fail at mountain rescue, and they can't dance, so what else are we supposed to do with them?

 

[amehel0]

sterletts are your best option

 

[jdamian13]

I was asking the LFS and they could not give me an answer on what type it is... I did end up buying one for me and my friend bought one also. I like oddball fish and he looks ancient ( I could not resist )
I hope its a sterlet......
I do have a place for him after he outgrows my tanks.
My buddy has a pond (20' x 12' x 5'deep) after he outgrows that, I'm sure we will end up eating it or something...
The owner of the pong has chickens, ducks, peacocks, turtles all over the yard and a bunch of goldfish that are HUGE (no they are not koi)
Sometimes we kill and eat a duck or a chicken fpr a weekend BBQ so maybe we'll have fish in a few years

 

[Moontanman]

I'm interested on buying one or two, but I wanna hear opinions or current or prior "owners" of them to find out their growth rate (yes, I know they grow BIG) but how big in ... 1 year, 2 years... 3?... and what did they eat when they were ... 6" to what they ate when.. 1' ?
And their behavior? is it normal to have them swim to the top and get their head out of the water?
How about tank mates?...

Any comments can help to get this thread going....

Thanks.

I've kept sturgeon and I am in contact with a public aquarium that keeps them. If you can find one, and it will not be easy, a captive bred shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) is your best bet. Even in the wild they are seldom caught much bigger than 30" and most are smaller than that. In a home aquarium they will usually stay around 18" max. Mine ate lots of live daphnia and live black worms. a very good quality pellet would also be taken and chopped earth worms. some sort of fresh meat like the chopped earth worms is probably a must but live daphnia and black worms are best. Shovelnose sturgeon will live great at temps in the 70's even high 70's but I wouldn't want to keep one above 80 for long periods of time. heavy aeration will help with high temps. shovelnose are great for aquariums because not only do they stay small they also stay slim and are agile swimmers. most sturgeon are thick and stiff and do not do well when they have to swim around objects in a confined space. I would have to say a sturgeon that swims with it's nose above the surface has something wrong with it or it's water quality is bad. Possibly it needs lower temps and higher aeration. a fine sand bottom is a good idea as well. If you plan to keep a shovelnose for it's entire life span I would recommend at least a 125 or bigger tank. A smaller tank will do when it's young but to really see the fish develop and be healthy will require a big tank. I am not opposed to keeping sturgeon but trying to keep a sturgeon species that will get to be 15' long in a tank is a bad idea for the fish at least. sterlets are not native to the US and really need brackish water at some point to live out their lives, as well as bing a thicker heavier fish than the shovelnose. I would be glad to answer any other questions you might have. Oh yeah, tank mates, believe it or not I kept mine with elephant nose fish, blue spotted sunfish, inland silversides, three large hog chokers, and a iridescent shark!

 

[Zoodiver]

Shovel nose are a great species for a cold water tank. I'd keep one upper 60's to mid 70's. But the get close to four feet, and eat like pigs. Be prepared with a very large tank and an even larger filter.

 

[Moontanman]

Shovel nose are a great species for a cold water tank. I'd keep one upper 60's to mid 70's. But the get close to four feet, and eat like pigs. Be prepared with a very large tank and an even larger filter.

Exactly what do you base that on? They don't even get four feet long in the wild, most wild caught fish are in the 24 to 30 inch range, two to five pounds. Don't base a fishes eventual size on a world record fish, even in the wild very few fish ever approach the record of the fish. This is based on reports by fisheries people who have spent years studying these fish. They do eat like pigs (that is a good thing compared to most sturgeon) but they also do well in warmer water than most sturgeon, mid 70's is plenty cool enough. They don't eat any more nor are they any dirtier than any other large fish and don't require a bigger filter than any other large fish. They most certainly are better for aquarium keeping than any other available sturgeon including sterlets. Since most sturgeon offered for sale can be expected to eventually reach lengths of more than two or three meters and weigh hundreds of pounds the shovelnose is a much better choice any way you look at it.