Ok guys need help finding them. I am going to raise them and put them in a large spring fed pond I'm building. I'd like to find whites, and beluga and diamond which I know aren't native. But will be fun to fish for once they get big! I can't seem to find a straight answer about whether white sturgeon can live their whole lives in freshwater. Is it important that they live in saltwater for a while, if so what would be the length of time they would need. Any advice or thoughts? Where should I look to get my hands on them?
Sturgeon
- Thread starter makbarracuda
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White sturgeons get huge, idk ur pond dimension so idk but if you are go with a sterlet sturgeon they grow to 4 feet at the most and they are easy to find plus they stay freshwater their whole life
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Whites will get 10'+ and Belugas 15'+ but if you've got a big enough pond then I wish you good luck in raising them. I really wouldn't recommend belugas though, if you got a flood and a beluga (a very predatory, non native, coldwater fish) got into a local waterway you'll be in a LOT of trouble if your fish commission or any local fishermen found out it was your fish. Whites are just as good and although not native to the eastern half of the US, they'd have much less of an ecological impact than a beluga would. To answer your original question though, not sure where to get them. I know that some stores can special order whites but 50% of the time they're actually diamonds, which you're also looking for.
There was an episode of Monster Fish that dealt with White Sturgeon. I guess there is a tourist trap in Oregon (I think) that had a huge fish in a pond. I think it was close to ten feet. They had a web cam on it so you may be able to hunt it down on the web.
We have lake sturgeon locally. I have seen them up to six feet while fishing but they get much larger that that. They are a protected species with, if memory serves me, only two lakes open to harvest in Michigan. They run up a local river to spawn and local people patrol the area to make sure no one poaches them.
We have lake sturgeon locally. I have seen them up to six feet while fishing but they get much larger that that. They are a protected species with, if memory serves me, only two lakes open to harvest in Michigan. They run up a local river to spawn and local people patrol the area to make sure no one poaches them.
Your best bet is focus on more available smaller sturgeon species. That said, sturgeons tend to do poorly in natural ponds depends on what kind the sediment is. I wouldn't put any non native species in a spring fed ponds, especially the predatory belugas if the pond isnt 100% isolated.
Hi,
Seems like a cool idea. All three of those sturgeon species will do fine in freshwater. I believe all sturgeon are either anadromous or potamodromous. So unless you´re salting your pond and keeping Sterlets (a potamodromous species) for example you shouldn't have to worry.
About where to get them, I'm not sure.
Sterlets should be easy enough to get, however, I have heard of shops in the US that sell White sturgeon as Sterlets, probably to make them more attractive to people who want a smaller sturgeon. So if you know how to identify them you could try that, the problem with this is that they would probably sell them small (<30cm) which reduces their chances of survival when put in a pond or lake.
Another thing to consider is that fish at that size would take 2-4 years to become about a meter long, and probably 8-15 years to reach two meters.
I'm not sure where you could get Diamond sturgeons or Beluga sturgeons though.
I live in Europe where most commercially available species can be found if you look hard enough. Sturgeons as pond fish are more popular over here, which is another problem you might run into in the US, since they are harder to find in shops and farms generally won't sell small numbers of fish.
Would there be enough natural food for them in the lake? Or do you plan on feeding them somehow?
As Divemaster said, make sure the fish can't get into local waterways.
If you have any questions about species and requirements feel free to ask. I keep seven species and the White, Beluga and Diamond are among those.
I think the whites and diamonds are going to be by focus. Talked to my wholesaler and she is trying to get the cites permit to have the diamonds imported. One website in the us has what they are calling black diamond sturgeon. They are the right scientific name but is there a difference between the black diamonds and a regular one or are there any other colors? Just talked with my sera food rep and he can get me their sturgeon pellets but he said it would take a few weeks to get in the country. But I'll get them to about 30" before they go in the lake.
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