Sturgeon info

I have noticed a certain lack of information on these ]\/[onsters on the web so i thought it would be nice if i put my thoughts in.

here are a few profiles on the more common species:

sterlet (acipenser ruthenus)
This is one of the smaller sterlets reacing only 24"- 36" in captivity, it will also tollerate higher temperatures than its giant cousins anywhere up to 23 celcius should be ok but lower is prefferable, i have found sources stating these fish reach 30" in 10 years, however i have had these reach that size from little under a foot in around 2 years feeding on a diet of tetra sterlet sticks, shrimp, cockles and peas in a large outdoor pond. most coolwater non aggresive fish make good tankmates as long as they are not aggresive or large predators, also small sterlets should not be mixed with goldfish or carp as these steal food from small sterlet resulting in malnutrition.
A minimum sized tank/ pond should be no less than 12x6' with a depth of 3'. they should be ok through out winter as long as the pond does not freeze solid. ph is not overly important and anywhere between 5.5-7.5 should be fine.

siberian sturgeon (acipenser baerii)
This is one of the larger sturgeon seen for sale capable of reaching over 72" in the wild, however 48" should be accepted as a standard captive size. these fish grow quite fast at a steady rate of 1-2" per month feeding should be similiar to that of the sterlet. These are a large coolwater species not tollerating warm water for extended periods of time and anywhere where it gets higher than 25 celcius for over 2 weeks these should not be kept without a chiller. These guys are active and need a huge pond of 20x10 ft with a depth of 5 ft, smaller specemins may be kept in shallower ponds but the big guys need a big pond to avoid heat related deaths.
These are not predatory and can be kept with most coolwater fish with the exceptions of the large coldwater predators like wels cats. Again ph is not overly important and should be kept in conditions similar to that of the sterlet.

More profiles will be added later, anyone else with experiance of keeping these feel free to post profiles of those not yet covered. I would apreciate a profile on the north american shovelnose sturgeon as i have no experiance with these and they are never imported here in the uk.

diamond sturgeon (acipenser gueldenstaedtii)
Reaching 2 or 8 foot in the wild this is a very large fish indeed but a 5 foot specemin is an exeptional fish with around 4 being average. This has a high growth rate almost equal to that of the beluga (2-3" per month). These need a pond of around the same size as baerii perhaps a little bigger. These are NOT tollerant of high temperatures what so ever and anything over 25 celcius is dangerous, extra airation is a must in the summer and a strong air pump is a must for all serious sturgeon keepers. Tankmates should be similar to that of ruthenus and baerii but these may prey on very small bottom dwellers under 4", they are very passive and not aggresive in the least. These enjoy a diet similar to baerii and ruthenus but with perhaps a bit more fish such as whitebait. Ph is again relitivley unimportant with between 5.5 and 7.5 being fine.

ive had no success with white sturgeon i have had them for 2 occasions and they both died. i fed them bloodworms

Click to expand...

ill get something up on whites later, acipenser transmontanus is a coolwater species and they need a very large pond larger than any of the above stated species. They generaly die in captivity from being kept in too warm a tank/pond.

I have heard that they can be acclimated to being hand fed and pet much like a catfish, still have not tried this yet, but if its in my ownership it will probably happen sooner or later

Click to expand...

yup ive got a 30" siberian which puts about a foot of itself out of the pond to eat shrimp from your hands, the big ones jump sometimes aswell (scares the cats away lol)