Info on Sturgeon......

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DCOWBOYS

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 16, 2010
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Where the Parachromis roam...
I live in Massachusettes and am interested in obtaining a few of these babies,how expensive are these fish at a smaller size??Do i need a heater to keep these fish????Is there a sturgeon that doesnt get huge??Any help is appreciated!!!Anything you can think of to help me would be great!!!:headbang2
 
I'm not sure about legality but you will not need a heater as they like cold water and most of the ones you find in the pet trade stay under 4' not to mention how slow they grow
 
The sturgeon I most often see for sale are "California" or white sturgeon. In the wild they can get to be WELL over 4' and like 1000 lbs. You would need a HUGE tank/pond that stays about 70F or lower to keep one longterm.
Sterlet are also pretty common and are much smaller, but still 3'+.

Most sturgeon are pretty slow growers once they hit 12" or a little more since they are VERY longlived for a fish. Many species it takes upwards of 15 years for them to even reach sexual maturity.
 
the sturgeon that you see are not white sturgeon they are a protected species. At least thats the last I read on them. They are probably sterlets
 
mqktandy;4794272; said:
the sturgeon that you see are not white sturgeon they are a protected species. At least thats the last I read on them. They are probably sterlets
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No, they were definitely captive bred whites
 
I thought that they recently put a ban on whites?? I must be wrong. In that case yes they get large and would require a large pond but they also grow extremely slow so you would be good for a little while. I think it would be cool to have one.
 
White sturgeon need water in the 30s, though, otherwise it is detrimental to their health. And while they can reach 20ft in length, it takes over 100 years. At age 25, they should be about 6ft long. I am not aware of any farms breeding white sturgeon, that would be a hefty task indeed, but I might be wrong. I don't recommend white sturgeon for two reasons, both of which are ethical: 1, they are endangered (unless you can actually get a farm bred one), and 2, these fish are very capable of outliving you. I feel it isn't ethical to keep any animal which can outlive you.

There are much smaller, better suited species. The shovelnose sturgeon would be great, except I don't think it's in the pet trade. The next best would be the sterlet, which grows to about 3' and can tolerate warmer temps (mid seventies).

This site has pretty good info on sturgeon. http://www.sturgeon-web.co.uk/species.php
 
Juxtaroberto;4794394; said:
White sturgeon need water in the 30s, though, otherwise it is detrimental to their health. And while they can reach 20ft in length, it takes over 100 years. At age 25, they should be about 6ft long. I am not aware of any farms breeding white sturgeon, that would be a hefty task indeed, but I might be wrong.http://www.sturgeon-web.co.uk/species.php
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The hatchery where I worked is working on it. They have a group of 10 whites that they held back from a batch of fingerlings they brought in in the early 90s. They are now somewhere around 17 or 18 years old and nearing sexual maturity, so hopefully there will be some offspring in the next few years.
 
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