Polypterus;543159; said:
I do not understand this "rescue" mentality..you can not "rescue" a sturgeon from an LFS you will most likely just prolong it's slow demise and eventual death. Sturgeon are rather tricky fish in the first place and very few fry ever really survive in captivity under standard aquarium conditions. I have kept sturgeon for many years on a proffesional basis and the mortality of fry is astoundingly high. Even if the fish looks like it is doing well they often just up and die anyhow. These fish are not for the average home aquarist no matter how well intentioned they may feel they are. A Good intention is not always the best action to take and it is not always the responsible action to take.
Anyone wishing to "rescue" a fish really needs to know about what it is they are "Rescueing" in the first place. If you have to ask more than one question about the fish you are not in the position to "Rescue" it. It is best to pass it by and just forget it. It is always irresponsable to accept a fish that you have little ability to keep.
I agree entirely with KSI that it is irresponsable to even buy one of these fish especially if you are not prepared for it and have neither the knowledge base or resources that are needed to properly care for and house it for life.
The point of it not being kept for long is moot when clearly the experiance or resources were not there to really house this fish in the first place.
Lesson: do not "rescue" fish you have no business "rescuing" and then cry about it.
Sorry to be blunt and maybe a bit hard but I hope this is a lesson well learned and maybe, hopefully, someone else will think twice before trying to "rescue" a fish of this sort. You can not "Rescue" fish when you are not properly equipped in the first place to deal with it.
POLYPTERUS! you just suprised me, wenr toyu one of the people i turned to aid me in supplying this fish a proper habitiat.......
im entirely astonished to hear this kind of thing coming form a member of this board!
im am by no means an
average fishkeeper, ive been keeping fish for 10 years includeing some rather fragile fish such as mormyrids.....
i had every intention if keeping the fish alive , althought i was prepared for the worst seeing as how the fish was in bad shape....
a good amount of my fish collection is comprised of "Rescued" fish if u will.....
pardon me if i tend to cover the asses of my fellow, slightly or largly irresponsible fellow fishkeepers and aquarists. after doing some delving into the resons this store had the fish it was a speciall order that was never picked up, so all those promising young fish were killed for no reason, and i thought even if i could save just one it would be better than letting a future monster die of bad conditions, i knew what i was getting into and only asked questions becuase if uve ever tried to do research on a not so common fish it turns out to be a major headache. and its better to have a second opinion in everything, thats why these boards exist! those of you that dissagree with my decision thats your opinoin.
alos the resources clearly were there! i set up a tank just for this fish and spent about 70 dollars of hard earned cahs attempting to restore this fish to health. i was even constidering dedicatting my new 125 gallon to this fish alone till i could find it a home, any preson that would frown upon compassion and a urge to help should be considered the scurge of the hobby.
and for the recod i got him eating, a major hurdle with sick sturgeon, and was into treating his fin rot with target meds when i lost him for unkown reasons.....
in the future i will not look for compassion and understanding from the members of this board, in the past this board has been a very prolific exchange of ideas, i guess all good thingsa must come to an end, and the asses out there always have to spoil it for everyone
the people out there like nativelover i thank for your understanding......
]v[ONSTER FISH FOREVER!
...so he went home and thought about it, set up a rubber maid container and went back to save them, when he got there there was only one (1) left. so he bought it and took it home. after carring for it for i guess i lil over a week or so (not sure) giving it all kinds of meds and when it started feeding and looking healthy, it died!