Think about a very large tank or a pond. I wouldn't keep one in any less than a 500 gallon. We raise Siberian Sturgeon at work and many species are sold in the UK as pond fish. You can buy them at gardening centers. They do well in captivity (EXTREMELY tolerant of water chemistry) but they do prefer slow-moving water and tend to freak out and ram tank walls (similar to polypterus).
shovelnose sturgeon
- Thread starter kafiltafiisch
- Start date
That they are! I would never recommend a 500 gallon pond for the species I culture. It may even be too small for an adult shovelnose depending on the dimensions. The species I'm used to require closer to 3000-5000 gallons imo. Our adult fish are kept in 17,000 gallon tanks (not including filtration).
Shovelnose can be successfully kept in a 100 gallon tank but not much room for anything but the fish, in captivity they seldom get to more than 18" or so, even in the wild a 30" fish is unusual..
For long term captives I would want a long broad tank instead of the usual tall and narrow tanks. I would recommend a tank about 8' long and 3' wide and no taller than is easy to reach into, they are more slender and maneuver around a tank quite a bit better than the thicker less maneuverable sturgeon..
Yeah you definitely want a large footprint for sturgeon. Something like a 120 gallon or 125 gallon tank would be too narrow for them. At the dimesions you quoted you're looking at about 350 gallons for a 2' deep tank. However, I would really recommend something deeper and with higher tank walls. Sturgeon love to jump (especially the small ones)! You will either need to cover the tank with something that won't hurt them if they hit it, or you will need 1'+ of tank above the water level (even for those less than 1' long). They spend a lot of time swimming around slowly with the occasional burst of speed, but the more confined they are the more you will see their noses bent upwards and their pectoral fins curl in. 100 gallons would be an okay place to raise it for the first year or two though!
I never had a problem with them jumping but I do keep my tanks covered with egg crate plastic. I have seen shovelnose kept long term in 125 gallon tanks they do tend to stay smaller in captivity that they do in the wild but even in the wild 18" to 24" fish are the most common with fish approaching the maximum size being rare. It could be a sampling bias or larger fish really are rare. I have a 225 that I modified to be 24" tall and 30" wide instead of 30" tall. I plan to keep shovelnose in this tank, if I am ever able to get some more!
